Well, this is pleasant news Earlier this year, public employee retirees from Pontiac filed a lawsuit to reverse a decision by Emergency Financial Manager Lou Schimmel to cut some of their health care benefits, increase their deductibles, and reduce their pensions. They said it was a violation of federal law regarding the impairment of contracts. In June, a district court […]

What were the odds…? [DIA “Thinker” image modified from CC photo by Michael Barera | Wikimedia Commons] A couple of weeks ago, we learned that Christie’s auction house was in Detroit to appraise the Detroit Institute of Arts legendary collection. At the time, nobody knew who had called them in. Pamela Marcil, a museum spokeswoman, said “We don’t know who […]

Uh, Mr. Orr? You’re doing it wrong Photo by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr had some choice insulting words about union workers in Detroit. In the interview, he had this to say: For a long time the city was dumb, lazy, happy and rich…Detroit has been […]

Frugality is apparently NOT a job requirement Kevyn Orr scored a pretty sweet deal when he signed on as the Emergency Manager for Detroit. In addition to a car, a driver and a body guard, he’s also got a nice suite in the posh Book Cadillac hotel. This is on top of his $275,000 annual salary. Orr’s contract (pdf) also […]

The DIA is a superhero among museums. But that doesn’t mean it should have to save Detroit. I don’t understand this obsession some people have with the Detroit Institute of Arts selling off the treasures in its collection. Do they think it’s the DIA’s responsibility to save Detroit? Because it’s not. Of course, the people who think the DIA should […]

That must have been one very convincing sales job… Photo by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog Back in January when the Snyder administration was negotiating with Kevyn Orr to become Detroit’s Emergency Manager, well ahead of the city even being declared in a financial emergency, Orr had this to say about Michigan’s newly-enacted Emergency Manager law, Public Act 436 […]

This is unreal

“This is unprecedented in my experience,” he said. “It seems reckless to even consider liquidating these public assets.”