The talk of the town in Detroit last week centered on how the City Council managed to reject a proposal that would have expanded and renovated Cobo Center, saved the city millions of dollars and given the city veto power over future decisions related to the convention center as part of a five-member panel. The panel would have included one representative each from Wayne County, Macomb County, Oakland County, the city of Detroit and the state.

After five years of negotiating between regional players in southeast Michigan, the state Legislature last year passed a bill signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm that would have transferred ownership of the convention center to the five-member panel in exchange for a $288 million face-lift funded by the tri-county members. All City Council had to do was approve the deal.

Instead, the council once again chose utter stupidity over common sense and fiscal responsibility.
What the governor, state legislators and county executives understand and what the Detroit City Council fails to understand is the days of bordering municipalities fighting and competing against each other are over.

We sink or swim as a region. Instead of crying about “giving away” city assets, the five members of the City Council who voted in opposition should have been begging their regional partners for this deal, especially since all decisions by the five-member panel would have needed to be unanimous, thus protecting the city’s ability to dissent if it felt slighted.

Detroit had so much to gain from this proposal. Eight thousand new construction jobs would have been created. Detroit would have saved the $13 million that Cobo Center drains every year out of the city’s general fund.

The city would have received $20 million cash for the convention center, and the convention center would have finally received $288 million in upgrades it has sorely needed for decades that would help it retain the North American International Auto Show and attract other high-profile conventions.

More convention business in Detroit would mean more money spent both downtown and in the surrounding counties.
The existing 16,000 jobs and $600 million a year in economic impact generated by Cobo Center are in serious danger, mostly because of the bullying of Conyers.

Conyers is no stranger to corruption and controversy. Early last month, she allegedly harassed Councilmember Kwame Kenyatta for his lack of a college degree, his physical disability that requires use of a hearing aid and his potential diagnosis of cancer.

Conyers also remains under an ongoing investigation for her role in approving a $47 million Detroit sludge disposal contract for Houston-based Synagro Technologies Inc. She and other City Council members and staffers are accused of accepting payoffs from Synagro officials in exchange for their approval. The FBI says it has audio and videotape of several officials exchanging money for votes.

For someone so concerned about the city losing money in the Cobo Center deal, she doesn’t seem to mind wasting the city’s money on overpriced sludge contracts and on city police escorts to drive her son to school, even though it is unlikely she and her family face security threats.
While the Cobo Center deal can still be saved, it will require much more time and energy that should be spent elsewhere.

The state Legislature will need to extend the deadline it gave Detroit to get its act together and approve the deal.

But for now, the damage has been done. The city of Detroit, led by Conyers, has sent a profound message that Detroit is not open for business.

Farhan Bhatti is a State News guest columnist. Reach him at bhattifa@msu.edu.