I own a small retail grocery business and also live in Allen Park, Michigan, a small community southwest of Detroit. The only thing we have ever been known for is the Big Tire on I-94 and it's the place the Detroit Lions have their practice facility.
Another example of the tax payers getting screwed due to inept politicians and the budget problems facing many cities of which I'm afraid this is just the tip of the iceberg. Michigan under Governor Granholm a few years ago started a tax credit to the film industry for every movie and TV show that is produced in the state. Many recent feature films have been shot here, including Transformers 2 and the TV show Detroit 187(good show BTW). The mayor and city council are made up of mostly local businessmen and one old biddy whom I've know since I was eight years old. Like the musical "Music Man" these folks bought into a scheme hook, line, and sinker of putting a movie studio on 120 acres of land that is used partly as an office park and partly a brown field.
http://firegeezer.com/2011/02/23/michigan-city-laying-off-entire-fire-department/
http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/wayne_county/allen-park-votes-to-send-lay-off-notices-to-the-entire-fire-department
They told us in 2009 about a blockbuster 125 million dollar real estate deal with a major movie studio. They all got stars in their eyes and thought Julia Roberts and Ben Affleck would be strolling around our little downtown, eating at the local Coney Island(a local hot dog with chili and onions) restaurant. Even a Sushi restaurant and the Star Diner opened up to service the hollywood types. Sushi, Hollywood types, and Allen Park do not go together. We're blue collar beer and pizza folks where some work for one of the Big Three or like myself you cater to those folks with barbershops, hair dressers, dentists, doctors, and even little specialty grocery stores.
Basically they sold bonds and paid $25 million for land and buildings with a real worth of only $14 million for which they never got an appraisal and it would then be leased to Jimmy Lipton/Unity Studios.
When Lipton had a disagreement about his lease he bolted for greener pastures in the city of Detroit(can believe I just wrote that :S) So, what do the politicians do? Blame the fire fighters and only the fire fighters. Never mind they have a contract that was good until 2013 that they renegotiated down $800,000 less than six months ago.
For the life of me I can't understand how supposedly smart business people would ever do what they did. I know all these guys and would say most, if not all, of these folks are center right and fairly conservative when it comes to taxes. I think Allen Park now has a chance to be more well known than Bell, California as having the most inept/corrupt group of politicians ever. The only time the mayor is ever seen is at the weekly council meetings where they come up with this hair brained scheme that it's the firemen's fault.
BTW, my business has been in Allen Park for many years, it's a nice community of neat little homes built after WWII and now it's mostly young families replacing the aging boomers and senior citizens as they look to retirement and warmer climes. Everyone was very excited about the prospects of a huge development coming and that hopefully their homes would soon start to appreciate again after a pretty bad decline in the past decade.
I have half a mind to run for city council or even mayor, but who in their right mind would want the job of cleaning up this mess.
What's happening in Madison and now here in Lansing is going to trickle down to the local level all around the country as they're the ones who have to make the real cuts that the governors and state houses are making. Wages stagnant for decades, concessions, and more consessions and they use budget short falls as an excuse to bust the firefighters union. Mind boggling.
Anyone want to buy a house? :S
Rant over.
