The City of Detroit is at it again. One step forward, two steps back. Everyone knows the City of Detroit needs every penny it can get. What some do not know is that there are divisions within Detroit’s departments that are charged with generating revenue. One would think that those departments and divisions would be […]
After much consideration, embattled Mayor Dave Bing plans to run for re-election in an effort to solve the budget crisis, friends and political allies of the mayor told Motor City Muckraker. Michigan officials also have been pressing the mayor privately to run for re-election because he has been relatively supportive of state intervention, according to […]
Two women in their 50s rummaged through the sprawling Packard Plant for scorched wood to use for an art project. They didn’t have to look far. As the pair sifted through the debris Wednesday, a fire quietly burned inside one of the factory’s buildings, sending smoke into the sky. Not far away, a trio of […]
The city of Detroit appears to be in the process of selling Belle Isle to Michigan, a move that could mean admission fees for park users, the Motor City Muckraker has found. Council members today demanded to know more about a reported deal being negotiated between Mayor Dave Bing and Gov. Rick Snyder. When asked […]
Detroit is a place of extremes. Take Midtown, where theaters, lofts, restaurants and hospitals are cropping up. Driven predominately by young, educated, white people, Midtown and much of downtown are bursting with development. Then there’s the rest of Detroit – clusters of neighborhoods, many marred by crime and abandonment, losing residents every day. Too often, when […]
If Gov. Rick Snyder gets his way, the state will help Mayor Dave Bing demolish abandoned houses in Detroit, his office said Friday. Abandoned homes are among the most nagging problems in Detroit because they attract crime, rodents and fires and drive down property values. By many estimates, about a quarter of the homes in […]
By Steve Neavling When you repeatedly shout “BOO!,” you’re going to stop scaring people. But that hasn’t stopped Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and state officials from threatening that all hell is about to break loose – again – if they don’t get their way. Responding today to a city lawyer who is challenging the state […]
Greg Murray, Editorial columnist Around this time several years ago, a group of so-called captains of industry (see former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick separation fund managers) gathered at an annual organizational meeting – or what some would call a strategy meeting – to determine who would run Detroit. Their champion then was a “transitional” figure with a […]