Posted on 02/24/2006 3:01:45 PM PST by Fireinthehole
Friday, as city leaders worked on a plan to save the Detroit Zoo, a council member made a controversial comment. Kwame Kenyatta called L. Brooks Patterson the "Grand Dragon of Oakland County," a title typically associated with the Ku Klux Klan.
During a Detroit City Council meeting to discuss transferring the Detroit Zoo from the city to the Zoological Society, council member Kwame Kenyatta lashed out at Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson.
"We’ve asked for a public apology from Mr. Brooks Patterson. He’s refused to give such an apology which ranks him right up there with being a Grand Dragon, in fact, I call him the Grand Dragon of Oakland County who said that this council belong in the zoo as opposed to making decisions for the zoo. And of course he made the comment during the height of Black History Month," he said.
Tuesday, after council rejected a plan that could cost the zoo $4 million in aid, Patterson said in a press conference that council members belong in a zoo, not deciding its fate.
This occurred after council member Barbara Rose-Collins suggested on Monday that state legislatures were treating them as if they were on a plantation, a statement for which she has apologized.
(Excerpt) Read more at detnow.com ...
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Use the arrows.
http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=6697
This has turned into wretched publicity for the Detroit city counsel, but I have to say that if I were on it, I'd have voted against the proposal, too.
The city of Detroit built the zoo, then rebuilt it after 696 went through it. The City funds the zoo almost entirely, with a little support from the State and a rinky-dink non-profit arm. Despite some snarky comments above, it's an excellent facility, one of the best in the country.
For some reason the mayor is getting off scott free on this. He gave the Counsel 48 hours to vote on a plan to give away the Zoo to a non-profit, then got on a plane for a trip to Africa.
Counsel will very likely vote to approve the plan, but want to examine the deal thoroughly, making sure it's in the best interest of Detroit. There's nothing wrong with that.
Brooks Patterson should STFU. Unless he's offering to bring money to the table, he has no say in the matter. His suggestion that the Counsel were animals who should be put in the zoo wasn't all that helpful.
Not forgetting that a few years ago there was an attempt at regionalization of the arts and zoo funding with a lousy .25 millage proposal. It went down in flames in the suburbs.
Thanks for the link.
Hey man, don't put Cincinnati on that list. Its trying hard to stay above water...unlike Cleveland or Houston.
"The City funds the zoo almost entirely"
Nonsense.....revenue from admissions and overpriced goodies for the animals and kiddies at concession stands within the Zoo fund it nicely, but there are "other" considerations and arms-length fingers in the pie.
Royal Oak, Oakland County, or the State should invoke eminent domain and sieze it, because (like every other public service and amenity in Detroit) it will soon be boarded up if nothing is done to rescue it.
That isn't the proposal and there will never be one like it in this area. The proposal is that the City give the Zoo away to a new non-profit organization that would run it. Fair enough, except that in this plan, the City would still fund liability insurance ($1 million a year) and provide Police security. (I haven't seen numbers for that cost.)
Maybe this isn't a bad plan. But there are some concerns, the biggest being what happens to the Zoo's 160 City employees. They could be fired, have their salaries reduced, pensions eliminated, lose their union, etc.
Another concern, and no one is talking about this, is what magic wand could the non-profit wave to bring in the $5 million a year that the City would no longer contribute. The State offered $4 million in seed money, but no promises after that. All of a sudden the Zoo would be competing against the DIA, symphony, housing the homeless and cancer research to raise money just to stay open. In a year we could be back to square one, no dedicated funds for the Zoo.
In the end, Counsel will probably enact the plan, if that's the only way to keep the Zoo open. But you can't expect them to do it on a whim, with only 48 hours notice. Everyone is acting like this is a no-brainer, but it isn't. This is a big deal and Counsel deserves the opportunity to discuss the scheme thoroughly.
"Eminent domain" only allows you to sieze private property, not government property. But wouldn't that be cool if it did? : )
Of course the sale of toys at the gift shop raise some money, but no where near the $5,000,000 that the City has contributed annually. Not forgetting the millions of dollars in infrastructure upgrades that Detroit voters have approved over the years. You think Oakland County would do that?
But the real issue is that neither Royal Oak nor Oakland County have any interest in paying to run a Zoo. They only want City of Detroit to keep paying for it, or hope that this proposal to create a non-profit might work. (And I just don't see how it can.)
In theory post Ruth Buzzie Ginsberg and the Kilo Decision why couldn't Royal Oak seize it from Detroit if a better public use is found for their tax base?
Hey I am not an attorney but I did say at a Holiday Inn Express last night, I don't see Kilo stopping at just private property, why not municipality vs. municipality?
Maybe they should and get it back before the Supremes to Reverse Kilo !!!!!!!
I'd give a week's salary to see them try it. It'd be a nice "eph you" to Detroit for what they did to Poletown.
That said, I'm pretty sure the best "public use" for that land is that it continues to be the Zoo.
"The proposal is that the City give the Zoo away to a **new** non-profit organization that would run it."
False.
The Detroit Zoological Society.....history:
http://detroit1701.org/Detroit%20Zoo%20Marker.html
Here's just one paragraph that belies the claim of it being a "new" non-profit!
"By 1911, Detroit was a mature and prospering manufacturing center on the cusp of tremendous growth due to the vehicle industry. A leading city needs a fittingly impressive zoo so a group of prominent citizens formed the Detroit Zoological Society to accomplish that aim. The next year, the group hired Richard Follett as a full time administrator and, in 1914; they bought 216 acres for a zoo near the River Rouge in Dearborn. That land was sold at a profit to the Ford Motor Company the next year. The money from sale of the first land purchased 150 acres near the Detroit Golf Club close to Palmer Park in Detroit. That land was also sold for a profit one year later and the Society used proceeds to acquire 100 acres near the intersection of Ten Mile Road and Woodward in suburban Royal Oak. The Society had funds to begin landscaping the property but they could not build and support a zoo through contributions alone so they tried to donate the property to the city of Detroit with the proviso that tax revenues would support a zoo."
You're absolutely right that the Society isn't a "new" organization as I implied. I meant that their purpose would be new - running a Zoo. Instead of just being a fundraising arm, their function would be hiring staff, paying bills, securing benefits, media relations - all the things the City had been doing for 100 years.
The Zoo is quite capable of financing itself with the gate, food and trinket concessions, and the rides/rentals/parking within.
Councils, Mayors, nepotism, and assorted waste and other diversions that are 'business as usual for Detroit' is what happened to the Zoo. My God, man, Detroit has been on the dole of the State, Wayne County, the Feds, and the suburbs for 3 decades now......and you think they have been pouring money (as they pretend they have) into the Zoo? Please!
Vn, you think they can raise an extra $5 million a year in trinket concessions? Not forgetting that $5 million is just what the City spends on the Zoo's operating budget. They have also funded capital improvements over the years through special millages. Finding $5 million is only part of what they'll have to come up with to keep the Zoo in as good a shape as it is under City management.
The DIA is run by a non-profit. But big ticket items are largely supported by Taubman, Manoogian and the Ford family. The Zoo doesn't have benefactors like that yet.
Councils, Mayors, nepotism, and assorted waste and other diversions that are 'business as usual for Detroit' is what happened to the Zoo.
If there is a scandal involving Zoo mismanagement, I am unaware of it. I mean come on, this isn't a Macomb County school board we're talking about : )
My God, man, Detroit has been on the dole of the State, Wayne County, the Feds, and the suburbs for 3 decades now......and you think they have been pouring money (as they pretend they have) into the Zoo? Please!
Yes, I think the City has been pouring money into the Zoo. Because, unlike you, I have been there. It's a magnificent facility, entirely funded by private donations and the City of Detroit.
Are you watching/reading the news coverage of this issue? The public isn't upset because the Zoo is in bad shape. They're upset because it's a great facility and in danger of being closed.
Regarding your tired line that Detroit is propped by by the State, County and suburbs, that is absolutely untrue. The State doesn't do ANYTHING for Detroit that it doesn't do for any other community in Michigan. Roads and school funding and a little to help the museums and Zoo. These are the exact same services that the State provides any other city in Michigan.
There are no special programs being spent on Detroit. Even Jennifer's famous "cool cities" grants have eluded Detroit. It only got one of the the 20 awarded, to restore a shed at Eastern Market.
Wayne County is a different animal. It does provide services for Detroit, like a Health Department and tax collections. But that's its job, same as any other county.
As far as your assertion that Detroit is "on the dole" from the suburbs, it's time to take your meds.
I live and work in Cincinnati. It's on the list for a reason.
Even if the "City of Detroit" has so mismanaged the Zoo that it has "put" 5M into it, its their mismanagementand worse that made it necessary........and when you consider the hundreds of millions Detroit the shithole already costs society (not to mention its cross-border criminals), the Zoo should be siezed for safekeeping by civilization.
It is a lie to state that "Detroit" subsidizes the Zoo. Society subsidizes Detroit to the degree that we are becoming aware that NOLA is or hopefully "was". Detroit is the Zoo's problem, not the other way around! I live here, too, about 3 miles from the Zoo, and the things I see and hear from "Detroiters" mouths about this is incredible!.....same ole same ole gimme mo gimme mo
There you go again with the allegation that the Zoo is mis-managed. You're the only one who thinks that. Why do you refuse to accept that we have a good Zoo?
and when you consider the hundreds of millions Detroit the shithole already costs society (not to mention its cross-border criminals), the Zoo should be siezed for safekeeping by civilization.
Some day you'll have to explain how the City "costs society hundreds of millions." And, I wish you'd get this through your skull, no one will seize the Zoo because NO ONE WANTS TO PAY FOR IT. Not Oakland County, not the State of Michigan, certainly not anyone in Macomb. We're left with either City of Detroit funding (which you seem to deny, which is weird) or hope that a non-profit can raise the $21 million a year it costs to run it.
partial truth....NO ONE WANTS TO PAY FOR IT.
No-one wants to fool with it while the "City" of Detroit has any hook in it at all.....and for good reasons, too.
Your city is a bottomless moneypit and in many other ways a major liability to society in every way, locally and federally. But hold on! Just a little more and things will get better, right? yeh yeh, been there done that for decades. Save it for someone who might believe it.
You have to appreciate the irony here. You're bleating about Detroit sucking money out of the region in a thread devoted to the Zoo, a place that the entire region uses, but only Detroit pays for : )
Grand Dragon? No big deal. Now if he was a Kleagle or an Exalted Cyclops, that would be serious.
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