They are to blame for everything.
"Detroit faces takeover by state; Michigan could gut union pacts in bid to save city" December 03, 2011|By Corey Williams and Ed White, Associated Press
DETROIT - The idea is extreme, even in a city accustomed to fighting for survival: Should the state of Michigan step in to run Detroit?
The governor has taken steps in that direction, proposing an unprecedented move that could give an appointed manager virtually unchecked power to gut union contracts, cut health insurance, and slash services. But city leaders bristle at that. Said the mayor: “This is our city. Detroit needs to be run by Detroiters.’’
That's the end of democracy.
If it happens, Detroit would be the largest American city ever taken over by a state. Michigan has seized control of smaller struggling cities, but until now Detroit was off-limits.
That changed this week, when Governor Rick Snyder’s administration said it would begin a review of Detroit’s precarious finances. If the governor, a Republican, concludes that the city’s economic situation constitutes an emergency, he could dispatch a manager who could push the mayor and city council to the sidelines.
It is not clear how everyday services such as trash pickup and bus routes would be affected, but the fixer’s mission would be clear: Do whatever it takes to stop the bleeding.
Mayor Dave Bing, a Democrat, said that Detroit does not need help because it is reducing a $150 million budget deficit and easing cash-flow problems on its own....
An emergency financial manager would have the power to privatize utility departments, the bus system, and other agencies. A manager also could sell off city-owned parking lots and even Belle Isle, Detroit’s popular island park, said Michael LaFaive, director of fiscal policy at Michigan’s Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a nonpartisan group that espouses free markets.
In a 2001 report, LaFaive wrote about Detroit’s burgeoning fiscal problems and recommended privatization, contracting out services, and ways to generate revenue.
“I think they knew what the recommendations were, but their hands were tied a bit by recalcitrant employee unions,’’ LaFaive said....
Last month, Bing declared the city government “broken’’ and said the public’s checkbook would be short by $45 million next year unless Detroit starts saving money fast. In an attempt to ward off an emergency manager, he proposed laying off 1,000 employees - 9 percent of the workforce - and negotiating 10 percent pay cuts with unions.
“If Lansing believes our plan isn’t strong enough, I’d like to hear their suggestions for what they can improve,’’ the mayor said. He suggested the state help by supplying millions of dollars that he says the city was promised in a decade-old tax overhaul. Detroit has also sought help collecting its income tax....
But even after a number of threats from the mayor, organized labor barely budged. Now that a state takeover appeared more likely, adversaries have become partners.
“We’re going to sit down and resolve these issues,’’ said Al Garrett, chief of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Council 25.
A Michigan-based corporate turnaround specialist, James McTevia, said there would be potential pitfalls for any Detroit manager. Pay cuts ordered without negotiation, he said, could make the city’s workforce boil.
“You can breach all the union contracts you want, but if the police and the fire department walked out, you are in deep trouble,’’ McTevia said.
And Detroit is already a dump.
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I'm sure the unions are responsible for this, too:
"Deaths may be tied to sex ads, police say" December 28, 2011
DETROIT - A website that posts sex-related ads says it is cooperating with Detroit police in the investigation of four women found dead in car trunks, including three who promoted their services online....
Since Dec. 19, the bodies of four women have been found in car trunks just blocks apart in Detroit. Police Chief Ralph Godbee is not calling them serial killings, but he acknowledged that the online ads on Backpage are a common thread.
The latest victims were found Christmas morning, when Detroit firefighters discovered two badly burned bodies in the trunk of a car that had been set ablaze in a garage. They were identified as women ages 28 and 29. Police were awaiting a determination from the medical examiner’s office on the exact cause of death.
See: A Hell of a Christmas
Meanwhile, the families of Demesha Hunt, 24, and Renisha Landers, 23, whose bodies were found Dec. 19 in the trunk of a car parked outside a vacant home on the city’s east side, prepared for a joint funeral tomorrow. The Detroit women had been reported missing by relatives after they did not return from a night out. Police said there were no outer signs of trauma to the bodies.
Relatives of Hunt, who had a 10-month-old daughter, and Landers did not immediately respond to messages.
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