Get Rid of Ombudsman's Office?

[Chuck La Chez]

That depends on your definition of a petty complaint. Is a complaint about the city not doing anything about an abandoned house that has a few dead dogs stinking to high hell and water shooting out of the plumbing because some pipes are missing and the water department has not come out to turn off the water after being notified about the problems for weeks on end considered petty to you?

What about an abandoned car that was set on fire and left in the middle of the street and all of the neighbors had to drive the wrong way down a one way street in order to circle the block just to come and go?

I would define petty as anything that isn't worth one of the many news outlets coming to report on it because if no one will report it, then it's a common occurrence.

Or are you one of those people that agree with Mayor Bing that Detroiters feel that they're "entitled" just because we want basic city services for our tax dollars?

I think you people are severely over-paying for the services you receive. However, if you're committed to Detroit, then you have to figure out a way to fix the system rather than compete with other complainers for the limited resources.

It's hard to say much about the current state of affairs because Bing is doing so much and the districts are in the process of being drawn. If we were having this exchange ten years ago, I'd talk about the racially motivated change to at-large council and Detroiters perpetuating the disenfrachisement of all their citizens by continuing it. However, I think Detroit's at the cross-roads and so most conversation is moot.

My hope, however, is that all Detroiters who have complaints about abandoned-house-water-fountains that aren't severe enough to get news attention would redirect their energies from complaining to city departments that already know about the problems to participating in their political process.