Detroit Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel shares thoughts about the city's emergency financial management in a Free Press guest column, which she frames as an effort to cut through "a cacophony of emotion, information and disinformation."
Detroit Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel
Her top point is that "there have been some successes" with state management of other financially troubled cities around the country. That's not well-known because of skewed news coverage, Cockrel says:
"Generally speaking, the cities that the media cover are the failures. Bad news about cities has an audience."
She also argues that "democracy destroyed" concerns ignore equally important issues, such as public safety.
The right to vote is basic. But so is the right to live in peace, without fear, and without constant risk of violence.
It is time for change. It is time to put democracy back together for Detroiters by first ensuring that our city can meet the threshold standard established in the Declaration of Independence. . . .
Democracy requires accountability from elected officials and citizens. It means that balancing the books "on paper" and kicking the can down the road while the sacred cows of work rules and collective bargaining agreements remain untouched is not acceptable when your revenues consistently fail to meet the projections.
