Compare And Contrast The Response To "Teen Takeovers"

CBS News: Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield says city will address downtown teen takeovers:

 After several incidents in which large groups of teenagers took over  downtown Detroit, city leaders say they are developing a plan to address it.     

. . . 

While there is some perception that Detroit officials and the Detroit Police Department have been somewhat silent on the issue of these downtown takeovers, since these events began, Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield says a lot is happening behind the scenes to ensure that these takeovers don't get out of control. 

"It's a comprehensive, interdepartmental, all-hands-on-deck approach to assure that we're addressing the needs of our young people," Sheffield said. 

In a one-on-one interview with CBS News Detroit on Wednesday at DPD headquarters, Sheffield says the social media trend is top-of-mind with city officials, police and community intervention groups. Sheffield says the city is taking a holistic approach to addressing the issue and believes it's also an opportunity to serve the youth. 

"We didn't experience what other cities did as far as safety," Sheffield said. "Kids came out; they wanted to hang out; they wanted a place for something to do. So we're trying to make sure that we're addressing that need of making sure that young people have a safe space to be occupied and engaged throughout the upcoming summer months." 

The response from the teens in addition to continued takeovers, some fights and a shooting clearly has taken this strong and unambiguous message to heart: 

Deandrae Morgan said he plans to continue organizing Detroit "teen takeovers," despite Detroit police officers asking him last week to remove social media posts calling for young people to congregate downtown during a weekend that saw one peaceful gathering and another marred by a nonfatal shooting and brawls involving hundreds of combatants. 

Compare Detroit's wishy-washy response to that of Mayor of Pontiac and Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard when a  Teen Takeover was threatened for Pontiac: 

ClickonDetroit: Teen takeover gatherings spread to Pontiac, prompting safety warnings following Detroit chaos 

Similar unpermitted gatherings are now being advertised on social media in Pontiac.

Mayor Mike McGuinness said Pontiac officials and the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office moved quickly after seeing one such event promoted online Friday.

“If folks are looking to get crazy or act up, Pontiac, Michigan, ain’t the place,” McGuinness said.

McGuinness said deputies were stationed “at every major intersection in downtown Pontiac” as a precaution this past Friday. 

Result:  No teen takeover and no mass teen violence in Pontiac. 

Funny how enforcing the law and not putting up with disorder and crime works.

Memorial Day Flying

I had planned to fly to Mackinac Island yesterday, but complications and circumstances intervened to prevent that.

Instead I flew a friend in the Dakota from Pontiac to Jackson for their first flight ever in a small aircraft.

I did a thorough pre-flight as usual, and explained everything I was doing. I did the same with the run up and had my passenger read the checklist out so they could participate and see what I was doing.

An absolutely gorgeous and perfect day to take someone up for the first time.

Winds were light and variable and it was pretty much CAVU when we took off at 9:00 am.  I had flight following setup.

Flying along at 4,500 feet we soon got close to Jackson.

I soon had the field in sight, pointed it out to my passenger, and let Great Lakes Approach know I had it, they cancelled flight following and had me contact Jackson Tower, which I did.

Jackson tower had us enter a left downwind for Runway 7 and I did a nice landing. We then got to taxi to the apron and he stated I could park by the restaurant fence right at the front, and I stated I appreciated the premium handling.

I parked perfectly lined up on the fence, and Tower complimented me on the parking job. 

Jackson tower is always awesome.

Some kids at the fence were waving as we pulled up, so after I had shut down and got out, I walked over invited them and their parents to see the plane. The kids got to sit in the plane and play with the yokes and had a good time.

The two of us then went in to have a late breakfast.

I had a coffee and the Pilot's Omelette, of course. 

Outstanding as usual, and I tried the sourdough bread rather than my usual rye this time.

Suitably personally fueled up, we headed back to the aircraft.  I did a preflight and we were soon off again.

It was a little bumpier on the way back, and we flew at 3,500 as there was a scattered layer of clouds at about 4,500.  Even with the bumps, my passenger reelaxed enough to have a small nap.

 

Still a gorgeous day.

We overflew the President of the Flying Club's house and he got a suitably patriotic picture of us.

 

Yeah, that speck to the upper right of the flag above the cloud is us.  Next time, I need to try to overfly his house as its just inside Pontiac's Delta airspace.

Pontiac Tower first had me line up to enter the left downwind for 27L, whcih i did.

Then, he changed his mind and had me overfly the field and enter the right downwind for 27R.

Then he stated I should extend the downwind and he'd call the base turn.  So, I stayed up at pattern altitude motoring along.  He then calls my base right at the normal base turn location.

A bit of a diving turn ensued as I hadn't lost any altitude on the downwind and had kept my speed up on the downwind as he had been seeking to extend me for spacing before he changed his mind.

I then still made a good landing.

My passenger stated that the runways looked rather small as we came in to land, but was impressed with how smooth the landings felt and my passenger said they would fly with me again without any reservations.

I then taxi'd to the hangar, got the plane refueled, and cleaned off and that was the experience. 

That's 1.4, and 2 very good landings, and the first flights ever for a friend in a general aviation aircraft.

Democrat Math - Spend Over $100 Million to save $50 Million

Our Democrat County Executive is touting his cunning plan to save $50 million in rehab expenses of existing county government buildings by buying some buildings in Pontiac, rehabbing them, doing some demolition, and moving County government officials there.

 The Detroit Free Press: Oakland County has ignored downtown Pontiac for too long. We're reinvesting in it.

Of course, it's going to end up costing a lot more than the claimed $100 Million. Count on it.

The more you dig into it, the more it appears to not just be an attempt to help out the City of Pontiac.  Sure, by moving government employees there and paying for locating them it will boost real estate prices and  increase occupancy in a blighted downtown.  It will also boost the Pontiac's coffers as the city has an income tax and those employees will have to pay it.  

But, it also looks like this is a way also to bail the city out its longstanding trouble with the Ottawa Towers/Phoenix Center area. Now the County will be responsible for tearing down the Phoenix Center rather than Pontiac, and all the cost of rehabbing buildings in the name of "reinvesting".

One interesting part of this deal is the Towers are being purchased by the County for $19.2 million from Tarik Dinha.

Mr. Dinha apparently purchased those towers back in March 2021 for $7.1 million from the city.

That's one heckuva nice return on his investment for him for holding them for a couple years, courtesy of not just County taxpayers, but State and Federal taxpayers through use of Covid funds as well. 

It is indeed a great bailout of the City Dems by the County Dems.

This deal also bails out the City from a $6 million dollar judgment - funny Coulter doesn't mention that.

Now instead of having all of County government in one complex, where the parking is very easy, you can find everything you need in one spot, it's going to be split with some of the operations moved to downtown Pontiac.

In short, this deal is a case of the County Democrats bailing out the City Democrats -- and using your money to do it and making it less convenient for the taxpayer to access county services conveniently, while claiming they are doing it for a more noble and glorious purpose.

Trials, Tribulations, And Managing An Unknown Contact

So this afternoon I went to Pontiac District Court for the case that never ends.

The case was originally set for trial in 2020.  Since then it has been adjourned over 8 times. We're now on our third judge: The first judge who did the adjournments retired, so we had a stand-in for one hearing, and now are assigned to the newest judge on the Court who appears to be a pretty bright judge who actually reads the briefs and follows the law.

The original judge who retired did not want to hear the case and adjourned it every single time Defendant came up with any excuse including refusing to do it by Zoom and demanding the trial be live when the court was closed for Covid etc.

Defendant had then got counsel, expensive counsel I might add, and then the judge adjourned the case yet again, and they filed a ridiculous motion for summary disposition to dismiss the case - 3 years after it was first set for trial and 4 years after it was filed. That motion was what we were fighting about today. 

This was a continuation from the last fight over the same motion  from the stand-in judge who over two months ago had asked for supplemental briefs on an issue neither side cared about or thought was a problem, because it was not a problem, but this judge thought it was and wants us to adjourn and brief it.

In short, my argument, and a correct argument it was, was they had waived the opportunity for even doing a motion for summary disposition as they did not raise the issue in their answer which means it doesn't get heard so we don;t even need to bother responding to their nonsense in their motion.

Much fun ensued with them trying to dodge the fact that they had failed to raise it. But the judge pointed out that they had failed to raise it and the contract, such as it was, attached to their motion and my response and the supplements, didn't even say on it what they claimed it said.

Long story short, I won, their motion went down in flames, and we have yet another trial date for June of this year.  So, we may just get this thing heard 3 years after it was first set for trial.

Sheesh.

On the way out I chatted with my client and heard a bit of noise ahead.

Client went to his car and I walked on to mine a little farther up.

A guy a solid head taller than me started to approach, clearly sizing me up, and setting off some alarm bells, started with the "Can I ask you a question?" line.

I  gave him a quick once over and said "Sorry man, can't help you", and carried on my way keeping some distance.

He started again, I repeated the "Sorry man, can't help you" while keeping him in sight, and he then backed off and went on to bug the next person around. So that worked out well. Thanks to Lawdog for his teaching that technique quite some time ago.  Always something.

Flying IFR - Lesson 56 - Getting Better, Maybe?

Finally I was flying N8570F again, and it agreed with me. Still had Rocky for this hop as the instructor.

So today the conditions were still light precipitation with the winds from the East and overcast at 8,000 per the ATIS and Metars.

However, at around 3,000 there was an  unforecast solid foggy layer where you could see ground contact below you, but forward visibility was nil, zip, zilch.

So I picked up an IFR pop-up clearance in the air as a result, and was told to climb to 4,000, just as we entered the soup, which lasted until we were close to Flint when visibility improved back to VFR conditions just as we got to the Final approach fix for the ILS 9.

Headed to Flint and did the ILS 9 approach and I did it rather well, got kinda blown off in the procedure turn again following the GPS instruction so I need to figure that out as apparently it lies, but not always.  Did it well, stayed in parameters and all was good.

Then it started getting pretty choppy, bit I did the VOR 18 Circle to 9 and had it pretty good except again dipped just under the 1,300 circle to land minimum while I descended to it.  You basically need to touch it and bounce off of it and I keep having trouble doing that as I either go up too much over 1,400 which is a fail, or I don't pull up enough and go a skosh under which is also a fail, so  it still doth suck.   Anyways, I did the circle and was in a perfect setup to land on 9. 

Then back to Pontiac and into the soup again, now with some light turbulence.  This heading into the soup caused confusion as Great Laes Approach had us remain VFR but as we did the hand-off we headed into IMC conditions.  Managed to get it confirmed with Detroit that were were still an IFR flight and Great Lakes hadn't bounced us out of IFR to VFR flight following. 

Then went to Pontiac did the Localizer 9R approach partial panel and had it going well (did start the timer late but I'll fix that next time) but then Tower had me side step to 9L which ended that approach a bit early.  Personal critique - I need to descend a little earlier, but not too early.  Landing was good.

Rocky said I did a ton better than last time and just need to improve a bit more.  

Yep, I'm back to the purgatory of being "almost there".  Woop de doo.  Better than epic failure from last time, I guess.

So now what? 

Well, I've decided I'm not taking lessons next week as this is basically a control problem and no point paying for an instructor and flight school rental rates when I can fly my "own" Archer.   I have the radio and procedures down, I know what I'm supposed to do, the problem is doing it within the altitude tolerances.

So, next week I'm going to shoot the approaches just on my own VFR and may even have a safety pilot aboard so I can wear foggles while doing so and get control practice in. 

I think that once I can fly the approaches with no deviations and fully within standards then it will be time to go back and get a final lesson or two in and get signed off and be done.  Until then there's just no point.

That's 1.5 with .6 actual and .6 simulated instrument, and a great landing.

The Vehicular Version Of Cutting Off One's Nose To Spite One's Face

Needless to say, or for some it may be very needful to say - Don't try this at home or in your car.

The Detroit Free Press: Woman suffers second-degree burns after setting bedbug-infested car ablaze

A 31-year-old woman from Pontiac was hospitalized with second-degree burns on Tuesday after attempting to exterminate bedbugs in her car. 

Oakland County Sheriff's deputies were dispatched at around 1:39 p.m. Tuesday to the 1200 block of Perry Street in Pontiac to assist Waterford Regional Fire Department with a vehicle fire.

The woman reportedly had a panic attack due to having bedbugs inside her vehicle, according to a major incident report from Oakland County Sheriff. The woman decided to kill the bedbugs by pouring rubbing alcohol inside the vehicle and lighting it on fire. In the process, she accidentally lit herself on fire. She was later taken to McLaren Oakland Hospital for treatment of second-degree burns. 

Setting your vehicle and yourself on fire due to bugs being in your car is rather counter-productive and rather dangerous for all concerned. 

Friday Lunch Flight

Today the weather was very promising for flying, if a bit gusty.

I had invited my friends Nick and Anna for a lunch flight to Jackson.  Neither had ever been in a small plane before.

So we met at the airport at 1:30 and I got the airplane out of the hangar and showed them how I did a pre-flight inspection.

Then we loaded up, taxi'd to the run-up area and then took off to the southwest.

It was kinda bumpy up there at 4,500 feet.  Not terrible but not calm air by any means.  Wind kept pushing us to the right in gusts so i had to keep adjusting left to stay on course.   Also some up and down forces were at work as well, which made it even more fun.

They had fun and described it as a bit of a roller coaster feeling.

Got to Jackson and got a straight in to Runway 25.  With the wind out of 240 at 13-20 it would be gusty but not a ton of crosswind correction to worry about.

So I flew the approach a little bit faster than normal to account for the gust factor.  Of course, the bottom dropped out of the wind gust right during my flare so I did what Juvat would call a passable aircraft carrier landing as a result.  Still good enough that my passengers thought it was a really good landing, but I promised the next one would be better.

We went to the restaurant and had a very nice lunch, burgers for the guys, and a salad for the lady.

Then back in the plane to head back to Pontiac.  Since they actually got back in the plane, the flight out must not have scared them off too much.

Bumpy yet again, but a little better.

Then at Pontiac did the typical 27L downwind entry that was extended for a Falcon jet to pass on long final and then a base turn behind him to Runway 27R.  Pontiac had winds gusting 13-18 right out of 270.

I had promised a nice landing and I delivered - smooth and it felt like I was  holding it off the runway forever with that headwind.  Landed smooth as silk.

I also landed on 27R at the Whiskey taxiway leaving tons of runway to spare. This was thanks to the strong headwind.  I  then got to roll down the runway to Kilo to turn off and park the plane.

A great flight and both my passengers enjoyed themselves immensely.  A little challenging for the gusts and medium chop but it was a most enjoyable flight.

1.5 and 2 landings, one good and one excellent.

Yet Again - Firearms Are Not Toys

With 7 million new gun owners just this year, and with lots of pre-exisitng owners already that may have a careless or ignorant attitude about firearms safety, or who learned everything they know about firearms from the movies or TV, it is sadly not unexpected that stupid events like this happen:

The Detroit News: Oakland County man accidentally fatally shoots himself

A 50-year-old man died when he accidentally shot himself in his head after a witness asked him to to "stop playing" with a gun last weekend in Pontiac, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office said.

Guns are not toys and you do not "play around" with them.

Since the Four Rules of firearms safety seem to be too much work for some people to learn, let's begin with two really basic and what should be obvious ones if you lack the time and attention span to learn 4:

First, Do not point a firearm at your head (or other part of your body) - Ever.  

Regardless of whether you think it may be loaded or not, Do Not Point A Gun At Your Head (or other part of your body) - Ever.

Second, Do not pull the trigger of a firearm pointed at your body - Ever. 

Regardless of whether you think it may be loaded or not, Do Not Pull The Trigger Of A Gun Pointed At Your Body - Ever.

These rules also apply to all other persons and objects who you do not intend to shoot or do not want to get shot as well. 

 Now that you've got that down, go forth and learn the 4 Firearms Safety Rules, please. They're really not hard to learn and follow and you can avoid these tragic accidents by learning and following them.

In short, this is a completely avoidable and incredibly stupid fatal accident.

Alternatively, this may very well have been a suicide given what we know about people's mental health in this age of Covid isolation. 

Explaining the event as the person dying by "accident" especially when an inanimate object can potentially share the blame, is often much more bearable for the survivors to take and comprehend rather than knowing the person deliberately took their own life.

Either way, it's still an absolute waste.

No, Really, That Is Not Racial Profiling, At All

Had a call from a potential client who was busted for having something in their car they were not legally supposed to have.  Yes, they knew they were not supposed to have it and they knew it was there.

Of course the person claimed the whole stop and subsequent discovery started because the cops were racially profiling them whole they were driving in Pontiac.

The arresting agency is the Oakland County Sheriff's Department, which is a pretty solid department that doesn't play around, so that claim is rather unlikely.

Well, let's get some details, so maybe we can suppress it if their claim is really true, so I ask how it was that the sheriffs happened to pull them over. But, I'm rather skeptical.

My skepticism is justified.

They were pulled over because the car had no license plates or tags. As in none, zilch, nada, nothing, unregistered vehicle with no plate traveling at night in a not-so-good area of Pontiac.  

Even better, after the stop, sheriffs asked do you have anything illegal inside the vehicle I should be aware about, and the potential client said "Yes I have ....".

That's just not racial profiling, it's called being felony stupid, and that's a perfectly good stop and subsequent search and seizure.

Yes, a lot of criminals really do say yes when asked if they've got something illegal on them during a stop and this one admits they did say that.

Gotta wonder about the thought process of someone who knowingly has possession of something illegally, which possession of such item illegally is a Five Year Felony, and who figures that the best way to go rolling about town is in a car with no license plates with said illegal item inside, and then quickly admits to it when asked.

This is also not the first time potential client has been caught with such illegal item in pretty much a similar way previously.  Kinda slow learner, really.

They don't call 'em stupid criminals for nothing. 

Potential client is unhappy as I state that's a darn valid reason for the sheriffs to pull over the car, and a valid subsequent search and seizure after the clients answer to the question.  I state I would not try to defend this based on a claim of racial profiling as there's no ethical way to do so based on the facts.

I go on to explain the chance of the evidence getting thrown out is about zilch and the case is really about damage control and reducing the potential penalty, not getting off on an unsupportable claim of racial profiling.

Nope,  I'm so not getting retained on that one.

Stupid Criminals: Don't Bring Your Oxy To A Pot Buy

So our stupid criminal of the day found out, to her surprise, I'm sure, that there is no honor among criminals.

While going about her business to buy some weed, she meets up with her drug-dealing acquaintance who instead of selling her the desired drugs, at gunpoint robs her of the oxycodone pills she was just happening to carry around.

She of course called the police to complain of such illegal activities.

The Detroit News: Sheriff: Woman buying pot robbed of opioids.

Revolving Doors Of Justice Hit The Public Once Again

Unsurprisingly, the latest murder to hit the news in Pontiac is a repeat offender.

Sadly it is also not surprising that he was out and about after repeat parole violations when he should have been in jail after the first such violation. He was absconding from parole when he committed his latest murder. Yes, his latest, he was previously in prison on a plea for manslaughter.

The Detroit News: Parolee accused of suffocating woman a serial absconder

Apparently having removed his tether three times, there was finally a warrant out for his arrest but not before he went ahead and apparently strangled his girlfriend Marie Elizabeth Colburn, 30, and shoved her body in a closet. So much for the safety and savings resulting from letting criminals wander around on tethers.

Wiley has quite the impressive criminal history - Manslaughter in 2004, Home Invasion in 2012, Controlled substance delivery/manufacturing in 2000 and Controlled substance possession in 200, plus all the times he got to skate on the parole violations.

Allowing Kevin Jermaine Wiley to be out free to commit more crimes and then failing on multiple occasions to put him back in jail after he had violated parole led to yet another person being killed. Expect this to be defended as just another "mistake that was made" or "failure of the system" while the governor and various criminal interest groups goes full steam ahead on the presumptive parole policy to release yet more dangerous criminals out onto the streets.

The Governerd Begins To Get A Clue

Suddenly, 10,000 unvetted Syrian "refugees" settling in Michigan doesn't seem like such a good idea.

WXYZ: Gov. Snyder puts Syrian refugee efforts on hold following Paris attacks

Gov. Rick Snyder said in a statement Sunday that the state is postponing efforts to accept refugees until federal officials fully review security clearances and procedures.

"Michigan is a welcoming state and we are proud of our rich history of immigration," Snyder said. "But our first priority is protecting the safety of our residents.

"Given the terrible situation in Paris, I've directed that we put on hold our efforts to accept new refugees until the U.S. Department of Homeland Security completes a full review of security clearances and procedures," he added.

That he thought it was a good idea in the first place shows rather terrible judgment on his part, but he at least seems to be waking up to reality. Hillary still clearly has not.

Not to mention the plan to resettle them in Pontiac was just plain nuts.

The Mummy Votes: Pontiac Woman Who Died in 2008 Apparently Voted In 2010

Being a mummy does cut down on your social life, but it apparently doesn't stop you from casting a ballot.

The interesting story of a lady dead for 6 years, only now discovered in her garage after her auto-payments for her mortgage ran out. She had died in 2008 but somehow cast a ballot in the 2010 election in the Democrat-dominated and run city of Pontiac.

There are no records extant as to whether she voted for Imhotep or just the run-of-the-mill Democrat candidate for governor.

The Detroit Free Press: New mystery in Pontiac: How could mummified body vote in 2010?

It's an interesting article and the whole story is a cautionary example of what can happen if you have your life set on automatic - it can take quite a while for people to realize you're no longer animate.

Snapping 'n Sharing Selfies Snares Stupid Scoundrel

There's something to be said for the value of social media in assisting the law apprehending stupid criminals.

This is especially so when the stupid criminal's repeated Facebook postings led the cops right to his door.

The Detroit News: Brooklyn, N.Y., man arrested in 3 Michigan bank robberies after Facebook posting

On Thursday, an investigator learned from a Oakland County Sheriff’s sergeant that a Facebook page for Bahler showed pictures of him with what appeared to be the weapon and clothes matching those worn in the robberies.

Investigators determined Bahler appeared to be the same man in the surveillance photos, and the gun was the same brandished in the third crime, the complaint said.

The digital trail didn’t end there: his Facebook page also featured a picture of a house in Pontiac he claimed he had just bought.

On Friday, the FBI and Oakland County Sheriff’s Office staked out the address. When Bahler left in a vehicle, he was stopped. Inside a duffle bag at his feet was the black submachine gun, the criminal complaint said.

Bahler was arrested without incident and admitted to all three bank robberies; a search of his residence revealed some of the clothing worn, authorities said.

Looking at the photo, it appears Bahler used a semi-auto Uzi with a 16 inch barrel in his crimes:

This is not a submachine gun, and the barrel length is the big tip-off here.

Here's an example of a semi-auto Uzi:

Looks like a match as compared to a full auto variant:

Of course, he might have illegally converted it, which given how dumb he's acted to date is quite unlikely. He can take his picture and post it on Facebook, but I suspect obtaining a set of auto parts and then performing the serious machining and modification of the semi-auto to make them fit is beyond his ken. Be interesting to see what firearms charges, if any, get thrown at him in addition to the three bank robberies.

Well, his next Facebook selfie will be in a prison jumpsuit.

Not Much Good Happens In Pontiac After Midnight

The Detroit Free Press: Pontiac party bus shooting claims life of young Detroit mom on Mother's Day

What was supposed to be a fun night out with girlfriends for a young Detroit mother ended in tragedy in Pontiac early on Mother's Day, leaving her family hoping for an arrest.

Shuntrice Sylvester, 19, was on her way home, sitting on a party bus outside of Porky's nightclub just after 2 a.m. Sunday when she was shot and killed, her father, Markell Smiles, said today. Also killed was Anthony Ellis, 28, another passenger on the bus.

. . .

Investigators say a 30-year-old Clinton Township man was standing outside the party bus at Kennett and Baldwin when a black man about 6-feet tall, weighing 180 pounds and with braided hair, a red shirt, black jeans and a gun, demanded cash and the victim's Cartier glasses.

When people on the bus started to yell, he shot into the party bus, killing Ellis and Sylvester. None of the other 17 people on the bus were injured.

Sylvester, who attended Pershing High School, got her GED so she could care for her baby, Shunjuarel, now 1 1/2 years old, said her father.

Partying in Pontiac at 2 am is typically not the best thing to be doing on Mother's Day, or any other day for that matter. What is a 19 year old with a 1 and a half year old baby is doing out partying at 2 am on a Sunday anyways? Highly unfortunate that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and a thug nearby that just started randomly shooting at the bus.

What a waste.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2012

While America justly celebrates the accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today, some, including the disgraceful Reverend Al Sharpton, are busy here in Michigan using it as a cover for their own dubious agendas.

Martin Luther King Jr. dealt with real racism and real civil rights issues.

Today, those claiming that he would be against an Emergency Financial Manager law, designed to protect citizens who have suffered from the mismanagement of their leaders, and who play the race card on the law, are just full of it.

The Detroit Free Press: Al Sharpton planning protest of emergency manager law outside Snyder's home

The Detroit Free Press: Guest commentary: Dr. King would want people to fight emergency manager law

The real issue isn't racism, its that an EFM, as stated in the article, can

void union contracts, sell off assets and remove elected officials' powers

and thus destroy the cozy status quo that has been ruining those cities now in need of EFMs to solve the mess that has been made.

I'd bet that Dr. King would be far more appalled at the mess that has been made of Detroit, Pontiac, and Benton Harbor and the living conditions their residents must suffer under, than being against an EFM appointed to fix the problems and take the keys away from the leadership, regardless of the race of that leadership, busy driving those cities into ruin.

The Detroit Free Press' Latest Hand-Wringing Over The EFM Law

The Detroit Free Press is calling for revisions to Michigan's EFM law for a problem that doesn't exist. Given how the Freep is rather gainst both the EFM law and the potential for it to be applied in Detroit, they're looking for any chance to knock it.

Editorial: Time to fine-tune state's emergency manager law

The recent flap over how Pontiac receives and administers federal HUD funds suggests an opportunity to tweak the state's emergency manager law for the better -- something Gov. Rick Snyder and the Legislature should have on their 2012 agenda.

The dispute arose when Pontiac's emergency manager decided to turn management of the city's HUD funds over to Oakland County officials. His reasoning was sound: Pontiac has a record of wasting the funds so badly that the federal government was threatening to withhold them; Oakland County has a stellar record of managing these funds, and was willing to take control.

The problem was that shifting control entirely to the county would mean a reduction in funds designated for Pontiac; HUD funding is determined largely by poverty rates, and the county's overall rate is far lower than Pontiac's.

In other words, the elected officials and management of Pontiac that the Freep so adores are so inept that they couldn't be trusted to manage federal funds properly.

So a management improvement would have diluted the program's benefit to Pontiac's citizens in the city.

That's a failing of the emergency manager law. Because the managers are brought in (typically from outside the troubled community) and given the charge simply of restoring fiscal health, they can sometimes be insensitive to, or even dismissive of, the long-term interests of the cities they are trying to shepherd to solvency.

How is the incompetence of the local bureaucrats and officials that caused the EFm to be appointed inthe first place a problem with the EFM law?

On top of that, the Freep in its editorial then points out everything worked out just fine:

Pontiac, the situation was abated when members of the Oakland County Commission and U.S. Rep Gary Peters insisted that another way be found. In the end, manager Lou Schimmel agreed that having Oakland County manage the funds but not take full authority over the program was worth a try because it would preserve funding levels. Federal HUD officials have also agreed.

But this was an ad hoc intervention by the elected officials. Could the law be tweaked to require more input from elected officials?

In other words, the law functioned fine, others pointed out some options to the EFM and he agreed to it. So what's the need for a tweak?

They then undercut their call for such a change in the very next paragraph:

Clearly, you wouldn't want to force a manager to deal with officials who had helped create the fiscal emergency, but could other officeholders -- from county-level positions or Congress -- be involved?

It is well worth the governor and Legislature's time to consider that. Opposition to the emergency manager law has become organized and fierce. And while the aim of overturning the law outright may be misguided, some of the criticisms leveled against it are valid.

A case of much ado about nothing, now isn't it? The stated problem was fully and effectively solved under the existing law.

With no real need for such a change, The Freep, without much clarity in the editorial, seems to want the law to require consultation and perhaps a sign-off from other elected officials to force an EFM to do what the officials want. In other words create a new barrier and method to stymie effective decision-making by an EFM so that political interests, likely the same political interests that caused the problems requiring the appointment of an EFM in the first place, can bring pressure on the EFM.

Hardly a useful idea but simply a new opportunity and avenue for the entrenched interests that created the problem to preserve their positions and stop actions of the EFM that have to be taken to get the city out of the mess but will disrupt their cozy feather beds while doing so.

City of Pontiac Police - Don't Bother Us With Trifles

Trifles like burglary, assault and similar 'minor' crimes.

Detroit Free Press: Who can you call if cops won't come?

When a burglar attempted to steal tools from a warehouse he owns in Pontiac, Leon Jukowski did what any reasonable property owner would: He called his local police.

Three days later, an old friend on the force paid Jukowski a sheepish "courtesy call" to explain that the Pontiac department no longer had the resources to investigate B&Es.

"So what I am I supposed to do? Have one of my employees drag the burglar off the street and beat the crap out of him?" asked Jukowski, a former deputy mayor who is running, against the advice of many of his saner friends, for mayor of the cash-strapped city.

His friend from the police department smiled ruefully. "We don't really send people out for that anymore, either," he said.

Pontiac, in between being a location for the shooting of the Red Dawn remake, is undergoing a severe financial and mismanagement mess putting it in the rusty triangle of Flint, Detroit and Pontiac. The lack of police protection is a result of the economy and mismanagement on the part of the city.

Not having sufficient police resources to protect your citizens from serious felonies is not a good thing. Considering that governments first duty is the maintenance of law and order and the protection of its citizens Pontiac's inability to do so is disheartening to say the least.

This is certainly not going to help lure businesses and people to live in Pontiac, where they can be faced with uninvestigated property and personal crimes and certainly not when a crime is in progress and there is no response.

Time for Pontiac to get the Oakland County Sheriff in to do the policing function or cut other unnecessary areas to give the Pontiac Police the resources and support they need, especially as they're done to 65 sworn officers from 170 three years ago, and crime hasn't dropped in lockstep, if anything its increased given the lack of deterrence of police presence and follow-up.

Detroit's Innovative Way To Get Lower Crime Stats

Don't arrest criminals and don't take reports on crime.

In Why are the jail cells empty? Detroit Free Press reporter reveals that jails in Detroit have plenty of space not due to a drop in actual crime but to a drop in arrests and Police action against crime.

So much so the article goes on to note that Police are not even appearing to take reports after crimes have occurred leading to a misleading statistical impression that overall crime is down 9.1% while homicides are up 24%, probably because it's a bit harder to hide bodies lying around than to hide other crimes.

Much of this is due to the cuts in the number of officers available to handle calls for service, which leads to very long or sometimes even no response times even to robbery.

The Detroit Police Department deploys about half the number of sworn officers it did in the 1990s, and has lost roughly 1,000 officers over the last five years.

The cuts to the police force is not unique to Detroit, nor is the problem. Pontiac for example is having a similar issue with response --

Pontiac, however, is experiencing a trend similar to Detroit's: Arrests have declined as the number of sworn officers has dropped from 170 to 65 in the last three years.

One of the most essential services any government entity can offer is public safety. If a city is unsafe, decline in quality of life and of the city itself is sure to follow. Without public safety a city doesn't offer much, which of course is why politicians go after public safety cuts first in a way to play chicken with the taxpayers to cause them to agree to more taxes and protect politicians far less essential pet projects.

Of course if Detroit got its property tax system in line, for example by not giving City Council members special deals on their property taxes, say charging them $68 dollars a year while their neighbors get charged 6,000 in the same neighborhood, it might be alleviated somewhat. But then again corruption is so endemic to etroit at this point that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Arts, Beats, and Eats- Pontiac Gets it Right

Kudos to the City of Pontiac and Chrysler for putting on a great event.

On Labor Day we went to Pontiac to explore the Arts, Beats and Eats show, along with Providentia Blogger Scott and his family.

An excellent time was had by all - the show was well organized and well setup.

There were a variety of stages with a constantly changing variety of musical acts, including this great Reggae band:

And of course there were the eats -lots of food everywhere incluidng some impressive ethnic cuisine -
Not sure if the cooks at Indo-Pak attack each other over Kashmir in between making pakoras, but the food smelled real good.

Of course I went for the finest of Ethnic Cuisine:


Yep, a good plate of Fish and Chips is a thing of beauty, and Union Jack makes a great Fish 'n' Chips. I had to wait awhile as they had to fry some up fresh, but it was worth the wait. Simply excellent - now I have to go find out where they are located and patronize them when I get my next craving for great Fish and Chips.

One small note to my fellow Michiganians - in British English, Chips are not potato chips but French fries. Somehow, most Michigan restaurants have missed this cultural linguistic curiosity and when they have a burger and chips on the menu, they bring you a burger and potato chips (with an upgrade to fries being extra). Sorry but that is simply wrong. You have been notified.


It was a large well-behaved crowd at the event and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Chrysler had some prominent displays of their vehicles and even an opportunity to test drive them that I sadly did not have time to do.


It was a great way to spend Labor Day and after the festival we went to the beach for a quick swim. Pontiac did a great job on the Festival and along with the sponsors and organizers made a great event and one that I'd certainly consider visiting again next year.