4 - Friday, April 4, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4 - Friday, April 4, 2014 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom W1e1idhigan &Ut*( Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandaily.com MEGAN MCDONALD PETER SHAHIN and DANIEL WANG KATIE BURKE EDITOR IN CHIEF EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. Building Detroit's foundation The new bankruptcy plan addresses important basic needs for the city D etroit's new bankruptcy plan, filed in federal court this past Monday, outlines a strategy to invest $1.5 billion in the city over the next decade. The two major components of the plan allocate $520 million toward blight removal and another $464 million to public safety. The bankruptcy plan promotes positive goals for Detroit. Crime reduction and blight removal are excellent priorities that are necessary for building a strong foundation in the city. Moving forward, Detroit should implement other long-term goals that address the source of these problems. VIRGINIA EASTHOPE E-MAIL VIRGINIA EASTHOPE AT VCHOPE(&UMICH.EDU. F~ouv~A~ B ur Creae aregiona lndan T he dauntingtaskofmapping and demolishing nearly 80,000 vacant and blighted homes in the city of Detroit is currently underway. But blight removal has been a major priority for the last two mayoral administrations under Kwame Kilpatrick and Dave Bing, and neither ALEXANDER HERMANN On Monday, Detroit filed its adjusted bankruptcy plan electronically. The plan proposes a $1.5 billion investment over 10 years, mainly focusing On city crime and blight. Other planned investments include improvements to city services, expanding the existing bus transportation system, parks and recreation area upgrades and improvements to the Coleman A. Young city airport. For five years in a row, Detroit has topped Forbes' list of Most Dangerous Cities. Its reputation deters potential businesses and consumers from coming to the city, shrinking the city's tax base and job market. Improvements to public safety may change this pattern and bring much-needed revenue to local businesses. Better safety would allow for more traffic from tourism and increase incentives for businesses to locate themselves in Detroit, both serving to increase economic activity. A more prosperous economy and a friendlier job market may further help reduce crime in the city. The plan for blight removal could also improve the city's public perception. There are an estimated 78,000 vacant structures in the city. These are threats to public safety and decrease the value of neighboring homes. 60 percent of fires in Detroit occur in abandoned buildings and these buildings can become havens for street crime. Eliminating them would mean Detroit police officers no longer have to patrol abandoned areas and could increase their presence in other populated areas of the city. Removal of abandoned structures also opens up space for valuable community initiatives like urban farming. However, the citymust work closely with existingresidents to prevent unnecessary relocation and also ensure that structures being razed are unsalvageable for future or alternative uses. Though the investments provide the necessary funds to help steer Detroit, more progress on addressing the source of Detroit's issues needs to occur. Detroit needs more residents to contribute to the city's tax base, as well as contribute toit§ vibrancy. Gov. Rick Snyder proposed a plan to issue increased numbers of EB-2 visas to immigrants living in Detroit, which could boost the population of the city while providing needed high-skilled workers. While the plan sets aside a substantial amount of funding for public transit, continued funding is also important to this economic revitalization. Safe, reliable public transportation can help current residents get to work while simultaneously attracting new residents who don't own a car. Similarly, public parks and community spaces must continue to improve to increase the quality of life for both current and future residents. Further, while the use of funding to secure the city is viable and useful, it is necessary to address long-term origins of crime like endemic poverty and elevated high school dropout rates. made a significant dent in the growing problem. Still, the Detroit Blight Removal Task Force - commissioned in late 2013 to catalog every parcel of land in the city and create a plan to deconstruct those structures des- ignated as economically unviable within six years - represents the city's best attempt yet to raze dilap- idated structures that constantly threaten residents' personal secu- rity and livelihood. Unfortunately, the already difficult task of massive blight removal - with a price tag poten- tially exceeding $1 billion - is just the beginning. But to this point, city officials haven't had the answers to the toughest questions concerning city redevelopment: What hap- pens when the mapping is fin- ished? When the blighted parcels are cleared? And, most important- ly, what happens with the vacant homes and structures deemed "eco- nomically viable"? Though it's hardly a panacea to any city's redevelopment efforts, land banks represent one impor- tant, and underutilized, tool to answer those questions in Detroit. The idea behind land banks is simple, and they are already per- vasive in Michigan. Land banks are quasi-public entities, often over- seen by elected county officials that utilize the best practices in urban planning and community develop- ment to help stabilize communities and clear blight. Typically, state legislation enables land banks to possess foreclosed homes before they become available to specula- tors and the broader public through county auctions. Land banksbenefit neighborhoods suffering from rampant disinvest- ment, foreclosures and high vacancy rates by being mission-driven with no profit motive. In these environ- ments, oftentimes the market for housing has all but deteriorated, and foreclosed homes can sit on the coun- ty auction list for years. Not demol- ished due to lack of funding, these residences quickly become targets for scrapping, arson, squatting and other illegal activities detrimental to the surrounding neighborhood. For better or worse, the city already has its own land bank - the Detroit Land Bank Author- ity. But since its inception the DLBA has never lived up to its poten- tial, even if that's no fault of the organization itself. As John Gallagher's most recent book, "Revolution Detroit: Strate- gies for Urban Reinvention", notes, the DLBA has been hampered politi- cally since its founding in 2010. For example, Detroit City Council pro- vided no funding for the organiza- tion and required it to purchase all homes from the city at fair market value. Even more importantly, the DLBA lacks the essential ties to the county to take foreclosed properties before they reach the county auction block. From the beginning, the DLBA has been overly dependent on outside funding to support the organization. Even recent 'signs of improve- ment fall, far short of remedying the DLBA's dearth of power. New mayor Mike Duggan and City Coun- cil approved a measure in February enabling the land bank to file public nuisance lawsuits against blighted- property owners in an effort to hold these owners accountable for ruined structures. Thoughthese efforts may prove significant in the long run, they don't go far enough in making the DLBA a major player in the city's redevelopment scene. In fact, if confined exclusively to Detroit's city limits, the DLBA will never live up to its potential. The most successful land banks in the country have access to a diverse housing stock. With avaried housing inventory, land banks can capital- ize on a basic formula. Land banks spruce up and sell homes in high- er-quality neighborhoods, at rates higher than they would've fetched at auction, before reinvesting those "profits" in declining neighborhoods, often through strategic home reha- bilitation or demolition. The Genesee County Land Bank, one of the model land banks nation- ally, pioneered this concept as Flint's leading community development organization since 2004. However, Detroit's housing stock by itself remains too uniformly depleted to capitalize on this model. But if housing diversity is the issue, then there's a simple practical solu- tion - however difficult politically in the Metropolitan Detroit context - greater regional cooperation. The creation of a regional, tri- county or Southeast Michigan land bank including Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties at a minimum, would clearly contain a diverse enough housing stock to aid stabi- lizing and redevelopment efforts in Metro Detroit's strugglingneighbor- hoods that exist in every county - if invested with the proper authority. Just like the demolition of 80,000 properties in Detroit won't stem the tide of disinvestment in the city, the creation of a regional land bank cer- tainly isn't a panacea to curing allthe region's redevelopment ills. Regard- less, employing both would mark a major step forward in the stabiliza- tion and revitalization of Detroit and the broader area. - Alexander Hermann can be reached at aherm@umich.edu. EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS Barry Belmont, Edvinas Berzanskis, David Harris, Rachel John, Nivedita Karki, Jacob Karafa, Jordyn Kay, Aarica Marsh, Megan McDonald, Victoria Noble, Melissa Scholke, Michael Schramm, Matthew Seligman, Paul Sherman, Allison Raeck, Linh Vu, Daniel Wang, Derek Wolfe RACHEL JOHN Embracing technology There is no greater pleasure in the morn- from this monster of wires and touchscreens. ing than waking up to the light of a glow- Yet, my 18-year-old thumbs are hopelessly ing screen and the rapid click of texts, ping clinging to my phone as I am writing this. of Facebook messages and buzz of e-mails. The realist in me knows that neither of these These sounds, a rumbling electronic cadence, ways of life is feasible or balanced. At the are the heartbeat of our generation. same time, I don't believe that our generation The thrill of the present rushes through is completely mindless when we use technol- my veins. These sounds, these notifications, ogy. But maybe, we're not using our brains are my only connection to the present. I am properly to their full potential. an old soul. There's a special place in my heart I'm not going to be your parent and force (and in my scrapbook) for handwritten let- you to stop texting at the dinner table. But, ters and tangible photographs. I prefer face- I'm not going to be your friend who lets you to-face conversations rather than a bunch of scroll through your newsfeed while I'm try- one-worded - sometimes one-lettered - text ing to have a conversation with you. Use tech- message reflexes. I often daydream about my nology for good. When we wholeheartedly future rather than mindlessly scroll through dedicate our time to a mindful post, we won't a Twitter feed. Nevertheless, technology have to resort to mindless scrolling. Use it to keeps me in the present. No matter how hard communicate - to others, to the world. Don't I try, I am a teenager and I am bound to just tweet to complain - tweet what's impor- this technology. tant to you. Show others your world (in 140 Media shapes our culture, and technology characters or less, of course). Facebook mes- changes our society. Though those beliefs sage one of your hundreds of "friends" and may seem to be restricted to the scholarly elite work to develop an actual friendship. Instead of communication studies, they are notice- of just reblogging an idea, come up with able in our everyday lives. Recent findings by your own. neuroscientist and psychiatrist Dr. Manfred The possibilities are endless. Whenever I Spitzer have marked the computer as "poi- think of endless possibility, I can't help but son for kids" since computer use in children think of my favorite childhood film, Willy was associated with "aggressive behaviors Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." One and attention issues." Attention issues due of my favorite Wonka one-liners (which to media use have been so pervasive among I later found was a quote by poet Arthur young people that it is now referred to using O'Shaughnessy) was "We are the music mak- the term "digital dementia." When we multi- ers, and we are the dreamers of dreams." task between screens (e.g. my daily routine of Though Wonka lived in a world of unlimited lecture slides, Facebook, lecture slides, Twit- candy, we live in a world of unlimited ideas ter, lecture slides, texts), we may also develop and we have the means to spread them more memory problems that decrease our attention than any other generation could even fathom. and "impair learning." The scientific basis Make music. Dream those dreams. Make for "digital dementia," according to pediat- them known. Help eliminate the "narcissis- ric medical director Dr. Bradley Berg, is that tic" and "impatient" stigma of the Millen- our "neural pathways are not stimulated." In nials. Redefine our generation. Redefine the other words, we're just not using our brains. heartbeat of our generation. The old soul in me wants to tell you to go to an ashram and completely free yourself Rachel John is an LSA freshman. FOLLOW THE DAILY ON TWITTER Keep up with columnists, read Daily editorials, view cartoons and join in the debate. Check out @michigandaily to get updates on Daily content throughout the day. In response to 'Focus on the issues' To the Editorial Board of the Michigan Daily: Your editorial published on April 2, 2014 (From the Daily: Focus on the issues) is filled with inaccu- racies, misguided judgments and ideas that threaten the foundations of student governance. We'll begin the inaccuracies. Your article reads, "Individual candidates who receive 10 or more demerits and entire parties that receive 28 or more demerits are automatically disqualified from the election." False. Individual candi- dates who receive 5 or more demer- its and entire parties that receive 10 or more demerits are automatically disqualified from the election. I would be curious where you came up with 28 demerits - one hopes it was a typo on your part and not actually the carelessness to not check the election code. The very next sentence reads, "Alleged violations are reviewed by the Central Student Judicia- ry, which assigns any applicable demerits." Again, wrong. Violations and demerits are determined by the University Elections Commis- sion. Decisions made by the UEC can be appealed to the Central Student Judiciary. Finally, your article asserts the executive candidates for FORUM last year "received a majority of votes" but were disqualified. Well, no. They received a plurality of votes. Does your editorial board own a dictionary? These inaccuracies do not funda- mentally undermine the rest of your assertions, but they do demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of the system you critique. An embar- rassment for a student paper that prides itself on accuracy, and it sheds doubt on whether you understand the electoral process for your cri- tiques and suggestions to hold any merit. I contend they do not. Let's move on to the misguided judgments. You article asserts that because "four new complaints were filed" over the weekend, "CSG is obviously not capable of monitoring itself." That is actually exactly what CSG is doing here. Parties failed to adhere to the election code written by the CSG Assembly. Other parties monitor the behavior of those parties and they hold each other account- able. In this case, three parties failed to submit receipts for their expenses - a clear violation of the election code. And an important one, I might add, otherwise parties could lie about their expenses and spend outside the campaign finance limits. These are hardly insignificant charges. Even then, finding the parties guilty of fail- ing to file receipts has no impact on the results of the election - at most, each party could have received four demerits, far short of the 10-demerit disqualification threshold. Clearly, these were not submitted to dis- qualify a party, but rather to enforce the code and set a precedent for future elections. Furthermore, the Make Michigan team withdrew another complaint regarding improper use of e-mail privileges. President-elect Bobby Dishell said he withdrew the com- plaint because it would have had marginal impact on the election. The parties are not only monitoring each other, but monitoringthemselves. Your article also calls the dis- qualification of last year's FORUM candidates a "debacle." Again, I would call this a very misguided judgment. You essentially endorse allowing candidates to act in fla- grant violation of the election code without any consequence. These are not "petty scandals." They are violations of the elec- tion code that could significantly impact the results of the election. In order to maintain the integrity of the elections, there needs to be consequences for violating the rules repeatedly. Finally, your article lands on a suggestion that would threaten the foundation of student gover- nance on this campus. You suggest that a judiciary made up of faculty representatives monitor each elec- tion. Presumably, parties would still monitor the behavior of one another and file complaints. Those complaints would just be heard by a board of faculty representatives, rather than a board of students. What exactly would this fix? The "petty scandals" would still have taken place, the charges would still be filed, and the cases would still be heard. But instead of a board of students hearing the cases regard- ing student elections, there would be a board of faculty members. This could allow for extensive faculty influence over the CSG electoral process, essentially destroying the self-governance of students. The faculty, the administration and the students are three separate pieces of the shared governance of the University. The student voice has already shrunk enough over the last decade; do we really need to dimin- ish it further by allowing the faculty to control the student leadership? Most of all, though, your article ignores just how well the system worked in this election. Make Michigan candidates Bobby Dishell and Meagan Shokar won the elec- tion by more than 1100 votes and will take office in two weeks. No candidates were disqualified from the election. The parties who vio- lated the code accepted responsibil- ity for their mistakes and accepted the (inconsequential) demerits that came along with it. I look forward to the continued work of CSG over the next year, and I hope you offer more informed critiques of their work than this article demonstrated. Best, Michael Proppe Michael Proppe is a Business senior and Central Student Government president.