Ron Seigel, The Daily Record Newswire
Several weeks ago Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan held a press conference announcing an urban renewal project that was supposed to “restore” the city’s historic area of Brush Park,
The problem is that starting any new urban renewal project in Detroit is now illegal. Any city department that approves Duggan’s project and any city council member voting for it will be breaking the law.
Section (a)(6) of State Act 344 states that a city agency or legislative body shall not approve development unless there has been “consultation” between the officials responsible and the citizens district council (CDC) representing the residents of the area involved.
One of the last acts of Detroit’s emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, was to abolish all Detroit CDCs.
State Act 344 declares CDCs must exist. While our current state legislature gave emergency managers power to overturn any city laws they desire, as creatures of the state there is no way they can ignore state laws.
Orr’s spokesperson, Bill Nowling, maintained, “It was felt CDCs were an unnecessary level of bureaucracy that was hindering development by revitalizing efforts.”
Actually CDCs were simply an advisory body with no power to stop any project. They only gave average voters a chance to know what those on high were planning for their neighborhoods and voice their concerns through democratic procedures.
This may be why government officials did not want them around.
Members of the Brush Park CDC exposed violations of the law by city, state and federal bureaucrats and called for an investigation by a federal grand jury. They revealed ways that officials authorized to “revitalize” their area actually wrecked it with taxpaper funds.
1) State bureaucrats wrecked Brush Park businesses.
Decades ago the area had a flourishing business district and a famous and highly popular entertainment district called Paradise Valley.
Both happened to be owned by individuals who were black. State bureaucrats decided to build the Chrysler Expressway right through them.
Ten years ago William Worden, the caucasian head of Detroit’s Historic Advisory Board, sadly noted, “The common view is that this was not done inadvertently.”
One has to wonder whether business newcomers investing in the area are really benefactors of Brush Park or if, as Shakespeare might have put it, they “have all the advantage of her wrongs.”
2) Though city officials talk of restoring historic buildings, in the past city bureaucrats illegally tore them down occasionally with state funding.
The city’s own historic district ordinance stated a private owner who did that would be subject to fine and imprisonment, Detroit’s City Planning Commission stated this violated federal law, Section 100 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
3) In tearing down these historical homes residents say the bureaucrats wrecked the area’s environment.
In 2004 the company hired to demolish them did not take adequate measures to prevent the spread of asbestos from these old buildings.
Ironically, state funds for this project came from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).
An MDEQ inspector, Thomas Vincent, declared the company was following federal regulations, but on further questioning, he admitted these regulations did not require measures preventing the asbestos from being blown by the wind.
When interviewed 12 years ago Gwendolyn Mingo, who at that time headed both the Brush Park CDC and the Coordinating Council of all Detroit CDCs, stated people in her area suffered from respiratory problems and on a number of blocks some died.
She expressed concerns that the asbestos might injure newcomers moving into Brush Park. Today one might wonder if this might affect sports fans coming into the nearby sports area of Comerica Park.
4) Bureaucrats ruined residents’ lives by pressuring them out of their homes without funds for relocation.
Much of Detroit’s urban renewal funding came from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Part of the legal mission of HUD is to “ address the challenge of homelessness “ but in Brush Park HUD funding created homelessness. Another part of HUD’s official mission is “to move people from renting to home ownership.” The HUD funded program in Brush Park moved people from the home they owned into a place to rent, if they were lucky enough to find one.
It seems clear that allowing urban renewal programs without CDCs will enable bureaucrats to continue such abuses in the future without any effective challenges.
Orr’ s highhanded and illegal actions to abolish CDCs should generate strong public demands for a thorough investigation.
