Offering a Do-Over on Cobo?

What was that about "Fool me once...."

Testimony: Senate deal is Cobo's last chance to keep auto show

A Senate proposal that would make it possible for the North American International Auto Show to move to Oakland County if Detroit City Council doesn't accept a Cobo Center deal by July 1 may be Michigan's last hope to keep the show in the state, according to testimony this morning -- but an ultimatum is unlikely to move the council to accept the deal, Senate Democrats said.
. . .
The Detroit City Council would have until July 1 to agree to turn Cobo Center over to a regional authority or possibly lose the North American International Auto Show to an Oakland County site, under rules laid out in bills introduced by Senate Republicans on Tuesday.

The bills offer Detroit a plan identical to one rejected by the City Council in February: Detroit would get $20 million for turning Cobo over to a regional board.

This quite generous do-over attempt after the Detroit City Councils memorable and racist previous refusal was responded to rather quickly - Detroit council is quick to reject ultimatum on Cobo

State Senate Republicans set forth an ultimatum Tuesday on Cobo Center to the Detroit City Council: agree to a regional authority to own and operate the aging facility or risk losing the North American International Auto Show to Novi.

But the response from council members -- even some who supported the ill-fated first Cobo proposal -- was swift.

No deal.

Ok, Detroit City Council rejected the original best deal to save Cobo, now they're rejecting it a second time (under time pressure as the North American International Auto Show has indicated they need to know immediately so they can plan appropriately for the 2011 show.)

Enough dancing with Detroit, time to move the show to Novi where it will be appreciated, kept in Michigan and in a nicer facility in a better area with nicer parking to boot.

The state can ill afford the loss of the show and its associated economic benefits and the longer Detroit Coity Council keeps trying to cut a better deal at the expense of the rest of the state, the more likely the risk becomes. (All of this depends of course on assuming there will be any auto manufactureres left to put on the show).

Hopefully the State Government, as well as Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties, will not let themselves continue to be made the fools (and the check writers) by and for Detroit City Council.

More Cobo Follies 2

Now with more schemes than even stimulus bailouts!

New Cobo plan would raise Detroit's stake

The plan would first give Detroit another $15 million to sweeten the deal and 2 spots on the committee and Wayne County 2, leaving Oakland County, Macomb and the State with only 1. You can see the problem with that right? Have the suburbs and State kick in the money and then never get any accountability for it. What could possibly go wrong?

Oh yeah, the two state representatives, Reps. Shanelle Jackson and Rashida Tlaib are both (D-Detroit), now why didn't the Detroit Free press point out that little conflict of interest?

Oakland County's Executive L. Brooks Patterson is no fool and isn't falling for it (He's one of the main reasons why Oakland County, while facing a lot of challenges, isn't a total mess while Wayne and Detroit are (also one reason I don't want him running for governor, he's needed here, and needed badly):

The Detroit News:

It's a compromise Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said Friday night he won't go along with.

"There's no way in hell we're going back to that plan (the seven-member board). That plan calls for two (representatives) for Wayne and two for Detroit. We're out-voted for the rest of my life," he said. "It's not going to happen. We had a deal. I don't want to return to the bargaining table after five years. I'm not sure others want to come back and renegotiate this deal (either)."

Quite simply if Detroit doesn't want to get bailed out and refuses to allow for any accountability, let them keep Cobo to themselves. Have Oakland and Macomb quit paying the hotel and liquor taxes towards that failure and direct them to the building of a new convention center. Build this new convention center outside of Detroit and away from its special costs and special interests, and closer to the Detroit/Wayne County Airport where there's room for a large world class facility on land that's pretty cheap right now and would be convenient for visitors to access, park and travel around safely. I bet it will cost less to build new and bigger than renovate Cobo, and there will be far more accountability and far less slippage than if the money is thrown at renovating Cobo.

More Cobo Follies

Some bad ideas just don't die.

Even after Detroit City Clown Council voted the deal down, there's still maneuvering going on to push it ahead.

As I wrote before, there's a push for Federal Stimulus Dollars to fix Cobo, and a federal bailout and fix-r-upper would prevent the City from giving up control of this tarnished "jewel".

Not surprisingly, the husband of Detroit City Council President Monica Conyers, US Rep John Conyers (D) is leading the push in Congress for this proposal.

U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Det., said that there is a chance that federal stimulus money could possibly be used to renovate and expand Cobo Center, an issue that has left state and local officials debating the future of the convention center.

“Where there is a will there’s a way,’’ Conyers told the Free Press after a rally today in support of a new deal for Cobo Center at Triumph Church in Detroit.

Detroit City Council rejected state approved legislation that would create a five member regional authority and pump $288 millions into Cobo Center for expansion and renovation. Mayor Ken Cockrel vetoed the council’s rejection. The council has sued in circuit court.....

Ah, federal dollars, nepotism, threats of court action, corruption and City Council clownery, does it get much better than this?

City Council Clowning Capers Concerning Cobo

That's the Detroit City Council, and its latest brilliant move, beclowning itself by vetoing a plan to make Cobo viable.

From The Detroit Free Press:

It took more than ordinary foolishness to turn down a deal that would have moved a negative-value asset like Cobo Hall off Detroit's books, preserved the city's say-so over its future, and leveraged regional money for a much needed upgrade and renovation.

But then, there's just nothing ordinary about the Detroit City Council.

Invoking twisted logic, outright falsehoods and shameless fear-mongering, five members of the council actually tanked the Cobo deal Tuesday while braying loudly about their fidelity to city interests.

It's about ownership, they said. It's about not "giving away" city assets. It's about making sure Detroiters have a strong enough say in Cobo's future.

Hogwash.....

The article goes on to note that this "jewel" of Detroit is costing the City at least $15 million a year not to mention Cobo is in bad need of maintenance that has been deferred by the city. Cobo also needs to be expanded to be competitive as a convention center. Detroit can't afford to do it alone, but instead of having to give up some control and have to provide accountability to others who are going to be ponying up serious cash Detroit City Council started playing the race card and rejected the deal.

Sort of like destroying the "jewel" in order to save it.

So what do these luminaries of the Detroit City Council now propose? -grab a share of the Stimulus money to be given to Detroit to expand Cobo, with no accountability of course.

The council did pass a new resolution, introduced by Conyers, to get federal stimulus funds to fund a $400 million expansion and upgrade for the city’s convention center.

It is to weep.

Expand Cobo with your tax dollars

The Free Press, given that it seems there's never a way to increase taxes that it can't get behind, is pushing for the expansion of Cobo Hall, to be paid of course with the taxes of at least the tri-county (Detroit and the 3 main counties) area.

The ostensible reason is that the Detroit Auto Show exhibitors want a larger exhibit hall, and for some reason the taxpayers should shoulder the burden for this yearly event.

In Grow Cobo now!, the Freep editortial calls for an extension of the already existing special liquor and hotel tax that is already being used to finance the previous Cobo Hall renovation.

Unfortunately, that must happen in Lansing, where nothing comes easily these days. Special taxes on Detroit-area hotel rooms and by-the-drink liquor, scheduled to expire in 2015, must be extended as a key component of funding the Cobo project.

Read that again, the tax on the original expansion in 1985 still hasn't fully paid off the prior expansion and will not do so until 2015 and they're talking about extending it for even more future renovations.

One reason it hasn't yet paid off the debt is that

The hotel-liquor taxes were enacted for Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties in 1985 to pay off bonds that financed the initial expansion of Cobo, which opened in 1960. The room tax ranges from 1.5%-6% depending on the size and location of the hotel or motel. The drink tax, which most people don't even know they pay at bars and restaurants, is 4%. Any balance from the taxes after the debt service is paid is distributed on a per-capita basis to all Michigan counties, or at least it was until this year, when the Legislature raided the fund for $37 million to help balance the state budget.

Why wasn't the money every year paid out to more than just service the debt but to retire it -- or at least to bank it away for this latest expansion. Simply wasteful spending of tax dollars as usual.

I also really like the condescension of the Freep when it notes the 4% tax on alcohol in local bars isn't a big deal as

Travelers also would pay a part of the drink tax, and local drinkers cross county lines so regularly that the tax cannot be seen as an unfair burden on Wayne, Oakland or Macomb residents.

Saty that again? How many residents of these counties leave them to go to a bar, what proportion of regular bar patrons come from outside these counties? Not too darn many in either case.