Detroit Leaders Need To Take Action!

I need to offer my two cents involving Detroit’s situation regarding the Emergency Finance Manager. Let me start by letting you know that my own opinion about the EFM working in Detroit is still being shaped. I’m not entirely sure that the leaders involved in this situation are being completely honest. There have been articles written about Detroit’s financial dire straits letting people know that in order for Detroit to be saved an EFM needs to be appointed. You then here about Mayor Dave Bing disagreeing with Governor Rick Snyder’s feelings about the necessity of an EFM to rescue Detroit financially. The city council, meanwhile, is prepared to challenge the legality of the Governor’s decision. Mayoral candidates feel an EFM isn’t necessary and that Detroit can pull out its financial Armageddon on its own. All of these differences of opinions tells me that all parties involved, from the beginning, aren’t acting like good leaders.

 In my opinion all parties involved are acting in their own best interests. It seems that these leaders have forgotten who their inaction affects and that is the citizens of Detroit and of Michigan. Political leaders, too often, act to preserve votes, try to accomplish part of their own agenda created as they try to enter the political arena, or are just greedy believing that a fire sale of Detroit assets will be held and they will lose something or that this is a hostile takeover of the city. Everybody knows the best route Detroit should take but too often don’t get the opinions of the people that matter, Detroiters and Michiganders!

So as I remember the articles telling readers the reason that Detroit shouldn’t hire an EFM or the theories of how to pull Detroit out of economic ruin. I urge leaders of Detroit and Michigan to do one thing which is DO SOMETHING FOR GOODNESS SAKE! That’s right please settle on a resolution, organize the resources that will allow a vision to be followed, and lets start to actually take action to make Detroit and Michigan better places. Too often over my four decades of life has nothing been done. Bickering, lawsuits, and sheer greed have gotten in the way of progress. Leaders have turned a blind eye to all of the conflict existing which often times results in bigger conflicts.

So please constructively settle the existing conflict, let’s get over self-serving statements like Charles Pugh had last week by telling people that he doesn’t want to work in City Council for free, let’s get all of the available resources together and lets start to rebuild Detroit. Leaders need to get in sync with each other and actually act as partners instead of their own personal hedge funds looking out for themselves instead of its citizens. So whether Detroit partners with the state to offer services, or it becomes an innovative city by getting more Campbell-Ewalds to join Detroit, or it just downsizes by demolishing empty houses and buildings and developing farmland please do one of these and create a new mantra for Detroit.  Over the course of a year I’d like to be able to write about how the leaders of Michigan became more organized and transformational in 2013 which helped all cities become a little better.