dagblog - Comments for "George Will ruminating on Detroit: About like Howdy Doody ruminating on the Moon"

You made me laugh so loud, I

Orlando — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 11:53:38 +0000

In reply to Despite some people?s facile

You made me laugh so loud, I think my neighbors are scared.

Despite some people?s facile

Orion — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 10:21:51 +0000

In reply to George Will ruminating on Detroit: About like Howdy Doody ruminating on the Moon

Despite some people’s facile talk about “rebooting” Detroit, as though it is a balky gadget, this is a place where dangerous packs of feral dogs roam.

Not to change the subject or make things seem worse than they are but Seattle is like that too - it may be a consequence of bad city planning but I don't think it's something only Detroit experiences.

(No subject)

Ramona — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 22:10:25 +0000

In reply to Thanks Ramona, she's good

It's far more complicated

Ramona — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 21:48:00 +0000

In reply to I think much of this kind of

It's far more complicated than a simple "white flight" answer. We went through a severe recession in the 1980s, when we became known as a part of the "rust belt", and Michigan auto workers fled the state by the hundreds of thousands.

Much of it was caused by the Big Three's refusal to see Japan as any kind of competition. Japan was building smaller, cheaper, well-built more fuel-efficient cars and Americans were lapping them up. It took years before the Detroit automakers would finally concede that the Japanese got it right and they didn't.

Detroit, bullied by automakers who saw rapid transit as anathema to a city built on the strength of a car in every driveway, dropped any plans they might have had to make it easy for residents to get from one end of the city to the other. It's extremely difficult to get around Detroit by public transportation.

You're right that city taxes sent many people into the suburbs. Big mistake on Detroit's part. Good freeways zip people from the suburbs into the city in no time. Malls grew up all around but not in the city. There were once beautiful neighborhoods in Detroit that were simply allowed to rot. Gentrification has never successfully happened, except in small pockets that tend not to grow outward. I don't know why it has come to this and I'm not going to speculate.

It's no secret that Detroit has made graft and corruption an art form. A change in administrations never seemed to change that culture. Everybody's friend or relative had a job if they wanted one, qualifications not required.

Detroiters needs a huge dose of pride. They need to feel good about any efforts to make life better. Every time someone like George Will writes the city off because nobody there is worthy of the effort, it helps to reinforce that inferiority complex that hobbles everyone there.

It really doesn't matter any more how Detroit got where it is; what matters now is what they're going to do about it. There's no question they screwed up and now need an intervention. But believing that any good will come from Governor Rick Snyder or financial manager Kevyn Orr just serves to set Detroit back another decade or more. They aren't there to help the people, they're there to help themselves to the leavings.

And I don't like either side

EmmaZahn — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 21:47:29 +0000

In reply to I think much of this kind of

And I don't like either side maligning the hipsters, they have the right idea; the much-unfairly-maligned "gentrification" is the only proven way to revive when things go this bad.

I like hipsters, at least the ones I know. They give me hope for the future but I don't see them as a force for gentrification like David Brooks bobos were. That may simply be because they are not yet all that materially inclined.

I never really bought into Richard Florida's creative class as prime urban renewers. It is true they do often move into and renovate dying areas but without a market of professional and other classes who have enough wealth and/or income to buy their creations, they will just have (hopefully) improved the neighborhood.

In Detroit's present circumstances that market consists primarily of employees of one man, Dan Gilbert, financier. May he live long and prosper for Detroit's sake.

Thanks Ramona, she's good

Bruce Levine — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 21:47:25 +0000

In reply to Bruce, that is so

Thanks Ramona, she's good people. Happy weekend.

Shhh. We're not supposed to

Ramona — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 21:16:19 +0000

In reply to Sheesh, I can't believe that

Shhh. We're not supposed to say "teacher's unions" out loud.

Bruce, that is so

Ramona — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 21:14:57 +0000

In reply to Counsel for UAW has no

Bruce, that is so encouraging. Thanks so much for sharing this. (I love Babette already.) They're going to need to nip that whole legacy thing in the bud. As I noted in my piece, it's not an issue and never was. The retirement funds are where they're expected to be, according to an unbiased source. Period.

I'll be watching this closely and rooting for both of those extremely competent women. Looks like the workers are in good hands. Crossing my fingers and toes.

Counsel for UAW has no

Bruce Levine — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 20:26:50 +0000

In reply to George Will ruminating on Detroit: About like Howdy Doody ruminating on the Moon

Counsel for UAW has no comment, except Mr. Will knows nothing about the UAW.

Grrr, firewall. Here's the whole article. Babette is my partner and my neighbor in the office. Well-earned kudos to her.

By JACQUELINE PALANK

The main parties squaring off in Detroit's $18 billion bankruptcy case will be led by women, an unusual feat in a legal field typically dominated by men.

Women hold leadership roles in fewer than one-fifth of the 100 biggest U.S. law firms' bankruptcy practices, according to data compiled by Dow Jones. But in the hotly contested case in Detroit, the names to know are Heather Lennox, Sharon Levine and Babette Ceccotti.

Ms. Lennox is representing Detroit, which is trying to shed billions of dollars in obligations, including to retired city workers on pensions.

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What does bankruptcy mean for Detroit? How bad is the situation in terms of city services? How did Motor City get into this position? WSJ's Jason Bellini has TheShortAnswer.

Ms. Levine and Ms. Ceccotti are on the other side of the table representing two unions that dispute Detroit's eligibility to seek bankruptcy protection: the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, or UAW. Both unions represent city workers and retirees.

The three will be among the attorneys steering a high stakes battle in the country's largest ever Chapter 9 bankruptcy case. It pits the city's need for relief from a staggering debt burden against the wages, benefits and pensions of thousands of workers and retirees. While both sides want to see the city recover, they differ as to how such a recovery should take shape, including whether Detroit should be allowed to use bankruptcy's tools to hammer out a restructuring plan.

"There weren't a lot of women in the courtroom, but there were a lot of women at the podium," Ms. Levine said about Detroit's bankruptcy court debut on July 24. "I found that to be a nice change."

After two decades of helping auto, steel and mining companies through restructurings, Ms. Lennox said she has learned to value compromise.

"You're trying to get a deal done and not to create more litigation," she said. "Most people would rather try to come to some agreement rather than litigate and have a really extreme outcome."

That isn't how it worked out, however, when Ms. Lennox, a Jones Day restructuring partner, led the team arguing Hostess Brands Inc.'s Chapter 11 case.

The bakers' union thwarted the company's restructuring efforts by going on strike. Hostess liquidated, laying off thousands of workers and selling its brands, including Twinkies, to investors who have since restarted production.

"Detroit is facing a number of the same types of issues we faced in Hostess when it comes to the inability to fund legacy liabilities and benefits," said Hostess Chief Executive Greg Rayburn. Ms. Lennox, he said, is "always on top of her game."

Ms. Levine also comes to Detroit via the Hostess case. She represented the company's unionized mechanics and other workers.

"I have a lot of respect for Heather," said Ms. Levine, a Lowenstein Sandler LLP restructuring partner. "Unfortunately, we were disappointed with the way [Hostess] came out for the workers and with regard to the pensions. We're hopeful that we're able to get to a better resolution for the workers and retirees in Detroit."

Ms. Levine had a better outcome in the American Airlines bankruptcy, where she helped the Transport Workers Union protect its pension, wages and benefits from deep cuts. The union is also set to take a stake in the airline upon its exit from bankruptcy and proposed merger with US Airways Group Inc.

"Sharon wasn't a big public face of that, but I know she was key in giving her clients direction on what they needed to do throughout the process to protect their interests," said Suzanne Kelly, a restructuring consultant.

A known quantity in bankruptcy cases involving union workers, Babette Ceccotti is representing the UAW in the Detroit case. UAW General Counsel Michael Nicholson said Ms. Ceccotti has been "a big part" of the union's bankruptcy strategy, representing it in the Chapter 11 cases of Chrysler and General Motors as well as those of auto suppliers such as Dana Corp.

Ms. Ceccotti has spent all of her three decades as a lawyer at Cohen, Weiss & Simon LLP, known for its work representing labor unions both in and out of bankruptcy cases. Her expertise has won her the respect of her colleagues, who have chosen her to serve on a select group studying potential reforms to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, as well as the U.S. Congress, which frequently solicits her views on labor issues in bankruptcy.

Ms. Ceccotti, whose father was a longtime member of the New Jersey teachers' union, said she finds it fulfilling to represent unions like the UAW in bankruptcy cases because of the "huge consequences" they face, such as the fate of their wages and benefits.

I think much of this kind of

artappraiser — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 19:48:18 +0000

In reply to George Will ruminating on Detroit: About like Howdy Doody ruminating on the Moon

I think much of this kind of talk, pro and con, is a distraction. White flight is really what killed the city of Detroit, and that includes white union auto workers not wanting to stay within the city and pay their property taxes there to keep it alive. The spiral down started there. It's happening in places like Milwaukee now. It helps, but you don't have to keep well-paying factory jobs in a city to keep a city. You do have to have people with income paying taxes, though. You can even discriminate by class if you want and still keep a city, you just have to have to do the opposite of Detroit, and have the poorer living in the exurbs and the richer living in the city, like Paris or San Francisco or Manhattan. You have to have a tax base to pay public sector workers, period. (And letting those public sector city workers live outside the city and pay their taxes elsewhere is often the coup de grace!) And I don't like either side maligning the hipsters, they have the right idea; the much-unfairly-maligned "gentrification" is the only proven way to revive when things go this bad.