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In and outs of the political campaigns, focusing on Michigan and Lansing, Tim Skubick will report regularly throughout the primary and then general election campaigns.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Knock It Off Brooks

She simply could have told L. Brooks Patterson to knock it off. But
then in her own way, Governor Jennifer Granholm did just that.
You've heard the Oakland County executive renewing his criticism of
the Detroit Water Board which has the suburbs over the barrel, so to
speak, and he doesn't like it one iota.
Well the governor is not fond of his rhetoric either in that it once
more seeks to pit the city vs. the suburbs and vice versa. She is to
the point in her criticism.
"Throughout his career, (he) has fanned this flame a lot and it's
very unfortunate." She concedes he has "zeal" to defend his home turf
but at what cost she asks?
"He has historically pitted county against the City of
Detroit…(but) that kind of mindset is anachronistic and unhelpful when
you want to take a regional approach," she advises him in no uncertain
terms.
The governor contends there is a court ordered agreement in place
on how to address water issues and she wants that document to work and
suggests that Mr. Patterson come to the table to discuss that "with an
open hand rather than a fist."
This is heavy-duty stuff for a governor who generally likes to
play nice and still she is not done.
She is worried that as the new governor tries to forge a
bipartisan climate at the capitol, the Patterson remarks could poison
that effort if the city and suburban lawmakers get into a tangle over
water.
"Yes, you're correct" she tells Michigan Public TV during her
final exit interview, "if there is a city-suburb battle, none of that
is good for the State of Michigan. We are one Michigan and we should
not be fanning the flames of division."
Warm letter to follow.

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

If she spoke more like this over the last 6 years, I think she'd be leaving with a better reputation.

December 23, 2010 at 10:26 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Give me a break! If she would have shown leadership, perhaps there would have been less divisiveness between the city and the suburbs. This is so typical of her style - whine and point to someone else, especially someone who has had to step in to fill the leadership void she has caused. As I understand, Brooks and Bing get along very well. And until Kwame created his own demise, I believe Brooks and Kwame worked together on many issues. Unfortunately, "Skoop" furthers the divide by focusing on those few issues where there is disagreement. Why don't you stop being afraid of diversity and accept that Brooks should voice opposition when he disagrees - that is respectful to Detroit - better than ignoring the City as the Governor has done for the past 8 years!

December 23, 2010 at 1:12 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hmmm . . . this is the same Jennifer Granholm who worked alongside Bernard Kilpatrick in the McNamara administration. The same Bernard Kilpatrick who is indicted in the Detroit water and sewer corruption scandal for which the suburb taxpayers have paid heavily for many years. The same Jennifer Granholm who regrets that she could not physically hit Mike Bishop to force him to do what she wanted which would have forced more damage onto our state, even more than she was able to do on her own initiative. The same Jennifer Granholm who was supposed to govern the entire state and look out for all citizens of the state. Enough said.

December 23, 2010 at 1:24 PM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Brooks Patterson used racism to get elected to office and hate and racism are his political tools of choice even when his is sober. Brooks can say what he wants, but history will record him as the hate filled drunken racist he is.

December 25, 2010 at 4:42 AM 
Blogger Unknown said...

Nice Christmas message above. Get a life, please.

December 27, 2010 at 4:16 AM 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Conservative Taxpayer with Memory:

Granholm and Skubik apparently don't know Brooks advocated every tax hike proposed on Oakland County home property taxpayers in the last three years: SMART Empty Bus Tax, Bailout Detroit Zoo Tax, Bailout Detroit Cobo Convention Center Tax, Loan to Detroit Streetcar Line to Nowhere to be paid off by Oakland County homeowners, to mention just four.

January 5, 2011 at 1:11 PM 

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