Why the crackdown on
graffiti? Page B1
Nailah, LLC, a forerunner to Midtown Detroit’s restoration and development, continues to build Page C1
POWERED BY REAL TIMES MEDIA
Volume 80 – Number 30
michiganchronicle.com
April 5-11, 2017
Congresswoman Maxine Waters delivers stinging assessment of President Trump at the Wright Museum By Donald James Special to the Chronicle
As a senior member of the U.S. House of Representatives (43rd Congressional District of California), Congresswoman Maxine Waters is known for her fiery, no-nonsense, in-your-face (when necessary) brand of politics. On Friday night, March 31, Waters demonstrated this straightforwardness, when she spoke at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Maxine Waters Along with Mildred T. Aristide, former first lady of Haiti, Waters closed out Women’s History Month. More than 400 people packed the museum’s General Motors Theater (and overflow section) to hear both women speak. Aristide spoke on Haiti’s culture, history and future. She also touted American black leaders who have helped Haiti, specifically Congressman John Conyers and Congresswoman Waters. Aristide also described the 2004 coup d’état in Haiti. This major event resulted in the democratically-elected government being overthrown at a time the country was under the legal leadership of Mildred Aristide’s husband, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. As a result of the coup, President Aristide and the first lady went into exile in Jamaica and South Africa for seven years. Waters spoke next, and after expressing her good feelings about Haiti and long friendship with Jean-Bertrand and Mildred Aristide, the congresswoman proceeded to deliver a 62-minute hard-hitting assessment of Trump’s first 10 weeks as president. In a textbook verbal dossier, Waters cited Trump’s questionable cabinet picks, executive orders, disrespect for women and minorities, unstable behavior and decorum, and maybe the biggest of all issues, the alleged “Donald Trump-Russia-Vladimir Putin” ties, and possible collusion (with key Trump surrogates) that involved Russian interference in last November’s presidential campaign and election. “First, there were so many ugly things that Trump said and did during the campaign that I can’t simply forget,” Waters said. “So I
See MAXINE
WATERS page A-4
WHAT’S INSIDE
Home Team Detroit's plan was to single-handedly transform nearly one-sixth of the city from a tax foreclosed wasteland into a land full of taxpaying homeowners, more than 3,000 properties total. That plan is effectively dead in the water, but was it crazy? – Getty Image
What would you say if someone offered to buy all of Detroit to
make it better? OK, maybe not all of Detroit… By Keith A. Owens Senior Editor
A little over a week ago, a company called Home Team Detroit announced their intention to make a bid to purchase nearly 4,000 foreclosed homes in the city of Detroit before they go to auction as part of a strategy to revitalize the city and ramping up homeownership. The overall reaction has been, well, let’s say underwhelming, and that’s being generous. Detroit’s Corporation Counsel, Butch Hollowell, swiftly made the pronouncement that the city does not support the proposal, suggesting that Home Team try downsizing its ambitions to the scale of about nine properties to see how that works out. When I spoke with Anika Goss Foster from Detroit Future City, her reaction to the proposal was clearly evident in the expression on her face, which wasn’t exactly what anyone would define as supportive. Maurice Cox, head of Detroit’s Planning and Development Department, who has major developments in the works to upgrade city neighborhoods, is equally firm in his conviction that the concept being put forth by Home Team Detroit CEO Dave Prentice isn’t worth considering. Another insider I spoke with expressed concerns that Home Team still hasn’t shown evidence that they possess the actual resources for such a huge endeavor, and said that “if they do actually possess the funds then why hasn’t anyone heard of them?” He also said
that even if they did possess the funds, it wouldn’t be fair to grant one company such a huge task, shutting out others who might wish to bid. And finally, similar to what others have raised, he has not seen evidence of a track record indicating they can do the job, nor has he seen much evidence of what Home Team claims to have already done. One local Detroit Free Press columnist actually labeled the idea “insane.” So now, I figured, I really needed to talk to this guy Prentice. Because, for one, it seemed like not too many others were doing much talking to him. At least not long enough for the plan to be adequately explained. And maybe the audacity of his proposal was more than enough for some to feel comfortable dismissing him without giving him an audience. I’m hardly a real estate expert, and I have no problem admitting that up front, so it’s entirely possible those with more qualifications in that area know enough at a glance to know this idea of buying what amounts to about one-sixth of the city isn’t worth their time. But I figure anyone who is confident enough to say they have no problem purchasing hundreds of city blocks, to put those properties back on the tax rolls and back into the hands of average Detroiters who otherwise would have no other way to qualify for a home loan, is somebody who at least deserves an opportunity to tell his story. “If a third of the whole city is in public hands, well that’s a third of the city that’s not being taxed, which makes it a strain
She works hard for the money See page D-1
$1.00
The idea originally was to purchase every property headed to the tax foreclosure auction this fall before the actual auction, but Prentice decided to heed the wise advice of some of his employees, who counseled that perhaps that might be a bit ambitious. So instead, he settled on an area of Detroit’s northwest side that encompasses 25 square miles and 24 neighborhoods. “[In] the area that we selected, there are a number of reasons why we selected it, but the most alarming thing is that it has the highest foreclosure rate in the entire city. By a lot. There’s about 36,000 or so flagged for foreclosure in the entire city, and about 11,000 of them were in that 25-square-mile radius. So, you’re talking about one-third of the foreclosures in one-sixth of the city, so you’re at double the foreclosure rate for that area. That’s astonishing and a little bit scary,” he said. After purchasing the properties, the idea is to rehab them and then sell them
See DETROIT page A-4
dent in 2000. “I’m alive today and able to be a productive member of society because of the care and support provided by Michigan’s no-fault auto insurance coverage. It’s critical that lawmakers in Lansing do everything they can to reduce rates while ensuring accident victims get the care they need.”
Special to the Chronicle
Vivica A. Fox
“Detroit’s not alone in this problem; Flint, Battle Creek, Jackson, Benton Harbor, they’re all the same thing. You go out of this state and you’ve got Dayton, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Gary, Fort Wayne. It doesn’t matter where you go, it’s the same common element. You’ve got undervalued properties and redlined finance areas. People can’t buy using traditional methods. They’re mostly renters. And it’s just perpetual decline.”
Group launches fight for lower insurance rates By John Foster
SPOTLIGHT
for the other two-thirds,” said Prentice.
Neighborhood leaders, pastors and community advocates recently gathered at Salem Memorial Lutheran Church in Detroit’s Cornerstone Village neighborhood to launch the Detroit Alliance for Fair Auto Insurance. The organization will educate Detroit residents about Michigan’s auto insurance system and empower them to be advocates for fair auto insurance reforms at the state capitol.
Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones said she is committed to working with Detroit’s representatives in Lansing to find fair and balanced solutions.
“Detroit pays the highest insurance premiums in the country and it has to stop,” said Darell Reed, pastor at Spirit of Love Church on Detroit’s east side, who helped launch the new organization. “We have insurance companies charging Detroiters $5,000 a year for a policy and then the same driver can move just outside the city border and have their rates cut in half. If that’s not redlining then I don’t know what is.”
more than someone in the suburbs with several accidents on their record but a perfect credit score,” said Reed. “The only ones who don’t see the injustice in that are insurance companies.”
Reed also called out insurance company practices like using credit scores and other non-driving factors to charge higher rates as unfairly harming Detroiters.
While seeking to end insurance company practices that unfairly target Detroiters, the Detroit Alliance for Fair Auto Insurance also wants to stand up for accident victims.
“Credit scores have absolutely nothing to do with how good of a driver you are. You could be a low-income Detroit resident with a perfect driving record but still be charged
“When you are injured in an accident, the only thing that matters is getting better,” said Saundra Gay, a longtime Detroit resident who was paralyzed in a rollover acci-
“I pledge that I will be in constant contact with our Detroit delegation to make sure they know that this isn’t a one or the other situation. We need reforms that both lower costs for Detroit drivers while also giving accident victims the care they need,” said Jones. The Detroit Alliance for Fair Auto Insurance will be holding a series of town hall discussions across the city to talk to residents about their auto insurance policies, discuss possible solutions for lowering auto insurance rates and educate residents about how to reach out to state lawmakers to advocate for reforms that benefit drivers and not just big insurance companies. For more information about the Detroit Alliance for Fair Auto Insurance, please visit DetroitFairInsurance.org.