Surreal

How? The corruption seems to start with the mayor and Detroit keeps electing ppl like Kawame?

Surreal

I've only been gone from Ypsi for a few years, but I'm having a hard time buying into your prediction. I bounced it off a couple of friends who still live their and they don't agree either.

Asher Bertrand

I don't think the current mayor is at all like Kwame. Neither was Archer.

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Eunoli Rain

Part of living in a democracy is dealing with the fact that when people elect those who are incompetent or corrupt, there are ways to deal with that fact that include taking legal action such as a recall or corruption investigation. Or, corruption can be addressed by doing what can be done to influence the next election.

Taking away the rights of the people to elect their own officials (or simply stripping those officials of their power) is not and can never be an answer in a democracy. This is tyranical behaviour and it can't be justified. We fought a war to prevent taxation without representation in the United States. That's why we no longer have cool Brittish accents.

Surreal

I agree with you on the abrogation of civil rights. I've been bitching at one of my friends in Northville who thinks Snyder is a great idea. Snyder is every bit the opportunistic fascist he's characterized as.

But let's be honest - Detroit has been a cocked-up mess for the last what... 30 years? It's gotten so bad that most people who can leave, have left... including the black middle class (for those who think it's just white flight). Coleman Young created his own little banana republic and it seems like every effort to turn around intractable corruption and poverty since then has been futile.

Add to that the cozy relationship that the auto industry enjoyed with MI state government for years - that actively kept the business base from broadening and diversifying certainly didn't help the business flight from Detroit.

It's easy to say "just clean up the corruption." It's easy to dismiss people's concern as being "only about race, " but the reality is more complex... Detroit is a disaster. It's one of the reasons I won't move back - and I don't give a shit about skin color, nor am I zOMG flee the poor people.

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On a side note: I still remember the nation-wide survey that Match.com did to indicate where somebody looking for <insert trait> was most likely to find their soul mate. MI was the only state where having a college education was less likely to find you love.

Gabriell Anatra

It's the plan for the rest of the country as well.

The tea party is just an astroturfing campaign for the money. Feudalism has taken root.

Asher Bertrand

I want to clarify: When I said hatred of Detroit, I meant exactly that: Hatred. Concern for Detroit is a whole other matter, and the city desperately needs more concern.

For example, I was hanging out outside a Romney appearance in Michigan this week and there were UAW members with a banner with Romney's infamous phrase, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,." Some Romney supporters replied by shouting angrily "Yeah, LET them go bankrupt!" They weren't talking about the auto industry. They meant the city. And that's not because they are concerned for Detroit and think going bankrupt will help it. They hate Detroit because of who lives there. Period.

Gabriell Anatra

That's not unique to Detroit though.

There is a strong component of rural vs. city here as well. It is largely about race of course, but gender and education are also strong factors. It's just entitlement arrogance again.

Want fiscal responsibility? Fine. While we're refusing the help the cities lets get rid of the Electoral Collage too. Now there's a redistribution of wealth project if there ever was one.

Melodie Darwin

These are what came to mind when I wrote that

After cutting to the bone, Ypsilanti needs a city income tax and Water Street millage

The question of consolidating Township and City services

Ypsilanti needs to be annexed into Ypsilanti Township. The whole charter township part makes it impossible for the city to take the township instead. The city doesn't have the size to provide what it needs to without property values going up or raising taxes. They also lose property taxes to Eastern, churches etc.

Ann Arbor was able to luck out and gobble small islands of Ann Arbor Township once they were surrounded. Ypsilanti doesn't have that ability as they are surrounded by two charter townships.

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Aliselia Aeon

I completely agree.

I have met a lot of people in the suburbs surrounding Detroit that love the idea of an emergency manager. What they don't seem to think about is that it may not stop at Detroit, Pontiac and Highland Park. Of course they think it would never happen to them, because they aren't "like THOSE people" (yeah, that's a quote from one of my old art students-we still communicate). Any city will be up for grabs if they can find any excuse to do so.

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"Push 100cc of Social Skills, stat!" ~Casey Pelous

Aliselia Aeon

Actually,a lot of younger people have been moving back into Detroit the last couple of years.

Aliselia Aeon

Do what they have done in other cities. Go in and investigate city employees and the books, and prosecute anyone they find that is corrupt.

Oh..And the present mayor is nothing like Kwame, was. He isn't like Young, either.

Aliselia Aeon

The suburban middle class tend to be big Detroit haters, too.

Sorry for the multiple posts.

Ann Otoole

Sounds to me like there is no state government in Michigan and the feds need to send in troops to seize all the politicians and their assets for a thorough and detailed analysis.

Not having any government would apparently make little difference since they are all doing the last grab before cut and run to costa rica.

Aliselia Aeon

Isn't it interesting that this happens when:

1. People (mostly young often white) are moving back into Detroit (and developing quite an artist's community).
2. They are building a rail line along the path of the main drag, to better transport people
3. HUD his investing BIG money along the Woodward Corridor (the main drag I spoke of) and the rail line.
4. Many people of the city are actually tearing down the abandoned houses-by themselves.
5. Quite a few people are starting community gardens on abandoned vacant land.
6. A large farming business has been trying to go into Detroit to establish a huge urban farm-which means a lot of money, jobs, and good food for the people.
Hantz Farms | World's Largest Urban Farm Planned for the City of Detroit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=5B36rrj1zc0

Does anybody think that is a coincidence? There is money to be made by taking over the city.

Surreal

Good points.

Melodie Darwin

Mich. Senate passes personal property tax cuts - BusinessWeek

This is a tax that goes straight to the local governments who collected it. Under the changes, they will have to rely on the state to cover shortages. This will especially hit more industrial areas.

Aliselia Aeon

I can see an Emergency Manager deciding to sell off the vacant land in order to make money to "help the city", but selling it to buddies for almost nothing. City makes little off of it, but the buddies stand to make money in the future if property values go up (and especially if the buddies sell it to the large urban farming company).

Aliselia Aeon

The intensity of the hatred for Detroit and it's residents is astounding.

Kara Spengler

Why? They just LOVE it here in DC. We have a mayor and city offices but no representation in congress. So ironically senators from other states have more power here than local officials. We also get used as a pawn in budget battles by both teams.

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Kara Spengler

I will use the example of DC. By not having a say in local issues we have a de facto emergency manager. Our budget also gets hits from federal stuff, the fact that we have a lot of commuters who come here without paying taxes to DC, and that there are a LOT of places here that do not pay any taxes. Even our subway system is not under our control.

Cities under management by someone else are not always doing things that are their fault.

Kara Spengler

Which is what you will see if you look up home rule (and congressional representation) for DC.

Of course, we are not a state so I guess the reactions do not count ...

Aliselia Aeon

Along with what this means for my home town, it disturbs me because if he gets away with this, it other Governors might follow his example. I hope we don't see more and more of this int his country.


ETA: It infuriates me when I see/hear people say that we are "Post-racial" in this country. I have seen way too much of the opposite.

Sonja Aeghin

Alabama has to put up with it almost every year. We call it "proration." The governor's office assumes unilateral control of state spending once revenue falls short of projections, which is often. The budgets passed by the legislature go out the window. We're facing a nasty period of it atm.

Aliselia Aeon

They just announced that a 20,000sq feet supermarket is opening in the inner city of Detroit! Yay! Finally a decent supermarket!