I genuinely like and respect both Mayor Bing and Governor Snyder.
It is down right painful to watch two good, decent men, that want what
is best for our city and state, to be tangled up in “us vs them”
issues that have the potential, if it has not already, to spill over
into a “City vs. State or worse yet, a racial divide with no easy way
out.
I am pleased to see Governor Snyder schedule community town hall
meetings in Detroit to show he does not have “a hidden agenda to
subvert democracy.” A few days of listening will be time well spent.
Harvey Hollilins lll, the Governor’s director of urban and metro
initiatives, said he will work with the NAACP and other community
groups to organize the meetings.
Words have consequences. Mayor Bing calling Gov. Snyder less than
honest and “disingenuous” and the Gov’s retort being Detroit has a
“cultural” problem accepting help, are not advancing solutions to the
financial Armageddon facing the city.
It is good, Gov. Snyder is off to Italy and German in search of jobs
and investments for Michigan— the time gone can be used as a
“cooling off period.”
Mayor Bing, with all due respect, you have moved too slowly in
addressing a fiscal mess and structural mismanagement that you
inherited and has been decades in the making. As you so painfully
know, the fiscal gimmicks, one time only funding sources, paying your
Visa card with your Master card borrowing options have run out. The
City of Detroit is heading towards bankruptcy if drastic action is not
taken– now!
The city, needs the state on its side to solve the fiscal crisis that
has amassed for decades.
The choices range from serious injury – to death:
* Consent Agreement
* Emergency Manager
* Bankruptcy
Gov. Snyder is taking the heat for over a half decade of a whole bunch
of politicians, Republicans and Democrats, sitting in Lansing and
Detroit, that have kicked the Detroit problems down the road.
Today, we have reached the point that there is no more can or road.
If you have a hole in your roof, pretending to fix it- does not keep
the rain out. It is time to stop the pretending and spending and fix
both the short-term and long term structural fiscal holes in Detroit
government.
No Fairy Tale
The changes needed are painful because they have been neglected for
too long. Once upon a time, a band-aid or aspirin may have sufficed.
Today, major surgery and amputation is require to save the city. This
is the reality that needs to be faced.
Pointing fingers will not get the job done.
Be clear, the only human that likes change– is an infant. The changes
required are difficult and will hurt.
When you deny and neglect problems as long as City and State leaders
have, the pain is only magnified.
Governor Snyder repeatedly has said he is open to compromise on the
Consent Agreement, as long as it truly addresses the fiscal and
management problems and holds everyone accountable.
Niccolo Machiavelli, centuries ago in his famous book, “The Prince,”
offered his analysis to the political theater we are witnessing
today, as Governor Snyder attempts to address long standing and
neglected problems in Detroit, when he said:
“It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry
out, nor more doubtful of success, or more dangerous to handle, than
to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all
those who profit by the old order and only lukewarm defenders in all
those who would profit by the new order.”
We need a “new order.” Stop the games, fix the problem.
Tom Watkins a regular contributor to these pages was a Charter
Commissioner serving Detroit on the Wayne County Charter Commission in
the 80’s, and is the 2011 Detroit Chamber’s Leadership Detroit
recipient. He is a US/China consultant and can be reached at:
tdwatkins@gmail.com
