Sunday, September 28, 2014

Praise Detroit and spare the Monet


I will not feel bad if the Financial Guarantee Insurance Company (FGIC) – Detroit’s largest creditor – loses in its bid this coming week to force the sale of some or all of the art at the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA).

Starting Monday, Sept. 29, FGIC will try to convince U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes that the artwork – valued at roughly $4.3 billion – is actually worth slightly more than $8 billion, and that the city can afford to take the hit.

If FGIC wins in court, there will be, as one person said, a fire sale at the DIA, dragging values down to an estimated $1 billion – maybe.

That happens to be the amount FGIC stands to lose if Judge Rhodes decides FGIC didn’t make its case.

This is a fight FGIC could probably afford to lose. It is an insurance company after all, and it gambled by becoming one of Detroit’s creditors.

The DIA is worth so much more to Detroit than the sum of its parts. It’s a destination point for metro Detroiters and many others from different cities and states, who have supported the institution monetarily and as the gem it is.

I remember being a humanities student at Wayne State University. Our class never met in Old Main, as the class directory stated. We met in the DIA. Why look at slides of paintings, for example, when you can see the originals less than an arms-length away?

There’s also the cretin factor.

Those who have been following Detroit’s bankruptcy case have seen what other cities and states think of Detroit. They’ve said essentially that Detroit’s population is too stupid to realize and enjoy the value of the DIA, a falsehood.

But it’s easy to shoot from the shadows.

I look at it this way – if Detroit’s pensioners are willing to go along with the plan that will kick in when Detroit emerges from bankruptcy, then I should be, too. Those are the people with the real money on the table and they’re not howling for the death of the DIA.

Judge Rhodes shouldn’t let out-of-towners such as FGIC gut such a marvelous institution.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Naysayer tees off on those who would help Detroit


I’m ready to buy in Detroit.” -- Warren Buffet, during The Detroit Homecoming

This past week in Detroit saw The Detroit Homecoming, a three-day program for “expats” who, largely through the coordination of Crain’s Detroit Business, came back to the city to take another look around.

The hope was that the invitation-only program would stir those who grew up here and then left to reconsider Detroit as a business center. The guest list included successful people, even a few billionaires. I don’t think Buffet is an expat, but he was on the guest list, anyway.

The Detroit Homecoming sounds like a good idea, doesn’t it? At the very least, Crain’s and the other organizations that pulled the program together are trying to find ways to help Detroit, rather than just sitting around and grumbling about it.

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Panic in Detroit


A small group of people in Metro Detroit can cause panic just by being seen or having their words repeated.

I’m talking about weathercasters on local television stations. Think about it.

A week ago Friday, we endured heavy rains, just one month after an historic rainstorm shut down major freeways, consumed cars, households and even one life.  This time, thousands more homes flooded, and more than 230,000 homes were left without power. The rains started about 2 p.m. that day and continued through the evening.

I usually watch NBC’s local news. Their weathercaster not only told his audience, during his time slot, that it was raining hard, but broke into  other broadcasts following the news to tell you it was still raining, as if you didn’t know.

Monday, September 8, 2014

Channeling Perry Mason


What if a person of interest, isn’t?

You’ve all heard that phrase on your local newscast.

Used in a sentence, it would go something like: “Police said Mary Smith is a person of interest in the murder – here’s her picture.”

That one sentence can ruin Smith’s life. What if Smith turns out not to be a person of interest?

Standards have really slid on the local news. Maybe it's because the reporters fear the competition will beat them, or maybe it's because they weren't properly taught.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Battling for Detroit's future

This week, the battle begins over Detroit’s recovery plan.

One man will decide the outcome – Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes.

After reviewing the case for the pensioners; the faceless financial creditors Syncora and FGIC that want to sell everything in the Detroit Institute of Arts for a reputed $8.1 billion; and the police and fire departments, it seems everyone involved has thought of it all.

But they haven’t. Here’s the question they’re missing.

If Detroit’s creditors win and the DIA is gutted, city services are not returned to normal, pensioners get a bad deal and Detroit’s police and fire departments aren’t made whole again, then who’s going to want to live in Detroit?