By Chuck Waters

Early in my life, like many teens, I held a job in the quick service industry.  We called it fast food back then but the job was still the same.  One day, a man came through the drive-thru lane and placed an order, paid, received his order and pulled off.  Not a minute or two later, the side entrance to the restaurant flew open and a bag of food flew into the door towards the front counter.  A voice yelled, “This shit wrong!”  It was the same man we served a few minutes ago.  We all looked at ourselves in shock for a moment but eventually the issue was fixed and he was on his way.

I think the feeling is similar among citizens in Detroit and has been for a while.  I’m not a lifelong Detroiter; far from it.  I grew up in Indiana and spent seven years in Atlanta prior to moving to Detroit in 2009.  Many of my friends, family and associates thought I was crazy for making the move.  They heard the national stories, the uncertainty of the auto industry, and worst of all the cold weather.  Something in me thought this was the right move and a place where I could make a place for myself and ultimately a future by going directly into a problem.

Three years later, I will be honest with you. I have feelings similar to the man whose order was wrong.  I came with an expectation and thought I knew what I was getting into.  But since moving here, I’ve witnessed a lot of good, but also a lot of negative things.  But I think the biggest atrocity has been the lack of stewardship of the people’s money.  We give leadership the honor to represent us and spend our money on the things we value, in a way that best serves our needs and that honor is repeatedly disrespected or misdirected in ways that don’t do us justice.  Corruption, fraud and theft are the easy evils to call out.  No one would even begin to try and defend those.  However, what about choosing whether or not to police my neighborhood, maintain city-owned lighting, and operate busses in a manner that is at best recognizable to this century.

Detroit is full of good, honest hardworking people and that story is never told outside of Michigan.  Philanthropy is almost an expectation of citizenship here.  I’d argue that many citizens are involved in at least two community efforts in varying capacities.  Those are the people that my heart goes out to on many occasions.  They are committed on varying levels to Detroit, but Detroit and its leadership has not been committed to them.  While other cities are upgrading light rail systems, experiencing growth in business and citizens, we are still fighting over the busses being run on time, trash being collected timely and cutting checks to government workers.  How is it possible for people to take your tax and charge you fees then negotiate with you on what they choose to do for you, and even worse the excellence or lack thereof which it will be provided?

This isn’t being written as just another citizen who is angry over how the city is run; it’s more than that.  I am the growth you said you wanted, the young urban professional to live, work and play in Detroit.  The issue is that you really didn’t want me, only my money over the next 30 years, so you can continue to maintain whatever it is that you choose and that is wrong.  Unfortunately, I can’t throw my Detroit experience onto the City Hall floor with disgust.

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