Minehaha Forman
Minehaha Forman is a freelance writer living in Detroit. Born on a farm in Belize, Central America, she moved to the U.S. to pursue higher education and a career in writing. Forman’s work has been featured in many metro Detroit publications including Dbusiness magazine, Hour magazine and Corp! magazine. She has provided event coverage for Real Times Media and The Michigan Chronicle for three years, covering the popular Pancakes and Politics speaker series and other events. Prior to working with the Chronicle, Forman was a blogger with The American Independent News Network where she covered Metro Detroit politics and the 2008 presidential election. She will continue to provide commentary and coverage of Detroit politics as a blogger and feature writer for The Michigan Chronicle’s website.
Website URL: http://truthordarestories.blogspot.com/
Looking at the stats, it seems like Detroit desperately needs more emergency medical service technicians (EMS) than firefighters. The proposed layoff of 164 firefighters this month, will undoubtedly have a negative impact on public safety until the Federal grant slated to fund the replacement most of the laid off firefighters comes through.
But according to the numbers provided in a statement from Detroit mayor Dave Bing, it looks like EMS is responding to more than five times the calls with only a quarter of the workforce.
Here are the statistics provided in the statement:
- Total Sworn Fire Fighters = 881
- Fire Suppression = Estimated 30,000 calls for service annually; with an estimated 9,500 false alarms
• Total EMS Technicians = 248
• EMS = Estimated 135,000 calls for service annually.
Since the city is in a pinch and has to make tough cuts to the scope of services, it seems many of the firefighting posts should be replaced with EMS technicians.
It’s never too early to slip on your fighting gloves when seriously considering an election bid.
Currently, Detroit’s mayoral seat is being discussed, and while it’s very likely that incumbent Dave Bing will run again, the first-term mayor has not committed to a second year yet.
Meanwhile, potential candidates are lining up. With City Council President Charles Pugh and the DMC’s front-man Mike Duggan getting their political stars aligned for a run, Bing may have some serious contenders. Even though the primary for Detroit’s mayoral election is more than a year away, there already seems to be signs of political tension brewing; at least between Pugh and Bing.
This became more noticeable with the council’s recent spat with the mayor over the removal of the city’s top lawyer, Krystal Crittendon. Pugh shared what sounded like negative political ad verbiage after Bing asked the council to remove Crittendon two weeks ago.
That day, Pugh told The Detroit News:
Now, with Duggan gearing up to throw his hat in the ring for the city’s top spot, Pugh said it’s time for those considering candidacy to step their game up. Pugh took a light stab at Bing by putting the mayor's credentials behind Duggan’s.
Ouch. These are some campaign fighting words. Bing better make his decision to run or not quickly, because it seems the race has (unofficially) begun.
If you’re a Detroit resident who hasn’t paid city income or property tax, times are changing. Under the consent agreement, one of its goals is to get systems in place to track down taxes owed. A lot of Detroiter’s owe city taxes in some form or another. However, the city lacked the capacity to collect before. Now, for those land owners and people who let their city income tax go unpaid, it’s time to ante up.
Here is an excerpt from the final draft of the consent agreement:
Improve Detroit’s Capacity to Collect Tax Revenues:
- Enhance city revenue collection capacity as requested by the City of Detroit through technical assistance for collections, audit, and city income tax administration
- Create a common assessment template—move the property assessment function from the city to the county to allow for efficiencies as well as between property owners
Many Detroiters simply don’t have the money owed to the city. Will the city garnish wages? Or if the resident who owes taxes is unemployed (our unemployment rate is the highest in the country) will the city or Wayne County then repossess property?
Digital Daily Signup
Sign up now for the Michigan Chronicle Digital Daily newsletter!
Trending Topics
Free Digital Edition
