DETROIT: BUDGET CUTS NECESSARY

http://www.frontlinesblog.com/2009/09/detroit-budget-cuts-necessary.html

In response to: DETROIT: BUDGET CUTS NECESSARY by Daniel Miller. Link to story above.

I don’t know where to start, so I will just start with “his own residence” remark. First of all, Mayor Bing doesn’t own anything in the city of Detroit, he rents the apartment. He also still owns his ‘real’ home in Franklin MI. Also, since we have to pay for the mansion whether Dave Bing lives in it or not is now a waste of money.

Dave Bing is taking a salary, he is just giving to the general fund, but rest assured, we are still paying him a salary. What he does with it after that is his business.

30% of Detroit households don’t a car, that’s 30% of Detroiters that need the bus all the time. You do not take the bus, I do. I know what people go thought when they have to wait an hour for a bus. Do you? No bus service is not what this city needs, cut down on the bus routes, but do not eliminate them, as with his first proposal.

I suggest we have Sunday bus service on both Saturday and Sunday.

I suggest we raise the fair by $0.25 to generate more revenue from the bus service.

I suggest we have longer wait times on certain routes I.E. Instead of a 30 minute wait for a bus, we have a 40 minute wait. In this way, we can cut only one job from a route instead of 2 or 3.

Look into the numbers and try to find other ways to save Detroit money. Don’t just say “Let’s do this and not that.” Give us why, and how to fix it. How will these cuts affect others? Mayor Bing’s first proposal was to eliminate bus service completely from 6 P.M. Saturday evening to early Monday morning. That is a long time with no public transportation at all. We can’t, as a city, do that to our citizens.

I agree that cuts should start from the top, but do they really? As I said before, Mayor Bing is still drawing a salary he is just giving it away. Furthermore, Bing has appointed more people than any Mayor before him, all with six figure salaries in a debt filled Detroit budget. I call for the Mayor, City Council, and City Clerk to take a 30% reduction in salary, lead by example. None of them are willing to do this. None of them are willing to give up perks, save one. Cuts should start at the top, but no one from the top is taking your advice.

Now I propose something to you. How would you handle Detroit’s debt? How would you handle the bus cuts? Would you willingly go into receivership to save the city? I look forward to hearing your answers.

Herbie Felton
Concerned citizen