  Hutt Member Username: Hutt Post Number: 10 Registered: 10-2005 Posted From: 64.136.49.225 |
You've got to be kidding, right? When is this excessive and ridiculous spending going to stop? Hey I want a new wireless laptop computer too... can't affort it right now. Schools lacking proper security, shrinking police and fire departments, garbage starting to pile up and lots of other city services going straight down the tubes. Wait a minute, I know what we need!!! Wireless Laptop Computers!!! Yes, we will put our Research and Analysis Division and Information Technology Services on this right away!!! Feeling So Much Kinder after getting my rant out. Thank You. Hutt. | ||
Sharmaal Member Username: Sharmaal Post Number: 739 Registered: 09-2004 Posted From: 68.85.153.113 |
Well, I don't think it would be that big of a deal if it were done right. I've got a computer at work, I wasn't asked to buy it. Unfortunately, It won't be done right. I'm sure buying a few laptops like this will easily balloon into spending 50K (or more) for a project that should be around 9k. I'd love to see all the invoices... | ||
Hutt Member Username: Hutt Post Number: 11 Registered: 10-2005 Posted From: 64.136.49.225 |
I agree with those figures Sharmaal. I am bothered by this because everyone I know is tightening up on their dollars, and council should follow suit. For now maybe they should just take notes and pay attention. | ||
Paulmcall Member Username: Paulmcall Post Number: 595 Registered: 05-2004 Posted From: 68.40.119.216 |
The feeling of entitlement is unbelievable in the leaders of this city. Martha Reeves showed how much is belongs when she cried about how she'd only go to the Super Bowl if she got freebies. When is the last time you heard one of these people digging into their own pockets to help out like some teachers have had to over the years(to get books, class supplies etc.) Once they get in office, it seems it's a "what's in it for me" attitude that prevails and citizens are last in line for their attention. | ||
Jt1 Member Username: Jt1 Post Number: 6788 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 198.208.251.24 |
Although I can't say it too often I agree with Paulmcall 100% here. City council members make 80K+ for their job yet they expect the citizens to subsidize their every whim. Computers purchased and supported properly may make sense but we are also cutting the city IT department pretty heavy. The IT department, if managed properly is an enabler to reduce costs, giving CC more toys will not. | ||
Ilovedetroit Member Username: Ilovedetroit Post Number: 2078 Registered: 02-2005 Posted From: 63.149.5.130 |
I am not defening CC - but alot of them do a lot in the community - with small budgets that have big impacts. Unfornately we hear about a lot of the bad. People have laughed about past CCs I think this one may be one of the worst in history. But I hope I am wrong! | ||
Jt1 Member Username: Jt1 Post Number: 6790 Registered: 10-2003 Posted From: 198.208.251.24 |
They may very well do a lot but they also do some very ignorant and embarrasing stuff. If they want credit for the good they have to make a conscience effort to avoid the bad decisions. Martha insisting that they should get free SP tickets is just another embarrasing incident to give the press fuel to focus on the negative. CC controls their own image and sadly the good gets overlooked because they give so many opportunities to report on the bad. I know that I have only gotten responses from Ken Cockrel in the past so I can't say they are great at keeping in touch with their constituents. | ||
Ilovedetroit Member Username: Ilovedetroit Post Number: 2079 Registered: 02-2005 Posted From: 63.149.5.130 |
Like I said I am not defending them. In that past I have only had luck with McPhail's office but she is gone. Other than that I understand that Watson's team is good at response. I have heard that Brenda Jones has a good team - but don't know much about her. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 121 Registered: 10-2004 Posted From: 69.242.223.42 |
Consider what Joe Harris said about KK or the previous Councils. Then ask yourself how this Council would be any different. The Harris Manifesto Parting shots from Detroit’s auditor general by Metro Times news staff 4/27/2005 "Editor’s Note: There was a moment of high tension last week as Detroit Auditor General Joe Harris concluded the blistering financial critique he’d delivered to City Council. With his 10-year term ending this year, Harris let loose before heading out the door. He hammered the mayor for producing a proposed budget that Harris claims bears little resemblance to reality. He slammed the unions and other special interest groups for helping to drive this city to the brink of insolvency. And he lit into the council itself, calling it “one of the most divisive and ineffective legislative bodies of this City within the past several decades.” In short, Harris unleashed a rhetorical flamethrower that spared no one. As he concluded, all present seemed to hold their breath for an instant. How would the council respond to this blistering attack? It was easy to imagine a sword of umbrage hanging in the air, ready to swing in retaliation. Then Council President Pro Tem Kenneth Cockrel Jr. stepped into the void. “So, Joe, why don’t you tell us how you really feel?” Cockrel quipped. The relief of nervous laughter rippled through the chamber, and the moment of unease passed. Criticism came afterward. At a news conference Monday, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick disputed Harris’ contention that this crisis should have been foreseen at the time of his election in 2001. And the mayor shrugged off Harris’ claim that the administration’s budget projections are unrealistic, saying “aggressive negotiations” with employee unions are under way as the city attempts to rein in spending to help keep the city solvent. Although they embraced his critique of the Kilpatrick administration, a few council members, including President Maryann Mahaffey and Barbara-Rose Collins, were irked by what Mahaffey called “gratuitous slaps” at the council. “We look to him for fiscal analysis, not for comments about who he doesn’t like,” Mahaffey said. Union reps, likewise, attempted to deflect the intense heat Harris directed at them. “We won’t accept the blame for mismanagement by previous administrations or this administration,” said Jimmie Hearns, an official with AFSCME Council 25, which represents about 3,500 of the city’s 18,000 workers. Harris knew going in that his candor would generate backlash. He didn’t care. With nothing to lose, Harris — a true policy wonk consumed with finding ways to make government operate more efficiently — had no reason to hold back. It’s part of his job as the city’s fiscal watchdog to present an analysis of the mayor’s proposed budget each year. This time around, though, he did much more than that, delivering as his swan song a critique that is much more political — and far more expansive — than any previous such analysis. The question now is, will anyone truly listen to what he has to say? Maybe not. Harris, who was routed in the mayoral primary four years ago, has been ignored before. After auditing the city’s Transportation Department, he produced a restructuring plan he said could save taxpayers $40 million a year. That report sat on a shelf, gathering dust. Even more devastating, Harris’ calls for fundamental change have gone unheeded for years. Now the bankruptcy he warned of looms ominously on Detroit’s horizon. “Had City government officials developed budgets beyond one year, along with plans to address the projected shortfalls, this crisis could have been forestalled,” Harris told the council. “The five-year forecast I prepared for the City two years ago was ignored.” Maybe now, as he’s about to leave the building, people will take heed of what Joe Harris has to say. “You have been a consistent voice in the wilderness for a number of years,” Councilmember Sheila Cockrel told Harris. “This is a time I hope it will be heard with great clarity.” There are certainly aspects of this report that are open to dispute and debate. But after listening to Harris’ critique, we thought it deserved amplification and reprinting in its entirety to further understanding and discussion of Detroit’s budget crisis. Harris's lengthy message follows... [cf. above link] | ||
Bertz Member Username: Bertz Post Number: 505 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 68.61.15.89 |
Receivership has got to be better then the leadership of these crocked clowns. Don’t get me wrong, receivership is not some magical cure-all, but at least it would stop preposterous incidences like this. Till then the “party” will continue. (Message edited by bertz on February 20, 2006) | ||
Bob Member Username: Bob Post Number: 767 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 205.188.116.137 |
Let's give them something that cost extra money, so they can communicate on ways to continue to get in the way and screw up the city. No wonder the west side of the state laughs at us. | ||
Leob Member Username: Leob Post Number: 29 Registered: 10-2005 Posted From: 24.192.32.249 |
I know from personal experience with City of Detroit ITS that half of the council is functionally computer illiterate. The ones that do type for themselves have laughable security. Ex. The number one network password on City of Detroit Computers ? "Detroit" The number 2 most popular password ? "Jesus" I swear to God ...try it sometime. Now let's make them mobile !! | ||
Metrodetguy Member Username: Metrodetguy Post Number: 2318 Registered: 11-2003 Posted From: 70.228.0.238 |
"Ilovedetroit" didn't you previously claim that the latest council would be one of the best. Still can't keep your stories straight! Of course "you only had luck with McPhail's office". | ||
Wilus1mj Member Username: Wilus1mj Post Number: 40 Registered: 05-2005 Posted From: 216.111.89.3 |
Lease the new laptops, sell/donate desktops. | ||
Ilovedetroit Member Username: Ilovedetroit Post Number: 2080 Registered: 02-2005 Posted From: 68.40.225.35 |
Metro - No I never said that. I only voted for two of the current council members. | ||
Leob Member Username: Leob Post Number: 30 Registered: 10-2005 Posted From: 24.192.32.249 |
The City doesn't understand what a PC lease is. They figure you just run every PC into the ground right ? After all, evabody know that older cars be cheaper to operate right ? They don't donate PCs. Are you kidding? That's what the garage sale is for. A couple of palettes of Old PCs that don't disappear off the loading dock make it to Cobo Hall every year to be sold with sensitive info. still on em' |
