Federal help for Detroit appears to be on the way.
An insider tells the Free Press that "Obama administration officials could announce Friday in Detroit that more than $100 million in federal and private funds — some new money, some previously announced — will be made available for demolitions, policing and transportation."
Three cabinet members — the attorney general, secretary of transportation and secretary of housing and urban development -- will meet privately for two hours at Wayne State with Gov. Rick Snyder, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, emergency manager Kevyn Orr and others. Gene Sperling, head of the president's National Economic Council, also is coming. Officials will speak to the news media at 1:05 p.m., the White House says.
"When you’ve got three cabinet officers, I’m hoping there will be some announcements made about specific grants, funds that have been found in existing programs that can be used,” Sen. Carl Levin tells Todd Spangler of the paper's Washington bureau, co-writer of the front-page lead article with Rochelle Riley.
Levin adds: "They are sending in the cavalry. . . . These cabinet officers . . . will do more than just planning and simply saying, ‘There’s going to be an effort made.’ ”
Among the possibilities: a $20-million private-sector match for the $52 million in federal demolition funds Detroit received; $10 million in grants to beef up policing around schools; technical assistance from Washington in freeing up as much as $100 million in transportation funds that haven’t been put to use because the city hasn’t met the qualifications. . . .
“We tried to identify every single program that might be a ... funding source,” said Levin, who is also expected to attend, along with Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Lansing and U.S. Reps. John Conyers of Detroit, John Dingell of Dearborn and Gary Peters of Bloomfield Township.
It's the first major sit-down of Washington leaders with state and local officials in response to Detroit’s bankruptcy.
Orr tells Riley that he hopes Detroit will get technical help upgrading information technology systems so the city can become "capable of meeting conditions to get the aid, use the aid, account and report for the aid."
