  Jhartmich Member Username: Jhartmich Post Number: 32 Registered: 04-2006 |
Maybe we you should leave something for the next mayor to sell off or give away? When Kwame Kilpatrick’s mother retires and he “takes” her job in Washington D.C., what will the next mayor have to sell off? Every week there is something more to sell off. From parks, rec centers, golf courses, and COBO Hall, to 25 DPS schools (as of today) that he wants to turn over to outside entities, when does all this end? There is no doubt in my mind that 10 years from now, there will be no DOT or DWSD. The only thing Detroit will own is ghetto neighborhoods and soup kitchens. Sorry to say this, but the mayor isn’t that good. He only can balance a budget when he lowers the salaries of city employees or sells something off. | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 2156 Registered: 06-2004 |
you want the stuff to just sit there unused, not generating any income, while the city is held responsible for maintenance and insurance liability? | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 5507 Registered: 10-2003 |
He's one of the first mayors in decades to even attempt to measurably right-size the city government. It's been long overdue. BTW, could we stop disrespectfully calling the man by his first name, and start calling him by his last name or simply 'mayor' like we do with just about every other mayor and person in public office in history? | ||
Ccbatson Member Username: Ccbatson Post Number: 558 Registered: 11-2006 |
Sell it all. The less government owns the better. | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 2769 Registered: 02-2005 |
"BTW, could we stop disrespectfully calling the man by his first name, and start calling him by his last name or simply 'mayor' like we do with just about every other mayor and person in public office in history?" Thank you. That's something I've thought about for a while. It's really a respect issue. The only other example I can think of is 'Hilary' but that's because people are clarifying since her last name is Clinton. | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 5509 Registered: 10-2003 |
Well, many love it that there is another Clinton so that they can get away with calling her by her first name. lol I swear, you can just hear the scorn dripping when many people use her first name. | ||
Chitaku Member Username: Chitaku Post Number: 1344 Registered: 03-2006 |
Kwame is his name, he is an elected official, he works for us, he is Kwame | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 5510 Registered: 10-2003 |
He is the only big city mayor I've ever heard referred to, disrespectfully, by his first name on a regular basis. Double standard? You better believe it. | ||
56packman Member Username: 56packman Post Number: 1296 Registered: 12-2005 |
We called Coleman by his first name when he was in office. Dennis Archer was almost always referred to as "Mayor Archer" rather than by his first name. | ||
Michigansheik Member Username: Michigansheik Post Number: 193 Registered: 09-2005 |
i think its a matter of what rolls off the tongue the easiest, Mayor Kilpatrick or Kwame. i don't think its disrespectful in a forum to use a first name. i'm sure in person people would address Kwame as Mayor Kilpatrick. just my opinion. Regarding this threads topic, I see no point in the city holding onto to assets it can not maintain, manage or improve, so it should sell them to persons or groups that can. | ||
Detroit_stylin Member Username: Detroit_stylin Post Number: 4085 Registered: 10-2003 |
I agree calling the mayor an elected official by his first name on a regular basis is disrespectful and on this forum he tends to be disrespected alot. I don't see too many people calling LB Patterson "Brooks" everytime something comes up with his name attached... | ||
Granmontrules Member Username: Granmontrules Post Number: 73 Registered: 01-2007 |
You should always refer to an elected official by their surname and title. It is respectful. Also SELL IT! | ||
Lilpup Member Username: Lilpup Post Number: 2158 Registered: 06-2004 |
that's because "Brooks" sounds goofy, "Kwame" doesn't and is easier to say (and type) don't really agree with the respect/disrespect thing - hate that type of controlling attitude | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 1004 Registered: 10-2006 |
With the city running things that could otherwise be done privately, why should the city run them? Please do sell them off to private/non-profit groups that will better manage them! | ||
Detroit_stylin Member Username: Detroit_stylin Post Number: 4087 Registered: 10-2003 |
What i'd prefer is for a regional body to handle and take control of all regional attractions in the area... too much private control can lead to bad things happening | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 9221 Registered: 12-2003 |
So...you're saying 'the Big Diamond' is out of the question?! He was in my backyard for a few minutes Friday night...he's larger than life. I hear Kilpatrick, I think some little red gnome at the end of the rainbow, might be serving Vernors or a pint of Guinness. I hear Kwame, I see ONLY this man at the helm of our city. Might be disrespectful to some, but clearly descriptive and honorable to me. It is a very strong name for a strong personality. He'll be 'your honor' the moment he gets rid of Christine Beatty and the henchmen. I'll call him something else entirely when he finally finishes a Free Press Marathon. | ||
Detroitbill Member Username: Detroitbill Post Number: 245 Registered: 09-2006 |
The city selling off its public assets is the right thing to do, considering its financial limitation. In many respects these entities will be in much better shape with private/other interests maintaining them. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 9222 Registered: 12-2003 |
Leasing off public treasures...sounds like a better idea. Need to discern between treasures and mere assets...they both look the same on paper. | ||
Irvine_laird Member Username: Irvine_laird Post Number: 52 Registered: 02-2007 |
The mayor has used two methods to leverage city-owned assets to improve Detroit's fiscal condition. The first is to transfer management of assets to nonprofit organizations without transferring ownership. The Detroit Zoo and Detroit Historical Museum are cases in point. These assets remain the property of the people of Detroit for all posterity (by nature of the legal agreements), but are held in trust by the Detroit Zoological Society and Detroit Historical Society. I believe this is a good arrangement for the city, for the attractions, and for the people. The second method is to sell assets outright. The Rackham golf course in Huntington Woods is the foremost example. In this case, the sale of the land helps the city's finances, but may not be in the interest of the public (particularly the people of Huntington Woods). Only time will tell who benefits most. | ||
Michmeister Member Username: Michmeister Post Number: 179 Registered: 10-2006 |
Selling things off is treating the symptoms and not the disease. What are you going to do when the last asset is sold off and the ship still hasn`t been righted? You then have a city that is broke, and even worse off than before but, this has all been said before on another thread. | ||
Romanized Member Username: Romanized Post Number: 223 Registered: 02-2005 |
I still don't understand the fascination with owning stuff. A city is a space for people to live and do business. So long as that space has the requisite infrastructure, facilities and attractions for people to access, who cares who owns the deeds. In fact there is ample evidence that the taxpayers are not served by city ownership of many assets. Its hard for the city to go broke if its hand and nose isn't into a million different things. | ||
Renfirst Member Username: Renfirst Post Number: 37 Registered: 12-2006 |
Giuliani loved being called Rudy, I'm sure Kilpatrick loves being called Kwame ... Maybe we should call him Cheeks Jr., lol, isn't that was his mother's nicknamed? I think I remember a Colbert piece with her in it. | ||
Trainman Member Username: Trainman Post Number: 394 Registered: 04-2006 |
Sell DDOT. It was the grossly incompetent DDOT that ran late buses into Livonia and the illegal DARTA agreement that that directly caused the SMART buses to leave Livonia. Honest taxpayers like myself want to support mass transit but we have no mass transit leadership in Lansing. SELL DDOT, SELL DDOT. SELL it now and let someone who knows transportation run it by getting both state and federal money and getting people to ride the bus. SEL DDOT Kwame. Kwame, show the suburbanites that you care by selling DDOT today, so we can have a real public transit system that the public wants, will use and will support. http://savethefueltax.tripod.c om/remain3.html | ||
Paulmcall Member Username: Paulmcall Post Number: 130 Registered: 05-2004 |
Maybe we could just have the city go into bankruptcy? You have to balance the budget and I don't see how they can come up with money they need unless they sell off what they can. I can't see calling Kwame "Your Honor" when he hasn't done much honorable. | ||
Track75 Member Username: Track75 Post Number: 2531 Registered: 10-2003 |
How about a private equity company like Cerberus buys the city, radically restructures it and flips it back to public ownership? | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 5512 Registered: 10-2003 |
Ha! | ||
Ffdfd Member Username: Ffdfd Post Number: 76 Registered: 09-2006 |
quote: quote: Dubya, eh? | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 730 Registered: 11-2005 |
I agree with selling the buildings. They're going to sit and rot whether the city owns them or a slumlord owns 'em, so the city might as well get something. I posed a question a while back: Why not sell things like the Merrill Fountain in Palmer Park if you can get a couple of million. The thing has tons of history, but it's sitting dry and falling apart. Might as well sell it to a city where it would be appreciated. City shoulda sold the figures off the Lee Plaza, too, once they were already torn down by scumbags. | ||
Trainman Member Username: Trainman Post Number: 398 Registered: 04-2006 |
We should sell Detroit to the french, since your honorable mayor wants to tax french fries to keep his union bus drivers employed. Kwame Kilpatrick the mayor never did show up at Livonia city hall to fight for the SMART buses like he should have. It's unfortunate that Detroit has a mayor who won't show up at meetings where we all really need him. I'm sure he could have saved SMART if he blasted the city council of Livonia on TV for not caring about the minorities and the low income and the disabled citizen's who rely on SMART and DDOT. | ||
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 466 Registered: 01-2007 |
I think any thing owned, or operated by the city of Detroit needs to be sold off. The money could be used to pay down the debt, and the farming out of all services will not only free the city of those obligations, but the service will improve. They need to streamline from the top down: from Kwame down to Joe six pack. And get rid of the income tax crap too. | ||
Ha_asfan Member Username: Ha_asfan Post Number: 104 Registered: 06-2006 |
Well, it's just too bad the mayor, kwame, can't sell the whole kit and kaboodle, the entire city as a package to someone who could actually run it in a bountiful manner. | ||
Ccbatson Member Username: Ccbatson Post Number: 601 Registered: 11-2006 |
Sell=privatize....ABSOLUTELY. | ||
John_galt Member Username: John_galt Post Number: 2 Registered: 08-2006 |
Besides the military (which the gov't is the only one authorized to run per the Constitution), there isn't anything that the government can run more efficiently than private industry. When there is no competition, there is no incentive to become more efficient or provide better service, thus leading to the state of affairs we see now. Of course when privatization is brought up, the city employees and unions will scream bloody murder. Their motivation seems to lie more with preserving their employment, and not with what is best for the city/state. | ||
Club_boss Member Username: Club_boss Post Number: 99 Registered: 12-2006 |
The state of Indiana is doing the same thing, or should I say the governor of Indiana is doing the same thing, except he's not selling anything, he's leasing things, like the toll road. Very heated topic, or at least it was. | ||
Ccbatson Member Username: Ccbatson Post Number: 617 Registered: 11-2006 |
Welcome John_galt....Love the handle, and all it implies. We could use another capitalist on these forums. | ||
Trainman Member Username: Trainman Post Number: 400 Registered: 04-2006 |
I'm very serious about DDOT being sold. We could import monkeys from the jungles of Africa to run DDOT and see an improvement as evidenced by the many complaints in Livonia about DDOT at our city hall which along with the grossly incompetent, illegal and immoral DARTA effort caused the voters to opt out of SMART. | ||
Ccbatson Member Username: Ccbatson Post Number: 633 Registered: 11-2006 |
You have my vote and support. The dynamic of inefficient and poorly run government operated endeavors is nearly universal (and, even that, might be an understatement). | ||
Oldredfordette Member Username: Oldredfordette Post Number: 1737 Registered: 02-2004 |
Kindly name an instance where privatization has caused savings and efficiency. | ||
Ccbatson Member Username: Ccbatson Post Number: 637 Registered: 11-2006 |
Best to be private and remain so. Personally, Each and every Physician practice that has been privatized is an example of the successes. As the industry has done this over the last 10 years to a very large extent, it is the best example I can think of. True that the original employer was not the government directly, but a not for profit hospital largely payed by the government in the form of Medicare/caid. Other examples are harder to come by...why? Government does not readily let go of power/control...even if they are killing themselves by not doing so. In the bigger picture, contrasting the successes of private industry versus government run services is a great illustration. Of course, not all businesses are a success, however, when they fail, the market provides a replacement that doesn't. When the government fails in a business venture, it just limps along like a zombie/the undead in perpetuity. | ||
Trainman Member Username: Trainman Post Number: 402 Registered: 04-2006 |
SMART no longer qualifies or receives federal transit grants as a region anymore because of discrimination against the low income and minorities. In addition, SMART receives very little revenue sharing for the handicapped from MDOT due to massive state level cuts for public bus service. Transit advocacy groups want to tax fast food because they know very well that the days of federal and state transit funding are history. They are invited to challenge me on television but they won't because they know the TRUth. Post here and challenge me on TV. If I do not see any posts then I know that there are no posters on DY that are very SMART or maybe they just happen to have missed this post. |
