(Dramatic Detroit Skyline, seen, of course, from Windsor, Ontario, in the Dominion of Canada.)
I am a political creature, as you know, and used to be comfortable in this Constantinople on the Potomac. These days, not so much. Nothing in particular seems to be working. The President seems to be surprised that people do not like higher gas prices, one of the policies advocated by our Nobel Laureate Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu, and embedded in the whole strategy to marginalize the use of coal, natural gas, and fuel derived from oil-shale and tar sands.
This is predicated on the CO2 thing- which every right-thinking world citizen supports, even if it seems a little dotty at the moment. I mean, you can’t do science by polls, can you? Or maybe you do.
As you know, I have a great deal of respect for Dr. Chu as a scientist. Maybe not so much as a politician. I have not been able to follow the twists of public rhetoric about CO2 and the price at the pump. It seems the Administration wants to have it both ways- to continue a policy that does not appear to be working while taking credit for the oil production approved by another Administration with a quite different philosophy. Oh well, we live in Lewis Carrol’s world where believing three impossible things before breakfast is necessary to be a good citizen.
On the personal level, I am confronting the issues of inevitable mortality. I thought about that, both in the context of losing Mom and Dad so abruptly, and looking up from the floor at the farm last Saturday, trying to work out how I might escape the shackles of my body and return to civilization.
I am a little down about the fact that I may have to insert myself into the merry web of the transitional National Health Care System. There is a knot above my patella that could be some snapped ligaments, or perhaps something else. I do not think anything is broken, and was willing to take things day-by-day, but I can see this is going to be a lost week altogether.
Same deal for my beloved, bedraggled City of Detroit. We have not talked about it much of late, but the Continuing Crisis is about to come to a head. The money runs out next month. Governor Snyder, the Republican reform executive of the state, has been dancing around the provisions of legislation he sponsored to permit the appointment of a appoint a Special Master to avoid the default of the largest city in the state, and once the fourth largest in the county, the Arsenal of Democracy.
Here is an entree into the weird world of a dying city. When there were 1.8 million residents of MoTown, the sprawling urban enclave had about 11,000 public servants, mostly union, of course. There are still that many on the rolls, though the beleaguered city has shrunk of less than half the population it once held.
I have written about how strange it is to drive and walk through the old town- so sad, with gems remaining amid the jetsam that has been left behind. Anyway, Mayor Dave Bing, a pro basketball star for the home-town Pistons (and later auto parts entrepreneur) replaced disgraced mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, scion of a well-connected local political powerhouse family. What brought him low was evidence that he lied about extramarital sexual activity conducted on the City’s nickel, that, and his long legal defense provided by city attorneys.
As a close observer of the Barry Administration here in Washington (and later fascination with the Mayor-for-Life’s return from prison to stand as a successful candidate for the City Council representing have-not Ward 8) I have become inured to spectacular demonstrations of public hubris. Actually, Councilman Barry is a marvel, and more than entertaining.
But Mr. Kilpatrick’s conduct was pretty amazing. After a couple stints in the slammer for corruption and then parole violation, he remains under a 38-count indictment for additional malfeasance while residing in the federal correctional facility at Milan, just outside Ann Arbor.)
(2005 Lincoln Navigator similar to that provided to Mayor Kilpatrick’s wife. Photo MyCar.com)
His first orders of business as Mayor were to secure a 2005 red Lincoln Navigator for the exclusive use of his wife (the Detroit Police Department said it was an ‘undercover vehicle,’ which of course it actually was, in a way) and to start utilizing his city-provided credit card to run up $210,000 in charges- which included spa massages and charges for fine dining. As the Motor City’s Chief Executive, he continued to support the auto industry. Court documents indicate he also leased a Chrysler Aspen SUV and a Caddie Coup DeVille.
He was ecumenical in his support for the industry, as you can see. The Aspen apparently was used at the Kilpatrick retreat in Southlake, Texas. As the scandal broke, he cut a deal to contribute $9,000 to the $210,000 credit card debt and walk away from the rest.
It is easy to pile on Kwame. He was only 31 when he was first elected and moved into the Manoogian Mansion, the city’s official Mayoral Residence. I do not know if later he wandered the halls like Richard Nixon did in the waning days of Watergate. Perhaps he sought guidance from the portrait of the other Mayor-for-Life, Coleman Young.
The city runs out of money next month. Governor Snyder is handling the situation with kid gloves. Mayor Bing is, by all accounts, an honorable man who does not need other people’s money to maintain his lifestyle. Kilpatrick and his extended family made their fortune directly from the taxpayer without any obvious benefit to anyone else in the city. Or in Texas, for that matter.
I like this one, though, as my City of Detroit slumps into a surly stand-off with Governor Snyder. It is a delicate matter, after all, and in an election year. The City Council, a bastion of taxpayer funded privilege, is loudly complaining that appointment of a Special Master will violate the principles of democracy. They are undoubtedly correct on that score. But they are distracted. The President of the Council is a fellow named Charles Pugh.
He came out of Detroit’s media market, and was a talking head on the local news before he was elected to the $76,000 year Council job. At a time when the City of Detroit faces bleak choices of bankruptcy, the imposition of some form of emergency manager or consent agreement which will permit re-negotiation of union contracts and layoffs, Mr. Pugh has announced that he is unable to pay his bills.
Detroit— City Council President Charles Pugh is facing foreclosure and says he likely will abandon his $385,000 Brush Park condominium. His personal financial struggles come as he and council colleagues fight to bail Detroit out of its own fiscal crisis.
Pugh recently said he can’t afford to pay his mortgage after taking a pay cut and leaving a high-paying TV career to run for the City Council.
“Making my mortgage payments has been a struggle for me,” Pugh wrote in an email. “I fought hard to stay in my condo because I had an attachment to it, but I can no longer afford to do so.”
“I am devoted to this city and helping us to move forward despite wage cuts and personal sacrifices such as foreclosing on my own home,” Pugh was quoted as saying. “These are the tough choices Detroiters make every day, and I am no different.”
I suppose none of us are. I will be following events in the Motor City with mild interest- there is little that can be done at this vantage point, after decades of kleptocracy. But it is illustrative, isn’t it? About how things really work?
I suppose appointment of a Special Master might address the problem. But it seems that we are having a lot of special masters these days, and only some of them are appointed to fix things that are broken. The others appear to be just along for the ride.
Copyright 2012 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com