GM/Chrysler Merger

[69Tom]

And then there's this one about Detroit itself. Scary times.

<font color="blue">City Council: Detroit needs $10-billion bailout </font>
BY NAOMI R. PATTON • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • November 12, 2008
The Detroit City Council passed a resolution today calling for a $10-billion bailout for the city of Detroit.

Council President Pro Tem JoAnn Watson sponsored the resolution to use the money for public service employment, to fund mass transit plans and to place a moratorium on home foreclosures for two years.


The resolution specifically requests the council meet with Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr., Gov. Jennifer Granholm, the state’s congressional delegation, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and officials from President George W. Bush’s office and President-Elect Barack Obama’s transition team.


Watson said she fully supports mayors from Warren, Sterling Heights, Livonia and Dearborn meeting with representatives from Granholm’s office, the state’s congressional delegation, the Michigan Economic Development Corp., the Southeastern Michigan Council of Governments and the Michigan Municipal League, seeking federal redevelopment funding for communities facing huge losses in property tax revenue affected by looming plant closures.


But, she said, “The city of Detroit has got to be leading the way on this.”


The city recently received $47 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help stabilize neighborhoods hit hard by the nationwide foreclosure crisis. Officials with the city’s Planning and Development have prepared a plan the city council is expected to vote on in a week.