By Chuck Waters

There are very few absolutes in this lifetime. Death and taxes are examples of that.  Failure is another one of those absolutes.  Failure occurs when your desired objectives aren’t met.  Failure manifests itself in many different forms, but you can generally recognize it when you see it. Municipal failure can have long lasting effects on communities and the people that inhabit them. With all that said, I present to you the city that many people affectionately refer to as ‘The D’, or more commonly is known as Detroit, Michigan.

The following is an honest but objective view of the city of Detroit.  For now, I live here and I need for Detroit to be successful.  I recently relocated to Detroit to take advantage of a good job opportunity.  As a former resident of the Midwest, I knew what to expect when moving back.  I know of its harsh winters, its dated buildings and weather torn streets.  You come to expect to see these things and more when you drive through any city along the Great Lakes.

The Situation

Decades ago, moving to Detroit and becoming an auto worker was like winning the lottery.  It was an instant, all- access pass to the middle class of America.  With little to no educational investment, you were able to get great pay, great benefits, and pension.  The next 30 years of your life were planned for you.  Put that bolt on this piece of metal and do it before the next bolt and piece of metal comes.  While it sounds mundane and repetitive, doing so provided a better than average lifestyle for thousands of Americans and immigrants.

The Problem

This lifestyle lured many people from around the world to the motor city and supported generations of families.  It is not unusual to meet people who are 3^rd generation auto workers.  While this may sound like a great cycle, stop and think for a minute.  You have essentially thousands of people over multiple generations that have (at best) a high school education or less, in a country that is moving right along the informational highway.

The Result

While everyone was off working on the auto assembly lines and earning the day’s pay, the city around them was crumbling, physically, politically, and fiscally.  For years Detroiters have bought into the idea that if only folks would buy American cars that everything else would take care of itself.  This thought process left the money in the hands of ‘others’.  Those ‘Others’ have left the city a shell of itself.  Anything the city owns and operates is falling apart, degraded and war torn.  How does a city of thousands earning a great pay with three Iconic companies (all resulting in generous tax revenue) get to this point? I give you the Detroit Leadership.

The Leadership

The city of Detroit is still feeling the effects of its most recent scandal and that is the removal of Kwame Kilpatrick.  Many felt that Kilpatrick had a bright future ahead of him.  He was charismatic, young, and full of fresh ideas that were welcomed by all.  In that sense he and Obama had a lot in common, but ultimately that is where the comparisons end.  Kilpatrick just recently completed a jail sentence for the ‘Text Scandal’ he had with his Chief of Staff, Christine Beatty.  I won’t rehash how that played out as it is already well documented in the media.  But I will say that this scandal left Detroit with a huge black eye, when it already had one to begin with.

Moving forward to Detroit’s current City Council, something I do with reluctance. The current make-up is one of a cast of characters that mirror a bad SNL skit.  While all are truly out of their league as it relates to the job, a few really stand out as YouTube moments waiting to happen.

• Monica Conyers – The temporary leader of the city council until the new Mayor is sworn into office and the former City Council president returns.  Most commonly known for bar fights in the city, belittling other members of the council on numerous occasions, and behaving in a manner that citizens have called ‘ghetto’. See her in action here

• Barbara-Rose Collins – Once showed up a city council meeting wearing a tiara because according to her, it was her birthday.  I will leave it at that.  See her conduct here at a city council meeting:  

• Kwame Kenyatta – The definition of ‘Why Education is Critical in America’ as he has no formal education past high school.  I am not sure he finished high school.  He recently walked away from his home and mortgage because he could not afford it.  To make matters worse, he wants to run for mayor.
• Martha Reeves – Ex-Motown artist whose most significant accomplishments is getting a street named after Berry Gordy.
• JoAnn Watson – After a local news station investigation, she was found to only be paying $68 per year in property taxes on an all brick home.  When asked about it she responded ‘Who here has been undercharged and called to report it’ and laughed it off. http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/05/detroit_city_council_member_jo.html

I recently watched a City Council meeting involving the budget for 2009.  Detroit has a major revenue shortfall, which is no surprise.  Each function of the City personnel has an opportunity to come before the Council and propose their funding for the next fiscal year.  When the Auditing section came forth to discuss their portion, one council member asked whether there was an opportunity to generate additional revenue from their group.  Last time I checked, auditors do not generate revenue.  But maybe in Detroit they do.

Let me pause for a second as I do not want this to seem like I am simply downing these people.  It’s just that the basic characteristics we desire in our leaders are null and void here. 

• No professionalism – Why call the President of the Council names?
• Absences of Dignity – A tiara during a city business meeting?
• No commitment – Why walk away from your home because of the bad mortgage you signed?  He did not even lose his job and his car and expenses are paid by the city?
• Selfishness – Do we really need a Motown statue of you?  How does that help citizens?
• Lack of Integrity – $68 in property taxes on an all brick home for several years?

These are the people that represent the city in business deals with other cities, speak for us across the state, and even neighboring states (even in Canada). Canada is closer to Detroit than a drive across the city of New York.  Have you ever walked into a store and been greeted in a less than professional manner and simply left?  How about when things got tough, did you just walk away from the problem?  The city is in debt and walking away from your home and not paying your fair share of taxes directly adds to that problem.  Yet these are the people that are in charge and would like to continue in that capacity. 

What is wrong with this situation?  If they act this way when we are watching, what happens when we are not?  If they walk away from their homes during a crisis (even though he did not lose his job), what’s to say he does not walk away from the city in a worse situation?  Why a party hat in a council meeting?  I can go on, but is there really a need to?

The sad thing about Detroit’s situation is that ‘WE’ let this happen.  These are elected officials, voted into office by the people.    We didn’t hold them accountable; we let them take advantage of us.  They promised change, a new direction, and good stewardship.  What we received was something else.  We should all be ashamed.

This column however is not solely to debase Detroit.  In the coming segments we are going to take a real look at how some of Detroit’s problems can be remedied. There is no resurrection without death and perhaps the death of the auto industry as we know it, and Detroit by association provides the ultimate opportunity for a new life and a new way.  We hope you’ll stay with us on this journey.

Next up, Detroit-  ‘Nowhere else to go but up’

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