By George Cushingberry Jr.
Your Candidate for Detroit City Council District #2
A true public servant and
friend Saul Greene came and asked me to introduce a bill to rationalize
pensions. This was shortly after Ken
Cockrel lost the election to Dave Bing. According to the administration,
the pension was underfunded and unstable. This was a stark difference to what
the pension plan participants were saying.
Pension plan participants knew that The City of Detroit’s pension plan
is solvent and, this has been an ongoing battle with administrations in the
past and present to loot the fund to reduce costs and responsibilities to plan members.
With the data that I
had at the time and, under extreme concern for my constituent’s well-being, I
introduced this bill for sole purpose of pocket vetoing it. A pocket veto is a dignified method of making
sure that a bill never sees the light of day of a vote. As chairman of the powerful House of Representatives Appropriations
committee, I had the power to make sure that this happened in an orderly
manner. The plan was to have City Retirees, UAW,
D.P.O.A., and A.S.F.C.M.E. members to attend the hearing, call legislators, and just
raise the holy roof in Lansing opposing this bill.
This would have been it for ANY bill that would have attacked the retirees
in the City of Detroit.
To my shock and dismay,
Mayor Bing gets rid of Saul and left me hanging out to dry in 2010 with my current
and potential constituents. The Mayor allowed the lie to be perpetuated that his
bill proposal was all mine. They claimed they had a plan that I sponsored and
it became by law a deficit reduction bond. This failed administration as my
friend Malik Shabazz calls it sold the bond and didn't make the course
correction the council told him we had to make to keep things afloat.
What we need is someone
with political, academic, and practical experience in city and all levels of
government. So the derivative bond, deficit reduction bond, Republican anti Obama
care plus, the current feather bedding with turn around experts by the state
has indeed created an emergency. While I believe the people of
Detroit will come out to vote and rectify the situation, I DO NOT support the
Emergency Financial Manager because it creates more bureaucracy and even more
lack of transparency. In 2014 we must focus on firing the current Governor,
Attorney General, and Secretary of State. I also asked Mike Duggan to run for Governor in 2014. We should invest first in those who stayed here in Detroit with loyalty
credits on their property taxes based on length of time in the City. This and other ideas are what it’s going to
take to get the state right.
Now that we have an
un-elected manager in control of the finances in my City, my voice on the
council will serve as an ELECTED Financial Manager/Activist for the people. Therefore I am asking
you to Push with Cush and support me for Detroit City Council in District #2.
The Committee to Elect
George Cushingberry Jr. to City of Detroit City Council, District #2