Dennis Lennox, a conservative Republican, offers a provocative solution for Detroit’s ills as the municipal
bankruptcy process seems to be moving along – dissolve the city and start from
scratch.
bankruptcy process seems to be moving along – dissolve the city and start from
scratch.
A columnist for our sister
paper, The (Mount Pleasant) Morning Sun, Lennox cites the recent decision to
put blight removal back into the hands of the mayor’s office as a sign that
Motown may be heading back toward the bad old days.
paper, The (Mount Pleasant) Morning Sun, Lennox cites the recent decision to
put blight removal back into the hands of the mayor’s office as a sign that
Motown may be heading back toward the bad old days.
While mayor after mayor
has failed miserably to reduce blight and demolish vacant homes, the Detroit Blight
Authority, a non-profit, public-private partnership established by
builder Bill Pulte, accomplished more – in a short period of time – than city
government ever did, according to Lennox.
has failed miserably to reduce blight and demolish vacant homes, the Detroit Blight
Authority, a non-profit, public-private partnership established by
builder Bill Pulte, accomplished more – in a short period of time – than city
government ever did, according to Lennox.
The solution offered by
Lennox, published on The Detroit News website, is this:
Lennox, published on The Detroit News website, is this:
“The time has come to
admit the city’s ruin is a direct result of its structure
and system of government. The fundamental transformation so desperately
needed in Detroit can only come if the slate is wiped clean
and the city starts anew.
“… Possibilities
range from merging the city and Wayne County into a new metropolitan
government to decentralizing today’s Detroit into smaller,
more accountable and more manageable governments, based upon historical
townships or villages long ago lost to history.
admit the city’s ruin is a direct result of its structure
and system of government. The fundamental transformation so desperately
needed in Detroit can only come if the slate is wiped clean
and the city starts anew.
“… Possibilities
range from merging the city and Wayne County into a new metropolitan
government to decentralizing today’s Detroit into smaller,
more accountable and more manageable governments, based upon historical
townships or villages long ago lost to history.
“Much
of this could be carried out by either federal Judge Steven Rhodes,
overseeing Detroit’s post-bankruptcy restructuring, or state-appointed
emergency financial manager Kevyn Orr.”
The worst thing about this lunatic right-wing notion (based, as all such lunatic notions are when it comes to Republican "thinking" about the City of Detroit, on a belief that 100% of the City's problems are internal, and that the City and its residents are incapable of governing themselves) is that Lennox's reading of P.A. 436 is accurate — EM Czar Kevyn Orr DOES have the power to break up the City of Detroit, declare its City Charter (updated by voters in 2012!) null and void, and terminate each and every contract.
All in the name of ending the "financial crisis," of course.
What worries me is that far too many people, including Mayor Mike Duggan and City Council, are fixated on September 2014 as the day they can send Orr packing and starting governing the City of Detroit. That is NOT what the law says. Sure, Council can vote to discontinue Orr's contract…but there is NOTHING to prevent Gov. Rick Snyder from appointing ANOTHER EM Czar (or a financial board with all of Orr's powers), so long as SNYDER continues to believe the City remains in "crisis."
The bankruptcy doesn't change anything…even successfully coming OUT of bankruptcy wouldn't change the fact that it is SNYDER's decision ALONE whether Mayor Duggan can ever serve as the City's actual chief executive.