Gary Brown
Gary Brown: "The neighborhood should nbe shut down."
Seven years after a disastrous series of public meetings about Dave Bing’s plan to downsize Detroit while he was mayor, officials are studying whether it makes sense to shut water service and relocate residents in parts of a city with nearly vacant areas, Joel Kurth of Bridge Magazine reports:
The study is intended to help prioritize repairs, but water officials acknowledge the findings may help determine whether the city should offer to pay to move residents out of abandoned neighborhoods and shut water lines.
“Areas that are so sparsely populated, perhaps the neighborhood should be shut down and just move people out? We think so," says Gary Brown, director of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.
The study is being conducted by several city departments.
Alexis Wiley, Duggan’s chief of staff, issued a statement Tuesday distancing Duggan from Brown’s remarks, telling Bridge “the mayor completely disagrees with this idea.”
“The mayor’s consistent approach has been to provide city services equally to all neighborhoods, regardless of population density,” Wiley said.
“We've lit every neighborhood to the same national standard. We pick up trash, maintain parks, cut vacant lots and remove dead trees to the same standard in every neighborhood and we sweep every mile of residential streets just the same. That will continue.”
