Re: Rochelle Riley's column, Sunday, October 20, 2013, "Detroit is Pure Michigan, too"
Dear editor:
By first refusing to even put the Governor's proposed lease of Belle Isle to a council vote, and now by rejecting a 30-year lease, the Detroit City Council has successfully destroyed any remaining goodwill by the people of Michigan. I doubt that any other jurisdiction in Michigan, a super-ceding democracy by the way, would look a "gift horse" in the mouth as the Council did. The Governor's proposed lease would allow the City to retain ownership of Belle Isle. It would relieve the City of all expenses related to maintaining it, much less improving it. Detroit Police Officers would be freed up to perform duties where people live and work. Making Belle Isle a State Park would likely increase property values, and taxes, in the adjacent neighborhoods. Restaurants and other shops would open to cater to an increase in visitors. Bicyclists would be able to ride to, from, and on the Isle without dodging broken glass.
Detroit may be "Pure Michigan," as Rochelle Riley writes. But the actions of the Detroit City Council in rejecting the lease are pure sophistry.
Thomas E. Page
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