Needed: A new Detroit - Pottery Barn rule applies (my latest blog post for the Detroit News)

[LuckyTheDog]

The first step toward recovery is admitting you have a problem. After years of delay, denial, and wishful thinking, Detroit and the state have unequivocally done that, even while they continue to disagree about the solution.

For the record, I was not in favor of appointing an emergency manager (EM) for Detroit. I continue to believe that a more collaborative approach would have been better than the de facto state takeover of the city. But, if that’s the way things are going to go, then the Pottery Barn rule applies.

Having taken the step, the state has an obligation to do this right.

That means creating a solution that does not further divide and polarize southeast Michigan. Those hoping that newly-appointed EM Kevyn D. Orr will “stick it” to the city and teach it a lesson need to be disappointed. It will be impossible for Orr to please everyone and he should not try. However, it is vital that he does not leave the majority of city residents and important community leaders feeling disrespected, humiliated, and robbed.

More: http://blogs.detroitnews.com/politics/2013/03/18/detroit-needs-a-new-start/

[Demeter]

1. While I couldn't agree more

my hopes are non-existent. Not when the GOP pulls the strings.

Why Granholm never did anything about Detroit I'll never understand. That was criminally negligent on her part.

[maddogesq]

2. She tried. You need to remember a couple things that happened during her tenure.

First, you had Kilpatrick as mayor. You know the story behind him by now.

Second, you have a state that was so gerrymandered in 2000 and 2010 that there is hardly a chance the Dems could take control of the state senate for years. That body blocked a majority of initiatives that Granholm and the Dems put forth.

Third, this state is really two states: southeastern Michigan and Redneck Michigan. The redneck part of the state has basically seized power in Lansing with the help of the Devos family and the Brothers Koch.

Fourth, the lame-stream media never let up on Granholm. Her mistake, IMHO, was that she didn't fight back right from the get-go.

To Lucky: We best get rid of Snyder in 2014, or we are doomed. I am so discouraged that I often wonder how long I want to live in this state into my retirement years.

[Demeter]

3. Good points

I think Jennifer was more interested in national politics than local, though...and traveling the world to coax employers to Michigan, etc.

She took a top-down approach, when what was really needed was grassroots.

[maddogesq]

4. To your last point:

Hopefully with new leadership at the state Dem party, we will see more of that "grassroots" thing going on here. Stay tuned....

[Demeter]

5. True, Mark Brewer was no guiding light