Hendrix, Denise Illitch and Joe Walsh to head Crisis Team

[Detroitej72]

Joe Walsh?? Life's been good to him so far...

Isn't he due to tour this summer with the Eagles?

[Gistok]

"Perhaps a business approach will help in many ways towards making the city a better place to live."

What exactly does this mean? A lot of people talk about running government like a business like that's some kind of magical answer to all the problems that plague Detroit city government. There's plenty of crappy businesses in the world so being run like a business doesn't tell us anything.

Running the city like a SUCCESSFUL business where the customers/stakeholders [[residents/taxpayers) are satisfied with how things are going...

Crappy businesses become nonexistent... crappy units of government linger on and on...

Fnemenek... looks like this election did make more than a few folks unhappy!

[detmsp]

And Denise Illitch is a resident of Bingham Farms. Obviously has a deep understanding of the problems Detroiters face.

can we all get the F over this kind of crap?

Now i'm not trying to support denise illitch or anyone in particular here... but maybe, just MAYBE someone who doesn't live in the city, but lives right near it, spends a ton of time in it, and does business in it might know a thing or two about the problems the city has. And maybe, just MAYBE a person from outside the city possess a certain skillset and a collection of experiences that would be valueable to the city.

Nah.... If you live at 12 mile, you couldn't possibly be capable of doing anything good for Detroit.

[Gistok]

can we all get the F over this kind of crap?

Now i'm not trying to support denise illitch or anyone in particular here... but maybe, just MAYBE someone who doesn't live in the city, but lives right near it, spends a ton of time in it, and does business in it might know a thing or two about the problems the city has. And maybe, just MAYBE a person from outside the city possess a certain skillset and a collection of experiences that would be valueable to the city.

Nah.... If you live at 12 mile, you couldn't possibly be capable of doing anything good for Detroit.

THANK YOU DETMSP!!!

Things sure have gotten ugly on a lot of threads lately... looks almost like the "hidden agenda" crowd that thinks that the suburbs want to take over the city are in full force lately... not only on this thread, but go look how ugly the Book Tower and Bridge to Canada threads have gotten.

Geeese.... maybe the bad economy has made a lot of folks go off lately... but it has not been civil around here the last week or two...

[firstandten]

Maybe some people need to learn how to read. Products of DPS perhaps?

"The turnaround team will focus on five subjects: finances and the budget, labor law, contracting, federal stimulus money and human resources."

Not to mention, the city of Detroit gets excellent talent and they are working for FREE. Why would anyone be opposed to that?

This is not about fixing neighborhoods, it is about making core fixes at the top and getting the house in order. Nothing gets done with a disorganized, corrupt house, as we have all seen.

Good post, but I wish you would stop with the crap that is your first sentence. Thats the second time I seen it and its neither funny or clever. Believe this , there are DPS products that would make people on this board look like mental midgets even today ! To paint DPS products with that broad a brush is neither fair or acceptable.

[HazenPingree]

Joe Walsh, the guy who was in the Eagles and sang "Ordinary Average Guy"????

[MIRepublic]

Good post, but I wish you would stop with the crap that is your first sentence. Thats the second time I seen it and its neither funny or clever. Believe this , there are DPS products that would make people on this board look like mental midgets even today ! To paint DPS products with that broad a brush is neither fair or acceptable.

These are the folks you're dealing with. If you're going to side with them, there is no need to complain about them. They are showing you their true colors, what they really think about the city and its citizens. I feel sorry for you, because you seem to believe this is a bug, with them, when it's really a feature of their personalities and beliefs. They can't change, but if you have a conscience, you can. It's time to stop straddling the fence...

[reddog289]

I myself would not judge DPS product of any era 1930's to present. This suburban/Detroit fued reminds me of a time back in the 90's . On my way to work, I lived in Westland at the time. I took Cherry Hill rd to Newburgh to Plymouth Rd in Livonia. On my way to work I saw a Dept of Water and Sewerage work crew, Two DPD cruisers , and DPS bus.
Ok then . If the suburbs do not have a say in what goes on in the city, Then why is the city itself having a big influance on the burbs?.I see it when I pass the water tanks on my way to pick up stuff at the Kroger on Mich&Merriman.The big water tanks DWS. Out in Van Buren TWP, with the water project out there with Kwames name on it.
As I have said before I live closer to Detroit then AnnArbor and when people ask where I;m from if I am outta state, I will say Detroit.

[Novine]

"Running the city like a SUCCESSFUL business where the customers/stakeholders [[residents/taxpayers) are satisfied with how things are going..."

That's 100% vague. Why aren't people willing to talk about specifics here? For Bing to cut the deficit, he's going to have to lay off hundreds, maybe thousands of people, cut services and close facilities. Happy talk about satisfied customers isn't a plan and it isn't reality.

[Fnemecek]

Fnemecek... looks like this election did make more than a few folks unhappy!

No doubt. I think stinkbug and a few others should just log off and go do some volunteer work on those police mini-stations that Ken Cockrel set up. Maybe that will cheer them up?

[rjlj]

firstandten, my comment about he DPS was a shot at a particular person's comments with regards to the news. They didn't even bother to READ the article or understand the facts and instead only believed what they wanted to and made the issue a suburbs vs. city issue or business as usual. This is a ground breaking step in getting Detroit's house in shape and regional cooperation. Everyone wants to see Detroit succeed and they can't do it alone. What is bad about bringing the best minds with the greatest power together to create something good? There is some really strange fear that a lot of people have that the suburbs want to take over the city which is killing progress. This suburban/Detroit feud is like Don Quixote fighting windmills. I take my comment back about DPS and completely understand that the schools do produce many outstanding students.

[Novine]

"Unless Bing is really prepared to gore everyone's ox and severely cut spending, the budget deficit will be papered over with assurances that there is a 3-year plan to eliminate said deficit."

That was my point as well. Lots of people are running around saying "Bing's a businessman, he'll fix things!" with no explanation of what Bing has to do to "fix things". I posted the fix for city government and it still applies.

"A lot fewer people, most making less money and getting fewer benefits, for a population and areas of service that have shrunk significantly. Focusing on serving residents and businesses like they are each person's top priority, not their last. No more sweetheart contracts for those with connections. Hiring based on competence, not who you know or who you are related to at City Hall. No more treating city government like an employment agency. Invest in the city, particularly in infrastructure and prioritize resources to meet the critical needs of residents first. What you can't afford to do, you don't do.

I know that these might be radical ideas in Detroit but that's how successful local governments work. It doesn't require a savior businessman to accomplish. It just requires someone willing to explain to Detroiters that the time for change has come and it has to start at City Hall first. Beyond that, there's no miracle solutions for Detroit. Detroit didn't get to this point overnight and it's not going to become a healthy city overnight. But until those kinds of changes come to City Hall, city government is going to be part of the problem, not part of the solution."

Is Dave Bing willing to take the ax to the city payroll? Is he willing to get the unions to work for less and fewer benefits? Will he get rid of employees who don't put residents and customers first? Will he end hiring preferences? Will he cut services and close facilities that the city no longer can afford to provide? When does Dave Bing start talking honestly to city workers and city residents about what a city in decline can afford?

[firstandten]

King Rex

Probably in 6 months we won't see that many changes. Now I do think the new mayor will try to gore a bunch of oxen but there are too many checks and balances for that to happen. There's never a lot of political will when you are cutting jobs in the public sector and you know you aren't going to get picked up in the private sector. It use to be the other way round.

Rjlj

thanks for the comment, I liked the post I just thought the first comment was gratuitous when posters think there is a reading comphension problem. Problem is people post like they argue. There too busy getting there point across and not listening[[reading) the other persons points.


Like I said this election boiled down to "you know what you're getting vs Trust me"

The voters wanted the latter and now we will just need to wait and see.

[Gistok]

Novine... none of us here know what Bing and his team are talking about right now, and you know it. Sorry we're not privy to their conversations and ideas... and sorry that saying that maybe a "businessman rather than a politician should give it a try at running the dysfunctional city" gets your knickers in a twist.. We can't predict the future any more than you can.

So until Bing is actually sworn in and starts making decisions... we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Otherwise you're starting to sound like Batty criticizing Obama even before he was sworn into office...

[Locke09]

"Cutting" services will no longer work, if by cutting you just mean "reduce". Certain services have to be "eliminated" completely. I can assure you that every agency has already been "cut" beyond its ability to be effective [[except mayor's Office and Council, they can be cut some more). I see something more drastic and more specific than simply reducing service levels:

At this point, the City can only afford to do top priorities like public safety, transportation, street lighting, refuse/bulk collection and of course the revenue-generating activities [[licensing and inspections, tax collection, water, etc.). The City needs to budget and staff to do those things well, not half-heartedly. With any money left over, the City can start to add back in things like recreation, in accordance with what the residents feel are their secondary priorities.

If you do those top priorities well, and have money to cover one or two secondary priorities fairly well, you will have a happy populace. Any internal agencies not directly involved in the top priorities are only staffed to a level sufficient to provide support to the top priorities. Any agency not providing needed support to the top priorities is eliminated.

For instance, if we are running huge deficits, do we really need an Ombudsman's office?

Leave wages and benefits alone for the people who remain. Why? Because you get what you pay for. If you already have problem employees, will they get any better when they find themselves working for a lot less money? If I can't afford quality people to provide a service, then maybe I shouldn't provide that service at all. But, if there are cases where employees are truly making considerably more than you would pay in the private sector for the same work, then privatize. I say that freely now because so many employees no longer live in the city, so its not like you are trying to protect your citizens or keep your neighborhoods stabilized by providing jobs for your citizens. Privatize if it makes financial sense.

Also keep in mind that some city agencies are 90% or more funded by grants, no point in cutting them.

Now, when you take out the revenue-generating agencies, the public safety agencies, and the grant-funded agencies, you will find that there really aren't a lot of city employees left over to cut.

[firstandten]

"Cutting" services will no longer work, if by cutting you just mean "reduce". Certain services have to be "eliminated" completely. I can assure you that every agency has already been "cut" beyond its ability to be effective [[except mayor's Office and Council, they can be cut some more). I see something more drastic and more specific than simply reducing service levels:

At this point, the City can only afford to do top priorities like public safety, transportation, street lighting, refuse/bulk collection and of course the revenue-generating activities [[licensing and inspections, tax collection, water, etc.). The City needs to budget and staff to do those things well, not half-heartedly. With any money left over, the City can start to add back in things like recreation, in accordance with what the residents feel are their secondary priorities.

If you do those top priorities well, and have money to cover one or two secondary priorities fairly well, you will have a happy populace. Any internal agencies not directly involved in the top priorities are only staffed to a level sufficient to provide support to the top priorities. Any agency not providing needed support to the top priorities is eliminated.

For instance, if we are running huge deficits, do we really need an Ombudsman's office?

Leave wages and benefits alone for the people who remain. Why? Because you get what you pay for. If you already have problem employees, will they get any better when they find themselves working for a lot less money? If I can't afford quality people to provide a service, then maybe I shouldn't provide that service at all. But, if there are cases where employees are truly making considerably more than you would pay in the private sector for the same work, then privatize. I say that freely now because so many employees no longer live in the city, so its not like you are trying to protect your citizens or keep your neighborhoods stabilized by providing jobs for your citizens. Privatize if it makes financial sense.

Also keep in mind that some city agencies are 90% or more funded by grants, no point in cutting them.

Now, when you take out the revenue-generating agencies, the public safety agencies, and the grant-funded agencies, you will find that there really aren't a lot of city employees left over to cut.

I guess my question is does the city even have the budget to do the primary services well ? Your example of the Ombudsman's office was good because it only exists because the city is unresponsive to its people in terms of services.

Privatize is easy to say,politically hard to do If you want to be a one-term anything around here or maybe even get recalled before that one term you can't throw that term around without really having a plan that people can buy into.

He's going to need to go back to the unions and at the very least get some work-rules modifications at the most wage and benefit concessions. Good luck with that also.

People demand things like libraries and Rec centers and parks those secondary issues you talk about really equate to quality of life issues. Lots of problems, lots of tough decisions.

[Toolbox]

Joe Walsh?? Life's been good to him so far...

I love The James Gang!!

[Bearinabox]

People demand things like libraries and Rec centers and parks those secondary issues you talk about really equate to quality of life issues. Lots of problems, lots of tough decisions.

Also, if the city is going to close things like libraries and rec centers, they need to come up with a strategy for dealing with the buildings that doesn't involve leaving them wide open and rotting.

[Locke09]

firstandten,

It is tough.

The Ombudsman's Office is an example of something that's nice to have when you can afford it. The Mayor's Office has staff that do nothing but handle citizen complaints. 311 is supposed to help facilitate service. Council members have staff that handle complaints. Too much redundancy when you can't afford it.

I love the NCH in my area. It's nice to have when you can afford it.

Libraries are now funded separately, they are not part of the General Fund.

Have a few nice rec centers, maybe four strategically located. If you have improved transportation, it will make them accessible. If you have improved public saftey, people won't be afraid to catch the bus to a rec center.

The parks that were renovated will become a nuisance for residents near them if the police don't patrol enough and garbage isn't collected enough. So, if DPW and public safety are run properly, the parks will be okay - I think.

When you hear that there is a $300 million deficit, it does not mean that amount has to be cut out of the budget each year. That is what has grown over the years, mostly as a result of bad projects, IMO. You might not be able yet to even fund the primary services well, but don't do anything else until you can. I bet that's what a receiver would say.

[rajdet]

Wow, Mr. Bing has'nt even been the Mayor elect for 12 hours yet people. As for his panel, I equate the cities current situation to a drowning man going down for the third time, what you gonna' do pass on a life raft because it came from Oakland county? Jeeeze let's just wait and see what Bing's plan is before we get all hypercritical.

[Crumbled_pavement]

I really don't understand the argument in this thread. Everybody and their momma swears Detroiters are the obstructionists in this region. However, Detroiters just elected a suburbanite as mayor over a candidate that has been interim mayor longer than the victor was even a resident here. Obviously, there are still those who prefer to stoke the flames of a city vs. suburbs battle - and those people live on both sides of 8 Mile. Nonetheless, Bing's election suggests that the majority of Detroiters who voted would prefer for Detroit to work closer with the rest of the region. I think most of Bing's voters knew that people like Illitch and Hendrix would be heading up Bing's crisis task force.

[Novine]

"Otherwise you're starting to sound like Batty criticizing Obama even before he was sworn into office..."

I wasn't criticizing Bing, I'm criticizing those who talk in generalities while ignoring the specifics of what needs to be done. The problem with Bing [[and Cockrel too) is that he refuses to talk specifics. Why? You better start now educating the public on the pain that's coming. It's coming whether you talk about it or not. Better to be open about it than pretend it's not going to happen.

[Gistok]

Novine... sorry about making that comparison...
We just don't know the specifics... and maybe... just maybe a businessman will help where politicians have so far been unable.... a herculean task all around!

What makes the long difficult road ahead even harder is the economy...

[gnome]

According to the last debate, bith Bing and Ken stated they thought consolodating the bus systems would be a priority. That should be fun to watch ... remember .... "they are taking control" just over having Wayne County Sheriffs protecting the drivers/riders.

I fully expect a knock down, smack down tag-team death cage match with MonCon and JoWat in one corner and Ken and Bing in the other. Capes, masks, flying pile-drivers, camel clutches, and Bobo-style CocoButts are just around the corner.

[Lorax]

This is perhaps the most entertaining thread this week! You guys have to lay-off Stinkbug- not only does he[[she) raise some good points, but I have to hand it to someone who can boil down the bullcrap to a few succinct easy to understand points, do it with humor and wit, while putting much of this into perspective.

Stinkbug has reason to be negative or even contemptuous. We've all been duped or lied to so many times, I think caution is the better part of valor for the moment.

We should give Bing a chance to see if he can accomplish in his six short months what he really needs to accomplish, which is a meaningful discussion on regionalism, and how we as a tri-county area are going to go forward.