Detroit

[Art Vandelay]

Assuming all of the charges in the article are true, that is most definitely outrageous. What are you Detroiters (Detroitains? Detroitites?) doing about it, aside from posting about it online? Is anyone actively involved in any kind of recall movement? Can city council members in Detroit be recalled? Anyone volunteering for a different candidate for the next election? It's easy to point at the problems, but it looks like a lot of people need to become involved in city politics if real change is going to come about.

[Cornbread Maxwell]

Assuming all of the charges in the article are true, that is most definitely outrageous. What are you Detroiters (Detroitains? Detroitites?) doing about it, aside from posting about it online? Is anyone actively involved in any kind of recall movement? Can city council members in Detroit be recalled? Anyone volunteering for a different candidate for the next election? It's easy to point at the problems, but it looks like a lot of people need to become involved in city politics if real change is going to come about.

The thing is though, the actual city of Detroit isnt really all that big while the Detroit area is really big but made up of smaller municipalities without voting rights for the city. The majority of people who consider themselves Detroiters reside just outside the city proper and therefore have no voting voice. Another way of seeing this problem is that the city council's decisions reach much further than the voters who elect them.

You can say its easy to point out problems, but would you have known about this problem before I came here and pointed it out to the cafe? I would like to think that enough pressure from outside of Detroit might help, but the actual residents seem quite insulated to this cause.

[Art Vandelay]

The thing is though, the actual city of Detroit isnt really all that big while the Detroit area is really big but made up of smaller municipalities without voting rights for the city. The majority of people who consider themselves Detroiters reside just outside the city proper and therefore have no voting voice. Another way of seeing this problem is that the city council's decisions reach much further than the voters who elect them.

There are far more ways to help bring about change than voting. You don't have to be eligible to vote in the city in order to phone bank, canvas, donate money, or otherwise help out a candidate that you think would be better than someone currently on the council. Voting is important, certainly, but I'd argue that most of the time, it's the absolute least you can do, and in a case when you can't even vote, it's important to have your voice heard through other means.

You can say its easy to point out problems, but would you have known about this problem before I came here and pointed it out to the cafe? I would like to think that enough pressure from outside of Detroit might help, but the actual residents seem quite insulated to this cause.

I wasn't trying to disparage anyone for posting about this. Quite the contrary, I think awareness is an integral step--and often the first step--to bringing about action for something like this. But that doesn't change the fact that it's easy. I wasn't saying that people shouldn't post something like this. I guess what I'm saying is that if you feel it's something important enough to share with a group of people from outside of Michigan, I hope you feel it's important enough to do something else about as well.