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n2doc

(47,953 posts) Sun Apr 22, 2012, 04:50 PM Apr 2012

Detroit fire boss: Let some vacant buildings burn

(04-22) 12:52 PDT Detroit, MI (AP) --

The Detroit Fire Department could adjust to a looming 15 percent budget cut by allowing some abandoned buildings burn to the ground, according to the city's top fire official.

Executive Fire Commissioner Donald Austin said his is creating three proposals for Mayor Dave Bing to consider when making deep reductions to the 2012-13 budget, likely to be below this fiscal year's $183 million. Detroit is going through a state-monitored budget overhaul under a deal reached between Gov. Rick Snyder and city officials, an alternative to a state-appointed emergency manager.

"I'll give (Bing) every penny I can without cutting people," said Austin, a former Los Angeles assistant fire chief who became head of Detroit fire operations last May.

Detroit stands out from other large U.S. cities and will need to take drastic steps to meet its service needs, he said.

"Name another city in the United States that lost 200,000 people in 10 years," Austin told the Detroit Free Press ( on.freep.com/I21PTT) for a story Sunday, citing U.S. Census figures. "So we're in a unique position. And I believe it takes unique approaches to deal with situations that are not the norm."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/04/22/state/n125204D22.DTL

3 replies

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Detroit fire boss: Let some vacant buildings burn (Original Post) n2doc Apr 2012 OP

Sinking to the Fee-based Libertarian FD in Tennessee. alp227 Apr 2012 #1

When your population drops from 2 million to 714,000 hack89 Apr 2012 #2

Name another city in the United States that lost 200,000 people ... dixiegrrrrl Apr 2012 #3

alp227

(32,029 posts)

1. Sinking to the Fee-based Libertarian FD in Tennessee.

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Mon Apr 23, 2012, 01:57 PM

Apr 2012

Jonathan Turley commented this is an example of "insanity that has taken hold of this country as we burn hundreds of billions in Afghanistan and Iraq because our leaders have lacked the courage to withdraw forces from those countries" because they "will allow buildings to burn down while building facilities for Iraq with one of the world’s largest oil reserves."

hack89

(39,171 posts)

2. When your population drops from 2 million to 714,000

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Mon Apr 23, 2012, 02:06 PM

Apr 2012

and your geographic area remains the same, there is no way in hell the tax base will be able to maintain services. They should bulldoze entire neighborhoods and turn them into parks and greenways - concentrate the population into a smaller area with decent and affordable infrastructure, housing and schools.

dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)

3. Name another city in the United States that lost 200,000 people ...

Reply to n2doc (Original post)

Mon Apr 23, 2012, 09:22 PM

Apr 2012

New Orleans, before and after Katrina...in a lot less time than10 years, and those people have not come back in any appreciable number.
Some left before the storm, some left after because there was no place to live or work.

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