turn that frown upside down

let me start by saying this: Kwame Kilpatrick is insane. he should by all means not be mayor at this point. he is facing 8 felony charges. its amazing that he goes on. you have got to admire the vision, even if he has blinders on the the reality of his situation.

if you have read this blog before you know that i think that there is no way that Kwame should be mayor at this point. that being said, i am starting to see the witch hunt that is after him. yes he did wrong. no, he shouldnt be mayor. but that doesnt mean that he has no good ideas.

this article in the Free Press explains plans for 'Paradise Valley.' this is the reason i like Kwame. i never like his playboy ways, but he has had a visions for improving Detroit. he has helped bring investment, development, and more suburbanites into Detroit. it is unfair to criticize the plan because the guy who proposed it is... shall we say, less than perfect.

the comments below the article criticize the plan for various reasons. like going for this paradise valley plan while schools are going to hell. the thing is, theres no money for schools. the city doesnt really have to pay much if anything for this to work. developers foot the bill. the development brings first construction jobs, then permanent jobs. this brings in money. money that is taxed by the city. those taxes go to pay for things like schools.

Detroit cannot just mint money to improve its schools. it has to come from somewhere. this plan, the river walk, the new stadiums, campus martius are all ways to bring money into the city so that the city has money. throwing money at a problem is no good: youll never get any value out of drowning a problem in money. especially money you dont have. but if you start to get money, meter it out in thought out and useful ways, the results will come. now, i havent seen a plan for that second part, but in reality thats like me planning to be promoted tomorrow. not likely. but i can count on working hard toward that and having it come true in a year or two.

there is a lot of pessimism in Detroit. there has been since 1967. the riots took the wind out of Detroit's sails. the fall of the domestic auto industry shredded the sails. the boat has been still in the water for a decade at least now. but its there. and Kwame is trying to put up some sails to catch whatever breeze is blowing. theres no guarantee that it will. but its beyond pointless and idiotic to stand on the deck of a boat with no sails and curse the still air.

what my prolonged metaphor says is that Detroit elected Kwame for better or worse. we all hope he pays for what he did wrong. but maybe theres still some good he can do. hes captain of the ship and its either follow or mutiny. and i dont see a mutiny working out well. now is the time to follow him, use the council to keep him in check, and hope for the best.

bottom line: development in Detroit cant be bad. and it might be good. lets give it a chance. lets have some faith and optimism that it works.