White guy wins Detroit Mayoral primary

[noonwitch]

Mike Duggan, the write-in candidate who happens to be white, won the primary yesterday with 53% of the vote. Mike Duggan saved the Detroit Medical Center from bankruptcy, so he has fiscal skills that the city could use.

I figure this qualifies as an End of the World post. It is the end of the world for race baiters like Tom Barrow, who got trounced yesterday and put his support behind the guy who came in second (Sheriff Napoleon-a good guy who is black) and referred to Duggan as "not one of us".

[marv]

Sounds like the "good guy in the white hat" won. Maybe there's hope yet.........

[Bailey]

who in their right mind wants that job?

[Madisonian]

Coleman is rolling in his grave.

[Adam Wood]

Assuming he wins the enchilada, he would be very wise to bring Kevyn Orr in as a very high-level staffer as soon as it is practical to do so.

[noonwitch]

Assuming he wins the enchilada, he would be very wise to bring Kevyn Orr in as a very high-level staffer as soon as it is practical to do so.

One of the reasons Duggan won was because the populace views him as the guy who can help them get rid of Orr and the control of the governor.

[Adam Wood]

One of the reasons Duggan won was because the populace views him as the guy who can help them get rid of Orr and the control of the governor.

Well, that's just stupid. Orr, so far as I can tell, is damn near the only person in America who actually has Detroit's best interests at heart.

If the people of Detroit are so hell-bent upon voting themselves into oblivion, then I'd say it's time to invest in chain-link fencing companies, because the only remaining prudent move is to wall off that hellhole and let it atrophy, and then the rest of productive America can move in, bulldoze everything, and rebuild the place as a productive part of American society after everyone else there dies off from a lack of government handouts.

[Elspeth]

Well, that's just stupid. Orr, so far as I can tell, is damn near the only person in America who actually has Detroit's best interests at heart.

If the people of Detroit are so hell-bent upon voting themselves into oblivion, then I'd say it's time to invest in chain-link fencing companies, because the only remaining prudent move is to wall off that hellhole and let it atrophy, and then the rest of productive America can move in, bulldoze everything, and rebuild the place as a productive part of American society after everyone else there dies off from a lack of government handouts.

The emergency manager thing can work one of two ways and it fully depends on the ethics and agenda of the governor. Either the governor is sincere about wanting to save Detroit, even though some tough decisions have to be made. Or the governor is looking for a way to sell off Detroit's assets at pennies on the dollar (to some "associates" of his), leaving Detroit not only bankrupt but picked away at the bones by vultures. Noonie would know what kind of ethics we're dealing with here. Is it cutting off rotten branches in order to save the roots and trunk, or is it stripping the city like a car on an LA street and not even leaving the motor intact?

[Adam Wood]

The emergency manager thing can work one of two ways and it fully depends on the ethics and agenda of the governor. Either the governor is sincere about wanting to save Detroit, even though some tough decisions have to be made. Or the governor is looking for a way to sell off Detroit's assets at pennies on the dollar (to some "associates" of his), leaving Detroit not only bankrupt but picked away at the bones by vultures. Noonie would know what kind of ethics we're dealing with here. Is it cutting off rotten branches in order to save the roots and trunk, or is it stripping the city like a car on an LA street and not even leaving the motor intact?

I would think that if Orr was going to fire sale Detroit, he would have done that before declaring bankruptcy. It's a whole lot easier to sell the idea that he's trying to do everything he can to stave off bankruptcy by making painful choices to sell assets than it is to try to sell them off in a bankruptcy, when every sale has to be examined by the bankruptcy court.

[noonwitch]

I would think that if Orr was going to fire sale Detroit, he would have done that before declaring bankruptcy. It's a whole lot easier to sell the idea that he's trying to do everything he can to stave off bankruptcy by making painful choices to sell assets than it is to try to sell them off in a bankruptcy, when every sale has to be examined by the bankruptcy court.

The people of Detroit do not like having the governor basically invalidate the last city elections. That's how they see the appointment of an emergency manager. It doesn't matter who the EM is, it's the fact that he is seen as the Governor's lackey. That's not how I see it, but I can understand to a point why citizens of Detroit might see it that way.


They see Mike Duggan, who has a backround in saving large organizations on the verge of bankruptcy, as the guy who can get them out of this situation. He is probably the best candidate in that sense, but the reality is that whoever is elected will still have to work with the EM until his appointment ends. I think that the two men together probably can resolve most of the fiscal emergency issues, as Kevin Orr has experience with Chrysler's restructuring and Duggan with the Detroit Medical Center (a massive complex of 4 hospitals).


The other primary winner, Benny Napoleon, is a good guy and probably would do a good job cleaning up the police department. But he doesn't have the fiscal backround that Duggan has.