Detroit thread. Post Kwame, Monica, and $1 houses here.

[Ed Anger]

To stay in the fallout motif, I'll have my tunnel snakes jacket.

[Savonarola]

Poll: Detroiters dissatisfied with Conyers
Darren A. Nichols and Leonard N. Fleming / The Detroit News
Detroit -- City residents are divided on whether they trust suburban officials to give Detroit a square deal on regional issues, but overwhelmingly disapprove of City Council President Monica Conyers' leadership on Cobo Center and other issues, a Detroit News/WXYZ-Channel 7 poll shows.

The poll of 400 likely voters in Tuesday's mayoral matchup between Kenneth Cockrel Jr. and Dave Bing suggests Conyers' Detroit-first message resonates with nearly half of the electorate, but most disapprove of her. The poll had Cockrel leading 39 percent to 33 percent, but found that 24 percent of voters remain undecided.

The survey found Detroiters split on whether they "trust the government leaders of surrounding communities to fairly deal with the City of Detroit as an equal partner," with 47 percent trusting suburbanites and 45 not.

Those issues were underscored in the recent debate about the transfer of Cobo Center from the city to a regional authority, which would have cleared the way for a $288 million expansion. Conyers led the fight that killed the effort, arguing that $20 million wasn't enough for the city to give up the riverfront facility.

The poll by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA, which has an error rate of 4.9 percentage points, shows 81 percent of residents gave Conyers poor marks for "handling issues where she has taken a public stand, such as the recent Cobo Hall expansion."

Just 6 percent gave her "excellent" marks.

The numbers reveal little support for a Conyers' write-in campaign for mayor: 4 percent of voters said they would vote for her if she ran Tuesday, while 42 percent favored Cockrel and 30 percent went with Bing.

Another 80 percent gave negative marks to the City Council that Conyers leads. And 69 percent said they view Conyers unfavorably.

"There is a clear negative image or view of her," pollster Bernie Porn said. "She's clearly not connecting with voters. The only positive thing is her numbers are not better than the Detroit City Council as an institution."

Conyers issued a statement emphasizing the poll's margin of error and adding, "polls do not vote, people vote."

Earlier in the week, she told viewers of her TV show that she is emboldened by press criticism.

"If the media is saying bad things about you, you must be doing something right for the city of Detroit," Conyers said on "Ask the Councilwoman with Monica Conyers on WHPR-Channel 33.

In Detroit they don't even have to be living people.

Regardless it's good to see the City Council is despised even in the city limits. 

[saskganesh]

beer AND mutants!

I gotta go at some point.

I have it on good authority that Detroiters do not like it when you call them "mutants".

well, who do they think they are? Vault City?

[Savonarola]

From Nolan Finley's Blog in the Detroit News:

Detroit's entitlement culture withers a bright, blue dream

I remember when Dick Dauch bought American Axle Manufacturing from General Motors and poured tanker truckloads of bright blue paint over what was then a dreary complex of parts plants sprawling across Hamtramck and Detroit.

Dauch, the quintessential factory man, was hell-bent on proving heavy manufacturing could still be done here, with a union work force, and with the Big 3 automakers as the customer base. That eye-catching paint job was the symbol of his hopes.

Now, 15 years later, Dauch is cutting the Detroit work force sharply and consolidating the work in Three Rivers, Mich., and Mexico. He isn't mealy-mouthed about the reasons:

"This isn't a North America problem, or a Michigan problem. It isn't a union problem. It's a Detroit problem," says Dauch, who has headed manufacturing for GM, Chrysler and Volkswagen North America. "Detroit has an entitlement culture -- 'You owe me this job.'

"Detroit can compete on quality, but it can't compete on costs. And the difference in the global economy is cost structure."

Dauch is still obviously angry over the 87-day strike by the United Auto Workers union against AAM last year in response to demands for concessions. In the end, the new contract reduced wage and benefit costs, but that was only part of the answer.

"The No. 1 disadvantage to being in Detroit is labor costs," Dauch says. "No. 2 is reliability."

Detroit has the highest absenteeism rate of any AAM facility. In Mexico, Three Rivers, Indiana and elsewhere, absenteeism is barely a blip. Many days, the Mexican plant -- also unionized -- has no workers absent.

But in Detroit, absenteeism runs at least twice as high, and on some days it can approach nearly one-third of the workforce in parts of the plant. Lines have been shut down because not enough employees show up.

"I've been working since Aug. 24, 1964, and I've taken three-and-a-half sick days," says Dauch. "I've got employees who miss two or three days a week."

Maybe that would have flown 30 years ago when Detroit was still fat and happy. But jobs are fungible today. Employers like Dauch have a fiduciary responsibility to take work where it will be done most efficiently.

It isn't just about hourly wages. Dauch's employees in Three Rivers, also UAW members, make about the same hourly rate. But they've agreed to a contract that gives the company more operating flexibility, and they show up for work.

Dauch says he hasn't given up on North America. In fact, he's opened four plants in the United States, including one in Indiana. He hasn't even given up on Detroit. He's keeping the equipment here and, if business picks up, may bring back work.

But he offers fair warning to this job-starved city. We aren't entitled to anything, least of all a job that someone someplace else is willing to do not just cheaper, but also better.

Wednesday, I listened to several autoworkers complain on the radio about union-busting corporations, unfair trade policies and the loss of middle-class manufacturing jobs.

But not one mentioned that on the same day, there were places in Dauch's now-faded blue Detroit factory where nearly one in three workers were AWOL.

Way to kick the Unions when they're down, Nolan.   

Finley is the conservative blogger and The Detroit News usually endorses Republican candidates.  Even so I was surprised by Dauch's comments about his workers' absenteeism.  I thought you had to work for the City of Detroit to take that many sick days.

[Berkut]

I thought you had to work for the City of Detroit to take that many sick days.

State of New York works as well.

I know a guy who I officiate with who is a manager for the transportation department. He once told an employee to quit shirking work, and the employee told him to go fuck himself. When he tried to reprimand the employee for not working and telling him to go fuck himself the union stepped in to "mediate" and make sure nothing happened beyond a letter in the file, which was removed after 90 days or something like that.

Unions are awesome!

[MadImmortalMan]

State of New York works as well.

I know a guy who I officiate with who is a manager for the transportation department. He once told an employee to quit shirking work, and the employee told him to go fuck himself. When he tried to reprimand the employee for not working and telling him to go fuck himself the union stepped in to "mediate" and make sure nothing happened beyond a letter in the file, which was removed after 90 days or something like that.

Unions are awesome!

Did that guy later transfer to the Dept. of Corrections?

[Savonarola]

Did that guy later transfer to the Dept. of Corrections?

[garbon]

I've been working since Aug. 24, 1964, and I've taken three-and-a-half sick days

Sounds like an idiot.

[garbon]

I discovered Detroit Road on my way back from lunch today.  It has a bunch of tiny hovels and some sort of waste/sewage factory (I saw a big burning flame.)

[Savonarola]

Summon a cleric; the undead are rising to vote

Detroiters cast ballots for mayor; light voter turnout expected
David Josar, Doug Guthrie and Leonard N. Fleming / The Detroit News
Detroit --Elections officials predict light turnout today for the special election between Mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr. and businessman Dave Bing to complete the term of former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

Elections officials predict about 15 percent, but no more than 20 percent. In contrast, slightly more than 13 percent of voters went to the polls to choose the successor to Councilwoman Brenda Scott after she died.

Cockrel, who had been City Council president, became mayor under city charter rules when Kilpatrick resigned and went to jail because of the text-message scandal. Bing, a former Detroit Piston and owner of an automotive supply company, is making his first run for elected office.

No matter who wins, another mayoral primary will be held in August and a general election in November to decide who will be the serve in that post for the four-year term that starts in 2010.

Donning a blazer and baseball cap, Dave Bing and his wife, Yvette, voted this morning at St. Johns Presbyterian Church near downtown as voters streamed past and a media horde gathered.

Bing, the first-time candidate, said he's feeling good about winning.

"I'm excited and the prediction is that we will come out on top," Bing said.

Bing said he has seen a momentum shift toward his candidacy. "I think people are starting to feel that they want change and that change is necessary," he said around 8:15 a.m.

Turnout was light as polls opened this morning at Logan Elementary School on the city's southwest side. About one half-dozen voters had cast their ballots within the first half hour of polls opening at 7 a.m.

George Owen, 65, voted for Cockrel.

"He has done a good job so far," Owen said. "I like Bing but I don't think he brings experience with the politics."

Neighbor Joseph Koziara, 83, voted for Bing.

"I want somebody that don't owe anybody," he said. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to run a city."

Voters are also being asked if they want a charter commission to convene and rework some of the rules that direct city government. If the measure is approved, nine charter commission members will be elected in November.

Polls close at 8 p.m.

Not as exciting as the last one.  In fact the dead might be disenfranchised this election; Detroit has a new city clerk who is supposed to have cleaned up the voter records.  The big issue, in my opinion, isn't the mayor, but the charter.  Many things could be improved with simple changes to the charter, most important of all would be setting up districts for the city council rather than having all of them elected at large.

[Caliga]

Does Detroit hide its Charter in the Charter 40? 

[Savonarola]

I discovered Detroit Road on my way back from lunch today.  It has a bunch of tiny hovels and some sort of waste/sewage factory (I saw a big burning flame.)

I found a bar called "Detroit" in London.  It sort of looked like the Mos Eisley Cantina from Star Wars.  That wasn't very Detroit, so I jacked the owner's car to make it more authentic.   

[Savonarola]

It's been two weeks since our last scandal; we were long overdue:

Detroit pension trustees travel globe as funds lose billions
Some trips were lavish, but full records not released
BY JENNIFER DIXON AND TINA LAM • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS • May 5, 2009

Detroit's public pension trustees approved trips last year to more than 100 conferences around the globe, even as the city's two pension funds were losing billions.

And trustees weren't the only ones allowed to travel. The funds' executive secretary, assistant secretaries and one or two attorneys also were approved routinely for trips.

It's not clear how many of the 21 trustees, and their staffs, attended these conferences, or what they spent. The public pensions -- one for police and fire, the other for general city workers -- have yet to turn over most travel records sought by the Free Press last year under the state open-records law.

One pension lawyer said the funds destroy travel records after a year or two because of space limitations.

The newspaper was given some records for a recent conference in Dubai. They show that trustee Barbara-Rose Collins, also a city councilwoman, spent more than $9,000 for a business-class seat on her flight alone.


Limited records from 2007 show then-trustee and current City Councilwoman Alberta Tinsley-Talabi was approved to spend four nights in a $710-a-night New York hotel. It's unclear if she used the rooms; the pensions still were seeking her receipts earlier this year.

Political consultant Sam Riddle, former chief of staff to now-Council President Monica Conyers, traveled with Conyers when she was on the general retirement board, including meetings in Portugal, New York, Hawaii and Hong Kong.

"There's no better place than these exotic locales to cultivate a relationship," he said.

Trustee trips often lack disclosure
Last fall, Barbara-Rose Collins, a trustee on Detroit's police and fire pension fund, decided she wanted to learn more about investing in the Middle East and North Africa.

So she plunked down $6,840 to register for a pension conference in Dubai.


And she booked a business-class plane fare for $9,238. By contrast, the Rev. Wendell Anthony, a trustee on the city's general retirement fund, flew to the same conference for just more than $1,000.

Collins, also a city councilwoman, spent another $485 with Royal Luxury Transport of Dubai, which offers chauffeured sedans and rental cars.


Collins said she opted for the driver because she wanted to see the city and she said unescorted women in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, risk being called whores or sluts, or having stones thrown at them.

In all, Collins spent more than $20,000.


Although her tab represents a sliver of the funds' budgets, the Dubai conference offers a glimpse into the closely guarded, globe-trotting practices of Detroit's two public pensions, where trustees cross continents even as the world financial crisis -- and shaky investments -- have led to more than $2 billion in losses for city workers since mid-2007.


The Free Press is suing the pension boards to obtain a broad range of travel documents under the state Freedom of Information Act. The pensions have attempted to charge thousands of dollars for many records, which the newspaper is disputing.


Other travel records have been denied to the Free Press; pension lawyers, citing a lack of storage space, say they destroy travel receipts as a matter of policy after closing the books on a given year.


The lack of disclosure makes it impossible to say how often trustees and staff travel. The funds' longtime attorney, Ronald Zajac, won't comment.


Collins concedes her airfare was costly, but blames the high fee on her chief of staff.


"I will just have to pay better attention -- not just get on an airplane and go," Collins said. "I agree that's a lot of money. I'm glad that I went business class, but I bet I could have found a cheaper fare if I had tried."


Miami, Mumbai and more
According to meeting minutes, trustees for Detroit's two pensions, representing about 20,000 retirees, approved travel to more than 100 conferences around the world in 2008.

Trustees for the general retirement fund approved trips by 13 people to attend 84 conferences in cities such as London, Dubai, Singapore, Miami, Las Vegas, Key West, Ft. Lauderdale and Mumbai, India.




The police and fire fund approved trips for 15 people to attend about three dozen conferences in places like Palm Springs, Calif., New York City and Scottsdale, Ariz.


Geoffrey Hirt, a finance professor at DePaul University in Chicago, said it makes no sense for trustees, whose concern should be protecting retirees' assets, to approve so many conferences for so many people.


"People should be allocated a certain number of meetings a year, for budgetary reasons," Hirt said.


"Any time you spend a dollar on a meeting, that's not going into a rate of return," Hirt said. "The question becomes, how much should you spend to keep these people well-educated? They haven't been well-educated on corporate governance because they're not practicing good corporate governance."


The pension funds have been accused of excessive travel for at least 15 years.


In 2007, the Free Press reported that 13 trustees were planning to attend a conference in Hawaii, among them then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and then-Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings, making it the second-largest contingent nationwide. The mayor and police chief eventually canceled.


Details edited out
The Free Press obtained the Dubai records under the state open-records law, even as other travel records were denied.

Many details of Collins' $2,931 stay at the Al Murooj Rotana, the conference hotel, were edited out by the police and fire fund, without explanation as the law requires.


In a phone interview Thursday, Collins said she rented a car and driver to have a male escort, at the hotel's recommendation, and covered some costs herself.

"Women don't walk the streets," she said.

Actually, though Dubai is Muslim, it has a large, cosmopolitan tourist population, with luxury shopping and a hedonistic club scene. Women commonly appear on city beaches in bikinis and wear Western garb in public.


Collins said she used the driver to take her out to eat and see the city. "I would have opted for a tour, but the concierge didn't recommend it because of my age," said Collins, 70.

Collins' chauffeur costs were separate from her trips between the airport and the hotel, which cost $41 each way.


The $10,000 version
The Rev. Anthony, a trustee on the city's general retirement pension fund, made the trip with his wife, Monica Anthony. His Dubai trip cost $10,622.

While Collins flew business class, Anthony and his wife flew economy. His flight cost $1,070. The fund did not pay for his wife's ticket.


Anthony's hotel bill was $2,742 and, like Collins', many details were edited out.


Anthony did not return repeated calls seeking comment.


Failures to account
Only a trickle of travel documents has been made public by the pension funds.

In January, the funds released records showing that some trustees had failed to document advance payments for travel in 2007 and 2008.


The funds said former trustee Monica Conyers, now City Council president, had failed to account for thousands of dollars for hotel stays and airline travel.

Conyers disputed that, saying the pension funds had lost some receipts and she had repaid the rest.

Former trustee Alberta Tinsley-Talabi, a member of City Council, was cited for failing to submit receipts for four nights in a New York City hotel in late 2007, where her room rate was $710, and for four nights in Las Vegas at $544 a night. Her office said it was gathering receipts.


Daniel Cherrin, spokesman for Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr., who has representatives on each board, said pension travelers should "exercise common sense and good judgment when using taxpayer dollars."


Retirees respond
Ed Wertz, a retired Detroit cop, called the trip to Dubai "absolutely ludicrous ... particularly at a time when the economy is the way it is."

The pension trustees "have a fiduciary responsibility to the retirees, not themselves," said Wertz, 64.


Dan Pauley, a retired Detroit police sergeant, said he does not support pension trustees "having a grandiose time" with retirees' money.

"Is it really necessary?"

On the road again
Last week, Collins was on the road again, attending a conference in New Orleans, blocks from the French Quarter.

Collins said the New Orleans conference was "very intensive," and she came home with so much literature her baggage exceeded airline weight limits.


She could not say the same about Dubai.


The seminars were complex, with 60 speakers on arcane topics such as the growth in infrastructure investing, deal flow in the secondaries market and sovereign wealth funds.


The Dubai investment environment was so different, Collins took away little of value.


It was "not information that I would use," she said.


Contact JENNIFER DIXON: 248-351-2993 or [email protected]

[Savonarola]

[Valmy]

That makes no sense...how can they possibly justify having a city administration meeting outside of the city?