Poor Detroit. First it hit a bit of the skids, then the folks with money moved to the burbs but still controlled enough of the machine that they got the City to give them stuff. They got water at a discount, and sewers, and they got a tax break because they didn’t live in Detroit. They got museums and sports teams and all for little if anything.
And while this is going on the poor girl gets a long string of mayors and city council people most of whom should probably be doing time, and a few who actually are.
Now we have the Emergency Manager and a new better kinder lighter mayor.
But are they really any better?
At first maybe, even now maybe a bit, but they are going old school fast. Orr and Duggan, sounds like a vaudeville act. And in some ways it is one, but they can’t decide who gets to be the streight man.
It looked good for awhile. They got things done. But more and more it’s coming out that they are doing what their bad boy predecessors did, short term solutions and screw the laws.
Duggan is busy with his minions “relighting” the city. Part of that makes sense, there was a lot of infrastructure that needed work. But... They have pulled in a contractor and have decided that they don’t have to follow the law, they don’t have to pull permits or get inspections. If you try to fight them they maneuver and swing a big stick.
The other BUT... is that part of the relighting is political BS. The number that is put out is that 88,000 lights and 40% didn’t work.
Actually it was closer to 66,000 lights in parts of the city that there is a need for lights (and that is the number that are replacing). That takes a big bite out of the 40% number. Not good but not quite the disaster that was painted.
Some of the “new lights” are already not right. There is one about a block away that no longer points at the street but at on coming traffic instead, and it’s only been up a few weeks. In most cases they are not replacing poles but just swapping the lighting element. Hopefully they are rewiring but? who knows they don’t pull permits or get inspections.
The big crime is that they are plowing through areas that they have no legal right to touch. Areas with historic lights that actually do work. Or did till the PLA showed up and the neighborhood said hold on there. Then poof no lights.
Oh it’s a downed line, Oh it’s a bad switch, Oh it’s a...
After the last storm when DTE needed light to work they hooked up a generator to our lights that “are broken” and wham they all came back on! DTE finished and disconnected their generator and we are in the dark again.
How big a deal is that? Well there are over 100 historic districts in Detroit. Not all were protected before original lights were replaced and some “districts” are just a single building so over all it’s a small number compared to the overall number but it’s significant.
So I will attempt to both chronicle and explain what is likely to be the total destruction of some of the oldest existing electric street lights in the world.
If at anytime reading some of this you get pissed off feel free to write or phone Mike Duggan directly. He is the MAN in charge. You could also call his boss Kevin Orr. Heck call Mr. Orr’s boss in the Governor’s seat.
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