A hot, stinkin’ mess
Click here for all the latest surrounding Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (Detroit Free Press)
The one article that stuck out to me the most was the following:
What $9 million could buy
BY M.L. ELRICK
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Detroit recreation centers have been closed and city workers have seen benefit and job cuts. The city has begun charging residents $300 a year for trash pickup to raise money. The $9 million paid to former cops Gary Brown, Harold Nelthrope and Walt Harris and for legal costs to settle their lawsuits may seem small in the context of the city’s $1.5-billion general fund budget, but it’s still enough to pay for:
A starting firefighter makes $30,740 a year; benefits cost about $32,000.
Or… 143 firefighters
A starting cop makes
up to $31,659 a year; benefits are $40,000.
Or… 126 police officers
$7,500 per home
Or… 1,200 abandoned homes demolished
The mayor wants to raise $8.1 million by selling 92 parks.
Or.. more than 92 city parks (source)
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Now take that template and apply it to cities like Philadelphia, New Orleans, Los Angeles and you will see why I roll my eyes every time I hear a politician use the “we need more money” excuse.
