Allow Detroit to keep a tool to help itself

[JBMcB]

. I do think there's a lot of resistance to that idea, but I'm frankly surprised to hear that you think the first in line would be the city [[by this, I take it you mean the leaders) of Detroit. I should think it would be much more hotly contested by the likes of L. Brooks Patterson, Mark Hackel, etc.

Sooo.. the city with all the incompetent and/or corrupt politicians and bureaucrats... They're going to be totally cool with some uber-governmental body calling the shots?

You could try forcing regional management on the city - that's when the street protests start up and whomever cooked up the idea gets lambasted for disenfranchising the poor people of Detroit.

It wouldn't be a merry go round so much as a three ring circus

[fryar]

I wonder if the columnist had a minimum # of words for the column, cause he's basically guilty of the same thing that has been happening in this thread - roaming all over the place, although he keeps the roaming focused on promises Michigan apparently made but didn't keep with regard to some wonky funding detail or another. Whatever.

The whole premise is flawed. State law should not govern local taxation, plain and simple.

[fryar]

There are numerous other helpful suggestions that have been made on this board and elsewhere over time. I can accept an EFM if he or she can root out corruption and eliminate some waste, for example. But that is a different conversation.

[fryar]

And finally: This endless refrain about how grating Detroit taxes are is hyperbole. It's like that old line about how if you're not mad, you're not paying attention. If taxes are what you're mad about, your head is up your butt. The commuter tax is marginal at best. The Crown Vic ambulance, now that is something worth bringing up. If you make $70k, your commuter tax is less than $1,000 [[right? 1.25%?) What are you paying for parking that this is a headline concern for you? For gas? How long is your commute? The commuter tax is there, sure, but it's total background noise. A minor consideration.

[Detroitnerd]

Sooo.. the city with all the incompetent and/or corrupt politicians and bureaucrats... They're going to be totally cool with some uber-governmental body calling the shots?

Now you're just putting words in my mouth. I, personally, would relish the sight of some of Detroit's bloated, dysfunctional bureaucrats skidding out on their asses after an election. Of course, they'd resist it. That said ...

You could try forcing regional management on the city - that's when the street protests start up and whomever cooked up the idea gets lambasted for disenfranchising the poor people of Detroit.

... maybe it's just a matter of personal perspective, but I imagine that city people are quite different from a lot of corrupt city politicians, and may welcome the changes. No doubt there would be suspicions and worries, but you're telling me that the most disenfranchised, poverty-stricken, unengaged people are going to suddenly organize and start bounding down the streets with placards? ... I don't see that happening. Where I DO see that happening is in Oakland County, Macomb County, and, to a certain extent, Wayne County. The perception there is that they'd have something more to lose than just racial block politics and leaders who "look like me" under an overarching regional government.

It wouldn't be a merry go round so much as a three ring circus

Just like right now...