  Lowell Board Administrator Username: Lowell Post Number: 4572 Registered: 10-2003 |
I just caught another outstanding dicussion on "Detroit Today" [WDET], this time with officials of the Michigan Suburbs Alliance. The name is a bit broad as it is predominantly an alliance of older inner ring metro Detroit suburbs. They also expressed great commonality with Detroit and its issues who they increasingly find their communities facing. I have no doubt they would welcome Detroit into their efforts. It was refreshing to hear a sincere discussion about the common concerns they face such as unlimited sprawl that, like dominoes falling from Detroit, Highland Park and other older communities, have fallen on them. The impetus for the discussion was an upcoming Regional Development Summit at the MGM. Great to hear. The sooner we come together the better it will be for all of us. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 5463 Registered: 10-2004 |
Anybody want to spend $63.52 on attending that summit of theirs in three days from now? Must be an terribly important gathering, considering all the media hype over it... This group says that they have been around doing whatever it is that they do for over three years now. Probably the worst 3+ years for Metro Detroit since 1929... Wanna bet that these statists will say that more (consolidated) government is needed. And, of course, they'll say that a CHANGE? to even more government is needed. Needn't waste $63.52 to hear that. | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1141 Registered: 12-2006 |
Actually, LY, I wonder if they are considering things like shared services that would make our region more efficient. There is no need for the tri-county region to have 125 police departments, 125 departments of public works, and so on. There is something afoot in Farmington and Farmington Hills in that regard and I'm curious to see how it goes. I believe also Mt. Clemens recently gave up its police department and now contracts with the Macomb County Sheriff. Things like this will be necessary if we are to become once again viable as a region, so perhaps an organization such as this can move such ideas forward. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5419 Registered: 10-2003 |
Ferndale and its neighbors have been sharing services more and more recently. | ||
E_hemingway Member Username: E_hemingway Post Number: 1592 Registered: 11-2004 |
As long as the economy slumps, merging services and municipalities will be the name of the game. Specifically in the name of saving money. The proposed Farmington merger is just the beginning. More that will come on line within the next year as the national economy goes into the tank. | ||
Fareastsider Member Username: Fareastsider Post Number: 839 Registered: 08-2006 |
I understand the concerns and problems with many independent community governments in a region but I believe that it is also good to have various individual communities. It offers choice and hey if a group of people can run a community the way the community sees fit that is a good thing. The problem is though that we humans tend to get selfish and squander our resources plus there is the endless squabbling over little details which hinders a lot of progress. Something I have always wondered about with cities is why there arent more large cities that grow in response to the central city. Why are there so many little cities and not a large rival city in many metros. I suppose the western cities have large mega suburbs around them such as Vegas and Phoenix. I am surprised a number of periphery townships never joined together to make a larger more powerful city. Probably because no city or township wants to loose their authority I guess. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5424 Registered: 10-2003 |
How did St. Paul and Minneapolis come to be? Those are big cities that are literally right next to each other. | ||
Gene Member Username: Gene Post Number: 85 Registered: 10-2006 |
How come Ferndale does not want to share services with Royal Oak Twp.? Wonder how many communities are jumping on the bandwagon to help out our neighbors in Pontiac? I have a copy of the agenda of Fridays MSA summit no mention of sharing services. Boilerplate brownfield, smart growth and strategizing kind of stuff. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 5465 Registered: 10-2004 |
Scott: Governments don't cause communities to prosper. Only abundant private-sector employment does that. Community governments are there to do such things as picking up the trash, provide police and fire protection, courts, etc. Chicago privatized its entire municipal water utility last year, BTW. By sharing, would you be in favor of Detroit sharing its overt and covert patronage corruption that has been slowing seeing the light of day lately? Communities can share services already without expecting more socialism in the process. Might this conference be supporting more (any?) privatization where all this municipal unionism is concerned. I don't think so... As a self-proclaimed libertarian, are you going to blow away $63.52 on March 7? | ||
Udmphikapbob Member Username: Udmphikapbob Post Number: 530 Registered: 07-2004 |
Lowell - is the discussion available online? | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1142 Registered: 12-2006 |
LY, Governments don't create prosperity except indirectly: they avoid creating hindrances to prosperity. One such hindrance is inefficient use of tax money, which communities could voluntarily (or, as in Ontario, by edict from above) avoid by sharing services. Of course I am not in favor of relatively efficient governments bogging themselves down by sharing with very inefficient governments. Communities can share services now but very few do so; I am in favor of much more of this, but only where it makes sense (you gave a good example of where it would not). I am also in favor of privatization and things like defined-contribution retirement plans. I don't ordinarily attend conferences of any kind unless I'm a speaker (and I'm not for this one). I haven't the time; it's not about the sixty-odd dollars. Where did this oddball dollar amount come from, anyway? $60 or $65 I would understand, but $63.52? Prof. Scott | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5426 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: Not the best example. R.O.T. should be dissolved as a municipality completely, in my opinion. They contract their police services from the state and county. Ferndale and Oak Park help when they can. Problem is, nobody wants it. Even Detroit would (and has) say "No Thanks" to R.O.T. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 5467 Registered: 10-2004 |
Check it out Scott. The $63.52 is their number.Better hurry because that number is no longer applicable on their Web site. It's now been jacked up to $75 (plus processing fees) from what it was an hour ago. Those added fees result in the odd figures. Typical government-type SOP... Don't bitch to me, Scott, about that because you weren't invited to get paid as a speaker and get a rubber chicken meal to boot... | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1143 Registered: 12-2006 |
These kinds of orgs don't usually pay me; I usually do presentations for free. Well, OK, mostly I get a lunch out of the deal. But it's rarely a very good lunch as you know. | ||
Matt_the_deuce Member Username: Matt_the_deuce Post Number: 801 Registered: 10-2003 |
LY - Are you saying that you are in favor of inefficient use of your tax dollars? Not sure why the topic of municipalities saving money would get your dander up. One of the main reasons this Metro region is so bogged down is that we have a bunch of little fiefdoms fighting for there own good, and not necessarily the good of the region. Now don't go barking about communism and all that bullshit. We're talking about moving the needle a little bit over - not any idealistic/drastic change that you seem to fear. We need to get in line with the rest of the United States Of America before we can look to our bright future in matching red uniforms. | ||
Hudkina Member Username: Hudkina Post Number: 131 Registered: 12-2004 |
John Lodge, didn't Oak Park just recently (since 2000) annex the area of Royal Oak TWP that was adjacent to Southfield? I'm sure the remaining portion will eventually be annexed by Oak Park or Ferndale. | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5430 Registered: 10-2003 |
They did Annex part of it, but that's because that part had a large Jewish population. The remaining portion of ROT is not an asset to the surrounded cities. It has crappy housing stock, a poor tax base, and would be more work than it would ever be worth. This goes back a LONG time. A 1960 issue of Time magazine: http://www.time.com/time/magaz ine/article/0,9171,826587,00.h tml?promoid=googlep | ||
Gene Member Username: Gene Post Number: 86 Registered: 10-2006 |
quote I understand the concerns and problems with many independent community governments in a region but I believe that it is also good to have various individual communities. It offers choice and hey if a group of people can run a community the way the community sees fit that is a good thing. The problem is though that we humans tend to get selfish and squander our resources plus there is the endless squabbling over little details which hinders a lot of progress As long as its not ROT. | ||
Jfried Member Username: Jfried Post Number: 1116 Registered: 11-2003 |
Johnlodge - thanks for posting that article. I have heard about those students before but never got the full story. Livernoisyard - you seem like a miserable person. You never have anything positive to add other than how awesome of an engineer you are and how great Wisconsin is. Give it up. Take the time to read the link about the event. The whole focus of the summit is on taking advantage of the opportunity of the national brownfields conference being here in Detroit this May 5-7. | ||
Andylinn Member Username: Andylinn Post Number: 757 Registered: 04-2006 |
i'll be at their event on Friday. see anyone there? | ||
Treelock Member Username: Treelock Post Number: 286 Registered: 03-2005 |
LY needs a good hug. Or a hobby. Can anyone recommend a good book for Livernoisyard? | ||
Johnlodge Member Username: Johnlodge Post Number: 5436 Registered: 10-2003 |
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Gene Member Username: Gene Post Number: 87 Registered: 10-2006 |
quote "One of the main reasons this Metro region is so bogged down is that we have a bunch of little fiefdoms fighting for there own good, and not necessarily the good of the region." So where did Coleman and his brand of what you call a fiefdom figure in. How about McNamara? Dearborn's Hubbard? Bringing home the bacon. Pork. If elected leaders are not bringing it home, vote the bums out. Sorry but thats how it works, Comrade. This little summit will do nothing to change the basic structure of our government. | ||
Novine Member Username: Novine Post Number: 460 Registered: 07-2007 |
Here's a fun game you can play - Detroit annexes the remaining section of Royal Oak Township. This extends Detroit's border into Oakland County. Then using an obscure state law, Detroit voters approve a change in the county border so that the entire city falls within Oakland County. Kwame resigns as Mayor and runs against Brooks Patterson for Oakland County Executive. Best of all, it's 100% legal! | ||
Matt_the_deuce Member Username: Matt_the_deuce Post Number: 802 Registered: 10-2003 |
Gene - so it is what it is - a structural flaw in the way the region runs. It's been this way for a long time, and our performance as a region is pretty obvious. I knew you were on my side. | ||
Jfried Member Username: Jfried Post Number: 1118 Registered: 11-2003 |
andylinn - were you the dude at the summit wearing a pimped out hat? just a guess? | ||
Detroitmaybe Member Username: Detroitmaybe Post Number: 8 Registered: 03-2008 |
for those that attended that event, what did they discuss?? |
