Detroit splits apart … for good?

If there ever was a case for changing SOMETHING this would be it …

Only 32 people have served on the Detroit City Council in the past 37 years, 19 men and 13 women.

The majority — 21 — have lived in northwest Detroit.

No one from southwest Detroit, the fastest-growing section of the city, has ever been elected to the council. And the last member elected from the embattled and neglected northeast section of the city, above I-94 and east of I-75, was the infamous Alonzo (Lonnie) Bates in 2001. He’s now in prison on theft and bank fraud charges.

But Detroiters will, for the first time in more than 70 years, improve their council’s diversity and accountability by making seven members responsible for specific districts of the city.

Yes, that’s what that vote was last November.

More than 80% of Detroiters skipped the November vote. But those who voted chose change.

This certainly won’t cure all of Detroit’s ills, but let’s hope it becomes a little bit of change for the better.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 30th, 2010 at 11:56 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Leave a Reply