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

[Darth Wagtaros]

You Detroit thing disgusts me.

[Ed Anger]

You Detroit thing disgusts me.

OCP will fix everything.

[Savonarola]

They'll need to fix the Detroit suburb of Ecorse as well:

Scandal hounds Ecorse voters
Jim Lynch / The Detroit News
Ecorse -- After years of frustration with perceived governmental mismanagement in her beloved Ecorse, Tanagra Andring has been looking for a way to adequately show her displeasure -- and she thinks she's found it.

"Us little people here are struggling to pay our taxes," said the 70-year-old retiree who has vowed to wait until the latest due date in November to pay her taxes and is urging fellow seniors to join her. "... So I'm not giving this current administration any more money to spend for as long as I can."

That kind of dissent has become more common, according to some residents of the struggling city of 10,425. Ecorse has become a magnet for controversy in the last decade, with each year seemingly bringing a new batch of investigations, disputes and political infighting. Officials are routinely charged with wrongdoing, their decisions lead to lawsuits and the city is forced to pay out money that it doesn't have.

And less than a week before Tuesday's election, there is a strong likelihood of little-to-no leadership changes. Four of the five current council members are seeking re-election. The mayor's race features incumbent Herbert Worthy, who has faced all manner of allegations, as well as his predecessor, Larry Salisbury, who left office with Ecorse $5 million in debt.

Voters also have to contend with an ongoing FBI investigation into the hiring and operation of the private company, Michigan Municipal Services, which replaced the city's public works department in November 2007. The company, hired to handle Ecorse's trash pickup, water system maintenance and snow removal, has allegedly overcharged for its work and provided kickbacks to more than one city official.

To make matters worse, the city faces the possibility of once again having its day-to-day financial responsibilities turned over to an emergency manager, who would be appointed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm. In 1986, Ecorse became the first Michigan city to be placed in receivership -- a shadow it remained under for four years.

Ecorse's troubles
Ecorse, which sits a few miles southwest of scandal-plagued Detroit, has been able to carve out a troubled identity all its own. Here's a sampling of the action residents have seen in the last seven years:

• In December 2002, Mayor James DiTripani was ousted by city council after a month in which both sides tried to lock the other out of the mayor's office.

• In 2003, the Michigan Court of Appeals removed Sharon McPhail as city attorney, citing a conflict of interest with her position as a member of the Detroit City Council.

• In January 2004, three Ecorse council members pleaded guilty to election fraud for tampering with absentee ballots.

• In September 2004, Theresa Peguese was removed from her council seat for conflicts of interest related to work her construction company was doing for the city, as well as a $10,000 debt to the city. The courts eventually reinstated her.

• In June 2006, former Fire Chief Ronald Lammers won a $600,000 jury-settlement after he charged Ecorse officials for firing him without cause.

• In June 2007, former Police Chief Robert Shaw won a $1.9 million jury-settlement on allegations of age discrimination when the city council fired him three years earlier.

• In December 2008, former Ecorse Public Schools Superintendent Douglas Benit and his wife pleaded guilty in a $7.3 million mail and bank fraud scheme.

• In April 2009, the city agreed to pay $15,000 and provide sexual discrimination prevention training to its workers after two women complained of harassment from a supervisor in an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Suzie Baker, 45, has been an Ecorse resident for the past 15 years. Almost every year of her stay has included an investigation or dust-up in city government. This year, she's haggled with the city over its failure to provide residents with timely public works services like garbage pickup.

"Since I've been here, it's just been one scandal after another," she said.

For Kevin Bailey, that same dissatisfaction has led him to put his money where his mouth is and run for office.

"It seems to be open season here in Ecorse," said Bailey, who is campaigning to fill the seat he was temporarily appointed to earlier this year. "People just think we have a revolving door here for people to come in, get what they can get, and get out."

Scheme or a bad deal?
Ecorse's relationship with Michigan Municipal Services, MMS, is either a blatant kickback scheme, according to the FBI, or just a partnership that went awry for the city, Mayor Herbert Worthy said.

Worthy brought in MMS on an emergency basis in November 2007 to replace more than 60 public works employees he had let go.

The company got the job even though it was formed just days after Worthy's election that month. Company officials contributed to Worthy's mayoral campaign. Relatives and friends of several Ecorse elected officials wound up on the MMS payroll. And, according to the FBI, the company charged far more than it should have for the work performed.

In one instance, according to court records, MMS overbilled Ecorse by more than $88,000 in a two-week period. Since November 2007, the city has been overcharged by more than $2.5 million. Investigators allege city officials took cash payments of $1,500 to $10,000 from MMS, but so far no charges have been filed.

Ecorse wound up in court with MMS in January after unsuccessfully trying to terminate its contract with the company. Now, the city has been sued by MMS officials for $80,000 in back pay.

Worthy said the public perception of the deal is off-base. MMS, he said, actually saved the city money by operating more cheaply than their predecessors. It was only in certain areas, he said, that the company has overcharged the city.

"We were still spending less on public works (with MMS) than we did with the previous company," Worthy said. "In a year and a half, we spent a few hundred thousand dollars less than we had (under the previous arrangement). It's the past administration's people who are voicing these incorrect opinions on what's being spent by the city."

But the FBI alleged in court documents that in one two-week period in March, MMS overcharged Ecorse for water and sewer work by $88,000.

Chuck Smith performed the water and sewer maintenance duties for Ecorse for 10 years as the head of Harrison Township-based CPI Contracting and said he never charged the city more than $200,000 in a given year.

For his part, Worthy said he has not taken any inappropriate money, vehicles or gifts from MMS.

And despite facing constant questioning from the public and the media, he is confident about his chances on Aug. 4.

"I'm quite sure I'll win," he said. "In the end, the strong survive."

Sharon McPhail went on to become one of Kwame's lawyers during his text message scandal.

[MadImmortalMan]

Wow. Detroitism is contagious.

[Scipio]

The tail keeps wagging the dog.  I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit.

[CountDeMoney]

I think I may have found the reason why the police department has been so slow to reform:

Oh yeah, when the story broke, I thought of you.  Sharing our Bantumore dazzling urbanites is caring.

[Savonarola]

Dancing in the Streets while Detroit burns:

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/07/is_martha_reeves_and_the_vande.html

Martha Reeves' new Detroit City Council re-election campaign flier includes several inconsistencies and errors, including a claim that she's a member of the Detroit Lions.

Reeves included the copyrighted Lions logo under the header "member of," apparently mistaking it for the logo of the Lions Club, an international service group with a chapter in Detroit.

"Should I have gotten persmission," Reeves asked a Local 4 reporter seeking comment on the Lions logo. "I don't know. It was on the internet and I put it on there."

Lions spokesman Bill Keenist told Local 4 he was sure it was an innocent mistake, but that the organization will work to get it corrected.

Other known errors or irregularities:

• Are the Vandellas running too? The front of the flyer reads "Re-Elect Martha Rose-Reeves & The Vandella's." Nolan Finley of the Detroit News today humorously called it a shrewd move:

DetNews, July 23: Voters may actually believe they're not just getting the worn-out diva, but also her back-up singers. They may consider that a bargain; the Vandellas could take turns sitting in Reeves' chair on those many mornings when she fails to show up for council meetings. On the other hand, if they have the same appetite for free spending as their boss, the city couldn't afford the extra expense account load.

• Dancing in the street's: The Vandellas, the Motown group Reeves joined in the 60's, doesn't have an apostrophe in its name.

• A rose by two different names: Reeves inexplicably began using her middle name, but manages to call herself Martha Rose-Reeves on the front of the flier and Martha-Rose Reeves on the back. "Barbara-Rose Collins sort of exposed me when we were given an award," Reeves told Local 4. "A roses award."

• History not on her side The Detroit Historical Society, whose logo also appears on the flier, told Fox 2 that Reeves is not a member.

• A day at the zoo The Detroit Zoological Society told Local 4 the flier features an improper use of their logo.

[MadImmortalMan]

She could play nose tackle.

[Savonarola]

Martha Reeves on Detroit's local news program, Flashpoint:

http://www.clickondetroit.com/video/20168396/index.html

She's the first guest starting at 2:30 and goes until 14:15.  The reactions from the interviewer alone are priceless.  Martha's logic has a wonderful sort of shining lunacy.  You really can't follow it, instead you should just let it wash over you like a wave upon the beach.

[Ed Anger]

The Michigan Sports Hall of Fame is $150,000 in debt, even thought it has no employees and doesn't pay rent. Now they want to sell the plaques to raise money, which sort of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

The Hall of Fame is literally just a hallway in the back of Cobo Center, a place that most Michiganders avoid like Fort Wayne. (The only thing useful that ever happens there is the Detroit Auto Show.) Because there is no building and (obviously) no money coming in, the directors must have mistakenly believed that did not have to file taxes for the last three years, so now they're under investigation by the state Attorney General's office. Four board members, including the Chairman, resigned last week as a result. So now, their genius idea to escape financial ruin is to sell the bronze plaques that honor the state's greatest sports legends.

Of course, if you sell the bronze plaques then you don't really have a Hall of Fame, do you? You just have a hallway. Then again, that's more than most business in the state of Michigan can say these days. That poor, poor state.

[Savonarola]

The Michigan Sports Hall of Fame is $150,000 in debt, even thought it has no employees and doesn't pay rent. Now they want to sell the plaques to raise money, which sort of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

The Hall of Fame is literally just a hallway in the back of Cobo Center, a place that most Michiganders avoid like Fort Wayne. (The only thing useful that ever happens there is the Detroit Auto Show.) Because there is no building and (obviously) no money coming in, the directors must have mistakenly believed that did not have to file taxes for the last three years, so now they're under investigation by the state Attorney General's office. Four board members, including the Chairman, resigned last week as a result. So now, their genius idea to escape financial ruin is to sell the bronze plaques that honor the state's greatest sports legends.

Of course, if you sell the bronze plaques then you don't really have a Hall of Fame, do you? You just have a hallway. Then again, that's more than most business in the state of Michigan can say these days. That poor, poor state.

It's okay, we still have the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

[CountDeMoney]

Hell, I'd still vote for Martha anyway.

[Neil]

Hell, I'd still vote for Martha anyway.

Of course you would.  Adolf Hitler could run with a (D) next to his name, and you'd cream your panties to vote for him.  And voting for black people soothes your wimpy sensibilities.

Pussy.

[Ed Anger]

I'd vote for Hitler if he'd clean up the confedertards.

[CountDeMoney]

Hell, I'd still vote for Martha anyway.

Of course you would.  Adolf Hitler could run with a (D) next to his name, and you'd cream your panties to vote for him.  And voting for black people soothes your wimpy sensibilities.

Pussy.

Actually, I'd only vote for Adolf if he used to sing with the Vandellas.

Motown > Germany