I think it was around six years ago when I first heard faint rumblings about a coming financial tidal wave that was going to break over our cities, townships and villages, bringing with it the risk of a new civil war between retirees and taxpayers. The phrases were dire – “Enormous unfunded liabilities.” “Retiree pensions […]
Cities must face legacy debts, or risk survival
Posted inBrunch with Bridge
Detroit's entrepreneurs aren't all young and white
OPEN FOR BUSINESS: Chandra Moore is one African-American entrepreneur taking advantage of Detroit’s welcoming climate for new business. (Courtesy photo) Gerald Watson plans on hosting a competition he’s calling Detroit’s Next Executive Chef at Mo’ Betta Blues, his new restaurant and club. The competition, modeled after similar shows on cable television, is part of the […]
Posted inBrunch with Bridge
Be happy for holidays – no matter which is yours
MERRY CHRISMUKKAH! This vintage menorah shaped like a Christmas tree is just right for an interfaith home. (Courtesy photo) According to my parents, I’m the daughter of a Reform Jewish mom from Brooklyn and a nondenominational Christian dad from Battle Creek. We had menorahs and a Christmas tree in our home. According to Beliefnet’s interesting […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Retirees sweat as courts weigh cuts to pension and health care
It’s a battle cry that began in Detroit and is spreading to other Michigan cities: “Don’t touch my pension.” To that, many of the state’s retired municipal employees are adding another caveat: “And leave my medical insurance alone, too.” With Detroit in bankruptcy court, employees and retirees of other Michigan local governments are watching warily, […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Economy falters, with no easy answers for Saginaw
Saginaw resident Linda Williams is frustrated that the city no longer mows the vacant lot next to her home. (photo by Ted Roelofs) SAGINAW – Standing by the weed-choked vacant lot next to her home, Saginaw resident Linda Williams had a simple question. “Couldn’t they cut it at least one time?” she asked. “I don’t […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Searchable database: Legacy costs in your community
Legacy costs are commitments made in the past that will be paid by future generations. The two biggest forms of legacy costs for local governments in Michigan are pensions and health care insurance for retired public workers. Michigan has nearly 1,800 units of local government. Nearly 300 have some level of legacy costs. Two-thirds of […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
As Kalamazoo stalled, its neighbor curbed retiree health-care costs
City Manager Maurice Evans: “In hindsight, I would say city officials were looking at long-term expenses.” (photo by Ted Roelofs) KALAMAZOO/PORTAGE – A quick drive through Kalamazoo and its bordering neighbor to the south, Portage, reveals some obvious differences. Others are less so. Kalamazoo, older and more ethnically diverse, has its share of historic downtown […]
Posted inBusiness Watch
Detroit – coming to a city near you
Grand Rapids resident Cathy Mulder: “If it keeps going that way, we’re going to have less and less.” (photo by Ted Roelofs) As headlines mount for the largest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy, Detroit is now the undisputed punching bag for all that can go wrong in a community. But just how immune […]
Posted inTalent & Education
What does good teaching look like? We’re about to find out
Imagine a Michigan where student teachers learn at the knee of the state’s best teachers; where master teachers descend into the most needy schools like SWAT teams; where struggling teachers get the training they need to improve, and where everyone knows which teacher colleges turn out all-stars, and which producing duds. Now imagine a Michigan […]
Posted inTalent & Education
Rich school. Poor school. Whose teachers are better?
Perhaps the most vexing question facing Michigan’s new evaluation system is how to compare teacher performance when students in one class may be far more advanced than students in another. So-called “value-added data” is intended solve that dilemma, by taking into account such factors as poverty and a student’s past performance to determine a teacher’s […]
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