Quote:
Originally Posted by ssiguy
It's sad that Lansing has had to come in and take over the reins. This is particularily true due to Lansing being controlled by the mostly-white, suburban Republicans who will yield financial power over mostly poor, black, Democrats of Detroit.
It's not a great solution and doesn't bode well but the reality is that it was probably inevitable. Detroit is imploding due to lack of a tax base, high grandfathered worker compensation payments, high crime, declining population, and a desperate need for the social/ economic/health services it cannot afford. Not to sound too insensitive but Detroit was screwed and it's political corruption and inertia hasn't helped.
The debt burden Detroit faces is crushing and with an ever declining tax base that weigth will only increase. Whether it happened now or 6 months from now, it has become pretty clear that the state had to get involved.
One has to hope that the state will not run with some ideological bent but rather what is in the best interest of the city and her citizens.
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^That was one of the most accurate analyses that I have read.
Detroit grew out from the river to become the giant that it was in 1950. Since that apex Detroit's decline started from its center when the core became divested and decayed. Today, there is no doubt that core is starting to reverse its losses as evidenced by a major add agency announcing recently that it will be bringing 600 jobs downtown. From the core the positive infection or inflection will spread.
The problem I have is one of perception, however. If you are the quarterback and you have no line, no running game and no receivers, your stats as a quarterback are going to suck. You cannot rise to your full potential in a team sport where you are dependent upon the rest of the offense doing their part. The true capabilities of Detroit’s leadership could never manifest because they essentially had no line, running backs or receivers, given the population flight, divestment, legacy cost and the decline of the auto industry. It was losing its economic base and its population base, both of which City Hall depended on for its survival. You cannot shine at quarterback without those things.
Now, things are starting to reverse for the city as businesses and people are starting to move back into the core of the city. Now we have a coming Emergency Manager and a white candidate is now leading in the polls to be new mayor. The EM would have POWERS that city leaders did not have. Following the quarterback analogy (and it’s not meant to be a PERFECT analogy either, for detractors) the EM QB gets to change the rules of the game, when the old QB could not. He can declare previous rules of the game null and void and create his own rule. Now he gets 10 seconds before the defense can rush the passer, given him more time to find an open receiver. Thus, he will complete more passes and throw more touchdowns and the crowd will cheer and say that they should have gotten rid of the other bum QBs long ago, all while ignoring the fact that the new QB does better ONLY because he gets to change the rules to help him with his task.
Things are starting to turn around In Detroit, not because or in spite of whom the mayor or city council is. It’s turning around because the businesses community in Southeastern Michigan is finally deciding to invest in the city and young suburbanites are breaking away from the attitudes and fears of other parents and patronizing and even moving into the city’s core. When this momentum picks up and Detroit turns around and there is new leadership……the turnaround will NOT be the result of the new leadership as that will simply be a coincidence and not causation. This is not to suggest that leadership does not make a difference or that Detroit’s previous leaders since the 70’s, have not been guilty of things such as mismanagement, corruption and the like, because they have. What they are guilty of, however, is NOT responsible for the bulk of Detroit’s decline the last 40 years. Their flaws have just been used to obfuscate and deflect the root causes of the decline, which many have a vested interest in sweeping under the rug.