What Does it Take to Make a Great City: Investment in Water Maintenance

By Richard C. Clement


Detroit’s Water and Sewage Department Master Plan for Detroit. 

Cheryl Porter
COO/DSWD

On February 20^th, the Detroit Water and Sewage Department’s (DSWD/ www.dswd.org ) Retail Steering Committee presented an update on their Master Plan at New Prospect Missionary Baptist Church.   DSWD serves 3.6 million people in the City of Detroit and 129 communities in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties. This is a 2 year project that will direct recommendations on the 20 year plan for capital improvements and associated costs. The plan will help provide guidance in the areas of water rates, maintenance and a conceptual design for identified priority improvements for the first 5 years. Water rates are determined by a formula calculating the median income of the city/township it serves times %2. 



Chief Operating Officer Cheryl Porter gave a 45 minute presentation on the plan that included progress on:

1.       Signing 12 out of 17 consent agreements with the various Unions
2.       Describing the differential between the fixed assets and the maintenance costs
3.       Making a plan on maintaining the integrity of the  infrastructure

DSWD Master Plan

The department is responsible for maintenance and replacement of aging water mains.  The material used to upgrade the water system must be of a durable nature and designed to last more than 20-30 years.  Different compounds made from natural products that are combined with concrete to make it last longer must be considered because the water system is a vital part of the quality of life for everyone. 




Managing the water through metering and leak detection will play a crucial role in sustaining revenue and paying for system.  With the new technology, DSWD will be able to determine if a property is using water at an abnormal rate such as, someone having a leaking toilet or pipe in their home and giving reports on water usage at a daily rate.  This technology would help a home or property owner to manage their water use so much that you will be able to determine the cost of getting a plumber to fix a leak to save long term cost to the consumer.  As it stands now, the water system was losing money up until 2011 when the rates were increased. There was a small profit for 2011 until the projected maintenance costs of 2012 through 2014 were included.


 






Edna Bell
SERCH Consultants

The responsibility of managing the water is determined by a seven member board.  Currently there is no plan to have an elected water board similar to the district/at large model in the City of Detroit. There would be legitimate reasons to have an elected water board because they would be more accountable to the people. This would be much better than a Federal Court managing the water system because an elected board will lead to better transparency,  prompt disclosure of technical data and,  discussion of project ideas and recommendations with an emphasis on group problem solving to promote levels of trust between the public and DSWD.
 



Charlie Fleetham
Project Innovations Inc.

The actions above will create better Customer Service for DSWD and their customers. For the residents of Detroit, this is crucial information that will help our community grow and prosper. To help Detroit prosper we recommend that you get involved with your government by participating in the decision making process with, your writings on paper, email and, by your presence at steering committee meetings.

 

Apology and explanation of Detroit Fire Department post.

by Richard Clement
 

Closed Firehouse at Livernois and Curtis
District #2

I do apologize to the Men and Women of Detroit Fire if you were offended by the statement Bed and Breakfast, especially the widows.  This is a misunderstanding between the intent of the message and what it should have implied that being a Firefighter is a good job with a lot of dangerous and hard work.  Some of the firehouses that I worked in doing computer hardware and software upgrades, the kitchens had bbq fire pits and gas grills installed.  I had the chance to observe a few Firefighters cooking sitr-fry one day at a firehouse and, it looked so good and smelled even better.  They were pretty nice to me also but I could not stay for dinner.  We want our firefighters to be well fed, well paid and, safe when they go to work. If the facilities need an upgrade, then make a list and it will be addressed.   Mr. Cushingberry never wrote any of the messages so don’t hate on him. Therefore I would  be more than honored take up all of the offers that some of you made to Councilman Cushingberry to ride a rig, put on some gear and,  go up the ladder on the fire engine. I will be leading an investigation of DFD facilities for the councilman. Starting with the firehouses in District 2, I will be going to see what is REALLY going on in DFD as an investigator. If additional hardware is needed then, your concerns will be addressed.

We will be adding additional media content creators on the Facebook page for Mr. Cushingberry. This includes more media personnel and unpaid interns in journalism. Mr. Cushingberry has no intentions on resigning over a traffic ticket or, resigning period.  After thinking about it over the weekend, I am not quitting either. It is time to get up and walk it off. In 30 days the council has accomplished a lot. Board positions have been filled, corporation counsel has been appointed and the streetlights are coming on.  This does not sound like a dysfunctional group of councilmembers. When all these facts come to light, Nolan Finley is still wrong and Richard Clement was right.  Given my new position, others will have to speak up and out for me a little more advocating the causes that I was speaking out for in Lansing and Detroit.

Sincerely, Richard Clement – Legislative Aide to Councilman George Cushingberry Jr.

Progress in Detroit: Mike and Ike, Brenda and George. Leadership working for a Dynamic Detroit!

By Richard C. Clement

 

In just under 25 days the City of Detroit has already identified attainable goals for 2014 and beyond. The most prominent goal is the plan to streamline is the way the City tracks and monitors the money. Transparency is in the process of being implemented within 12 months by upgrading the software to allow citizens to see the balance sheets in real and, allow department managers to manage costs.  The financial leadership of Detroit has pledged to implement an online budgetary management system in real time by the end of 2014. This is called a popular method of information reporting, allowing a citizen to inspect a budget from their tablet or android phone and, get detailed information on how their money is spent.  A citizen will get an appreciation for how much it costs to maintain things in a government too. 

Revamping Transportation in Detroit: DDOT and Technology.

With financial support from Private, State and, Federal Grants, the Detroit Department of Transportation will be able to perform an upgrade to its technology.  GPS tracking of assets and busses online will enhance the transportation experience for customers.  The improvement in communication will lead to better bus service through the use of interactive tablet, smartphone and, desktop applications. Internal operations such as the intranet and the internet will be brought up to post 2012 technology standard.  The Department will be able to add a 25 person transit police department to monitor bus safety.

Detroit After the Blight: What next?

We would like public input on what to do after all of the blighted houses are torn down.  Choices like building a new home or creating new subdivisions are some of many choices Detroiters have to make.  Maintaining current structures is a matter of bringing homes into 21^st century compliance in the areas of electric wiring, heating, plumbing and,  construction.

District 2 Specific:  Light up District 2 / Johnson Center

Regarding the closed Johnson Center:  If the public is interested, an inspection of the closed facility by the public is being reviewed.  If you are interested in going in the building, please call the office at 313 224 4535 and let it be known. Light up District 2 by reporting malfunctioning streetlights to the Public Lighting Department at 313 267 8140. Please give the address of the house or lot where the defective light is located.  (ex. 17000 block of Santa Barbara if you don’t have the exact address).  Finally look for our District office located in the Northwest Activities Center on Curtis and Meyers.  Currently it is under construction and the open house will be coming soon. 

This does not sound like a dysfunctional and obstructionist government but, a productive and proactive one.  In less than 30 days, the accomplishments  of Detroit leadership under Mayor Duggan and Council President Jones has been like a waltz through City Government.  Or more like a well written score of music by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Music Artist Kem. 

Or more like computer programing code written by a DPS student studying technology.

Maybe as smooth as the live jazz at the Locker Room Lounge every Sunday night @ 8pm

 

Stay Tuned.

The Detroit City Council 30 Day Progress Report / Score with the President and the Pro Tempore.

By,  Richard Clement

Greetings citizens of District 2 and the City of Detroit. When George was elected by you to make change in city government,  he said "I don't intend to disappoint you".  In the short time that he has been in office, the following things have been accomplished.

1.       Board appointments to all sub committees have been approved and meetings are being held.

2.       A commitment to Light up Detroit by encouraging citizens to call the Public Lighting Commission at  313 267 8140 twice a week to report the location of non-working streetlights. We want all the lights in District 2 to be on by late spring/early summer.

3.       Restarting the effort to have commercial air service out of Coleman Young International Airport.

 

4.       Supporting the efforts of the Magic Plus LLC group to revitalize the State Fairgrounds into a viable property containing a new Amtrak Station and, businesses creating jobs.

5.       Making sure that City retirees and, employees do not get abused or lose out on the pensions that were promised by monitoring the activity of the Emergency Manager.

In addition to these successes, an active program to get more citizens to challenge their property taxes by going to a Board of Review hearing on their property is in full effect.  If you never tried to appeal your property taxes then we highly encourage you to do so.  You have more to gain and nothing to lose by scheduling a hearing with the Board of Review.

The revitalization of Coleman Young International Airport will included upgrades to the terminal and construction of a new runway.  This is a jewel of the city that Coleman Young and the Tuskegee Airmen had to give back to the community. We must not let that die.

In time we will have a District office located at the Northwest Activities Center on Curtis and Meyers so that we can get even closer to our constituents.  As of January 21^st, Office furniture, Website and, phone lines to our office are still under construction.

Under the leadership of Council President Jones, Detroit will exit the bankruptcy in a much better position to provide services at the most economical of costs.

This does not sound like a dysfunctional council as some would have you to believe in other publications.

The Mayor want's a six month chance to get things done so lets grant him and the council that wish.

 

Stay Tuned 

Light Up Detroit in 2014! - Turn on the lights in District 2 by Calling 313 267 8140. Ask for for Marie!

PSA from Councilman Cushingberry,


If your streetlights are out in the City of Detroit, call 313 267 8140 at the Public Lighting Department and ask for Marie Brown. She is the go to gal for the Public Lighting Commisison. Give her the location of the street where the defective lights are located and someone will be out to fix it. Mayor Duggan and the Council  has committed to change for the betterment of City residents. It is recommended that a call be made once every 3 days until the problem is resolved.  Councilman Cushingberry is committed to serving the constituents in District 2 and being a ambassador for the City of Detroit.

The Friends of  George Cushingberry Jr.

What does it take to make a Great City: Upgrading the Detroit Department of Transportation's(DDOT) Information Distribution in 2014.

The Friends of George Cushingberry Jr.
Richard C. Clement - Test Researcher

 

 

Expanding Light Rail Transportation in the tri-county area

The recent harsh weather in Detroit has created hardship and havoc among Detroit Citizens. Some people depend on their cars to maintain a living wage. If a car is not available, the next mode of transportation is the DDOT bus system. When all of the busses are working and on time, it is the greatest and cheapest form of Transportation. When busses break down or something happens to a bus, riders have no way of knowing what happened or where the bus is on the route.

 

On January 7th, 2014 @ 8am, The Friends of George Cushingberry Jr. conducted a test of the bus system recently conducted a test of the DDOT bus system, based on the information provided online.  Using the Google Maps feature, I was able to find the proper bus to catch to get downtown for the inauguration. It was -10 degrees Fahrenheit and the plan was not to stay in the cold weather very long.  Unbeknown to the test subject, one of the busses on the 10 Chene line had broken down and was taken offline.  So a 15 minute wait turned into a 55 minute wait in the cold. Luckily, the test subject was used to the weather because they were raised delivering newspapers for the Detroit News and walking to school at 12 years old in the cold weather.

The DDOT bus driver was very nice and apologetic about the bus problems. Had the test subject know about the mechanical failure, there would have been an option to hop on the bus when it was heading north and rode the loop back in a warm bus.  Needless to say I missed the inauguration ceremonies arriving at 10:15am.

Under the direction of the new City Council and Mayor’s office, a bus tracking app letting riders know the precise location of the bus will be developed. This is will be an extreme help to a rider/customer of DDOT.  This app will be designed to run on most cell phones, iPads, and tablets.  This is what an elected City Council can do for its citizens and visitors.  From using Google Glass to using your android phone or tablet, GPS tracking of DDOT busses will be a benefit to the consumer and, allow for information on the system to be disseminated in a timely manner.

This is the type of change that the Detroit City Council and Mayor’s office can make happen.  We have new council leadership that will stand up for the city when it is under attack from, people and news organizations who mean Detroiters no good.

We vow to improve the bus system for the Citizens and Customers of DDOT because no one should be left out in the elements of weather waiting for a bus that may be late or broken down.  If you agree then, we want you to come to City Council and express yourself because, being silent and complaining without a solution benefits no one.

 

Please consider donating to the car repair fund for the less fortunate by clicking on the Donate button below.

 

 

Winter Car Repair Donations for the Less Fortunate / Pay it Forward

By The Friends of George Cushingberry Jr.

The recent harsh weather in our City has created hardship and havoc among Detroit Citizens. Some people depend on their cars to maintain a living wage and when unplanned repairs are needed, citizens need a hand to get by.  Brakes, tires, and other small things on used cars can cost someone on a fixed income a job because their mode of transportation is not there.  Our citizens need assistance to sustain their lives and your help will be greatly appreciated.

 If you can find it in your heart to donate what you can it will be greatly appreciated.

 
Thank you in advance,

The Friends of George Cushingberry Jr.