  E_hemingway Member Username: E_hemingway Post Number: 1704 Registered: 11-2004 |
Check out Charlie LeDuff's story about one of the city's lost & founds in the News today. Notice how the Kwame's press secretary is trying desperately to control what goes in to it and what doesn't. He is obsessively trying to control every little detail in what should be a fun and harmless feature. It's almost like he is afraid they will find more mayoral text messages in there. Look at the details in this story. Three upper management city officials are there. The press secretary is "paranoid" and a city bus driver is afraid to speak to a reporter because "the bosses were watching." This reeks of extreme message control to make sure only the proper propaganda gets through. It's reminiscent of Stalinism where the powers that be utilize "an extensive use of propaganda to establish a personality cult around an absolute dictator, as well as extensive use of the secret police to maintain social submission and silence political dissent." That description is from Wikipedia (I know, poor source of information) but it sure seems to hit the nail on the head when describing Kwame's administration. The mayor consistently refuses to answer any questions (if he takes any at all) about anything other than what that specific press conference is about. It's not uncommon that reporters trying to ask questions are restrained by armed police officers. Public information about city business is commonly withheld or selectively released. Which brings me to the point of this rant. How different would things be if city government were more transparent? Here's the lost & found story: Lonely lost and found: Is honesty a rare luxury in Detroit? Charlie LeDuff / The Detroit News DETROIT -- The Lost and Found may say more about a metropolis than Census data ever could. In its way, it is a ledger of economic health, an accounting of civic integrity and in the case of Detroit, a mirror of the political climate that envelopes the city. Recently, James Canning, a spokesman for beleaguered Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick; Lovevett D. Williams, the interim director of the city department of transportation; and a district superintendent took time from their schedules to watch a reporter stare at a bag of dirty laundry at one of the city's two lost and found windows. "I'm paranoid," Canning explained, stealing a peek into the reporter's notebook. "What are you writing?" Compare Detroit to Tokyo. There, nearly $25 million was turned into the lost and found in 2002 and nearly 75 percent of it was returned to its owners. At New York's Grand Central Station, a $100,000 violin was returned, as were four New York Knicks basketball tickets. Here at the shabby cinderblock Coolidge Bus Terminal at Schaefer and Schoolcraft on the city's west side, the Holy Grail was a pleather handbag containing $65 locked away in the vault for safe keeping. "You don't get to see it," Canning said about the purse. "Why do you need to see it?" The safe and the shelves at the Coolidge terminal should be swelling, considering the current economic pinch. Gas prices have surpassed $4 a gallon. The federal government recently reported that the income of Michigan residents is 9 percent below the national average -- worse than during the Great Depression. Bus ridership is up more than 8 percent from this time last year. Even so, the shelves at the lost and found are not bountiful, but conspicuously bare. Maybe people are so poor they have nothing to lose, offered one bus driver who would not give his name since the bosses were watching. It could be people are poor and honesty has become an unaffordable luxury, he seconded. Or maybe Detroiters have become hyper-aware of their belongings during these depressed times. While the Tokyo lost and found may have 10,000 umbrellas at any one time, a sampling at the Detroit bus terminal, supervised by Canning, revealed the bag of dirty laundry, an empty purse covered in synthetic hair and a set of door keys. "Slim pickings," said Soyna Thorton, a terminal employee. The lost and found works this way: a driver inspects his bus at the terminus of his route. Any found belongings are tagged, turned in and stored for 30 days. If no person claims the property in that period, then the bus driver is entitled to it. If he chooses not to claim it, it is thrown away. Umbrellas are the No. 1 item left behind, then eyeglasses, then handbags, Williams said. Items found over the years range from the strange to the sad. One driver said he once put on the brakes of his bus and a set of dentures slid up to his feet. Another driver found a chainsaw and got to keep it. Another found three children left behind by their mother. They were returned. Someone left behind 10 T-bone steaks. The driver reported that he ate well that night. An infirm old man forgot his oxygen tank. Another forgot his Viagra. A bag of marijuana was once found and the police were notified. "Write that down," Canning said. "The police picked that up." But of all the drivers, it seemed that Ron Schaefer made the most heroic gesture. He found a wallet containing $1,500 a number of years ago and returned it. His deed was so honest and unexpected that the city awarded him a commendation and the local television news called him a hero. "I've got the videotape at my house," he said. Why did he not just take the money, Schaefer was asked. "Don't answer that," Canning responded. You can reach Charlie LeDuff at (313) 222-2071 or charlie@detnews.com. http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.d ll/article?AID=/20080630/METRO 08/806300382/1409/METRO | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 13215 Registered: 12-2003 |
KICK ASS FIND, E! Wow..."don't answer that" Fuckin' A, the things you find on the way to other things... | ||
Digitalvision Member Username: Digitalvision Post Number: 926 Registered: 11-2003 |
Wow. As much as it's a great piece by LeDuff, I hesitate to think what anyone considering investing or moving into Detroit would think at our series of crap events, as DYes runs very high up there when searching on Google. I hope to God that this whole cacophony of bad news isn't going to stop all forward progress in it's tracks. | ||
Hockey_player Member Username: Hockey_player Post Number: 432 Registered: 10-2003 |
Instead of worrying about the bad news thwarting forward progress, shouldn't you worry instead about the reality behind those stories? (Message edited by hockey_player on June 30, 2008) | ||
Dannyv Member Username: Dannyv Post Number: 263 Registered: 08-2007 |
I'm still waiting for Detroit to hit bottom. FYI, that's when the population in the City stops it's decline and increases. It's a simple barometer of quality of life. |
