"I think the rest of the cities in Michigan should take over the zoo and change the name from The Detroit Zoo to The Zoo of the Cities and Municipalities of Michigan except for Detroit"
Thats actually kind of the issue. The Detroit Zoological Society said they'd take over the site, and I believe the state may have even offered to front some money. (I think the defecit they're dealing with is something like 5 million and the Zoological's offer was 4 mil.) But whats killing the Zoo is the same thing thats been killing Detroit since the 12th Avenue riots, the city's us vs them mindset. The Detroit council doesn't want to hand over maintanence of the zoo to the society because they see the society as a suburban organization. Even though the society doesn't want OWNERSHIP of the zoo, merely a kind of stewardship, the city fears that its just another suburban takeover. (The City reacts similarly to state attempts as well, think of the public schools)
Detroit's leadership still holds onto a very confrontational mindset with the suburbs, which surely has valid roots. Yet, all the same, Detroit needs to understand that this isn't an issue of race. Its an issue of money. Detroit has to embrace the predominately white suburbs if only because they have the money. And money begets money.
Unfortunately, the city and its leadership is still very much stuck in that "White vs Black",ie "Suburb vs City" mentality as evidenced by the Zoo issue and the recent re-election of Kwame 'City Killer' Kilpatrick. (To be fair, the mayor actually supports a Zoological Society stewardship)
Read some of the quotes that the city council put out about their decision, its a little sickening. The basic premise they used in their official statement was that they were given too little time (the offer has been on the board since November I think) and that they want Detroit to retain its possessions. I think the actual language they used was that they felt they were 'being pimped.' (What city council says that?)
The Zoo is one of the few things the city has going for it. It really is world class and to generations of people in the Metro area its a landmark. It would imagine that the groundswell of support the Zoo is getting right now would make the closing down of the Zoo impossible. But then again, I thought Kwame's reelection was impossible too.
Thats actually kind of the issue. The Detroit Zoological Society said they'd take over the site, and I believe the state may have even offered to front some money. (I think the defecit they're dealing with is something like 5 million and the Zoological's offer was 4 mil.) But whats killing the Zoo is the same thing thats been killing Detroit since the 12th Avenue riots, the city's us vs them mindset. The Detroit council doesn't want to hand over maintanence of the zoo to the society because they see the society as a suburban organization. Even though the society doesn't want OWNERSHIP of the zoo, merely a kind of stewardship, the city fears that its just another suburban takeover. (The City reacts similarly to state attempts as well, think of the public schools)
Detroit's leadership still holds onto a very confrontational mindset with the suburbs, which surely has valid roots. Yet, all the same, Detroit needs to understand that this isn't an issue of race. Its an issue of money. Detroit has to embrace the predominately white suburbs if only because they have the money. And money begets money.
Unfortunately, the city and its leadership is still very much stuck in that "White vs Black",ie "Suburb vs City" mentality as evidenced by the Zoo issue and the recent re-election of Kwame 'City Killer' Kilpatrick. (To be fair, the mayor actually supports a Zoological Society stewardship)
Read some of the quotes that the city council put out about their decision, its a little sickening. The basic premise they used in their official statement was that they were given too little time (the offer has been on the board since November I think) and that they want Detroit to retain its possessions. I think the actual language they used was that they felt they were 'being pimped.' (What city council says that?)
The Zoo is one of the few things the city has going for it. It really is world class and to generations of people in the Metro area its a landmark. It would imagine that the groundswell of support the Zoo is getting right now would make the closing down of the Zoo impossible. But then again, I thought Kwame's reelection was impossible too.
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