Sweating the small stuff matters, particularly in a city sweating about a free-floating financial emergency.
So a dismaying tale from the streets brings to mind Ben Franklin's old chestnut: "For want of a nail, the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe, the horse was lost. And for want of a horse, the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy -- all for want of care about a horseshoe nail."
Here's the Detroit version: For want of batteries, revenue was lost.
M.L. Elrick of Fox 2 triggers that thought with news that "from downtown to Midtown to the New Center, Detroit's high-tech parking meters are flaming out.
The snag involves low efficiency rather than than high technology.
Detroit Parking Director Shawny DeBerry blames dead batteries. The meters use a special kind of battery that can't be found at the corner store. . . .
"We're trying to manage it a little bit better so that we can try to plan for when the batteries may or may not go down," she said.
DeBerry estimates that the meter snafu has cost Detroit $80,000, and the wait for new batteries could cost the city another $80,000 or more. Altogether, that is enough to hire five new cops, and it raises questions about the reputation of an agency some consider Detroit's most ruthless and relentless.
But wait, there's more. Elrick adds:
The city is likely losing far more money than anyone suspects because I found that many of the old-time meters are out of order, too.
