creating space xii connecting the dots with professor peter hammer 2015.09.30
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Connecting the Dots: Water Shutoffs, Pensions, Emergency Management,
Bankruptcy & BeyondPeter J. Hammer
Professor of Law, DirectorDamon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights
Wayne State University Law School
Connecting the Dots . . . .
Structural Racism + Fiscal Austerity = Detroit
Structural Racism = 100 year history
Fiscal Austerity = 40 year history
Contemporary conflation nationally◦ News strains of racism◦ Pronounced anti-government views
Diagnosing Detroit’s Problems
Belief Systems & Institutions:Defining Processes of Change
Belief Systems:Neoliberal Fiscal AusterityStructural Racism
Institutional Matrix• Laws rules, norms,
regulations• Rules of the game• Players of the
game
Strong belief in markets and fear of the state
Emphasis on property right Hyper sense of individualism Marginalizes role of structure and social
context Blames/punish individuals who fail to live up
to standards (false meritocracy) Myth of colorblindness Vilification of public good and processes
Fiscal Austerity: Belief System
Minimalist state Unrestrained markets Privatization of public assets Minimal public workers/benefits
◦ Minimal respect for public employees Minimal social safety net
Fiscal Austerity: Institutions
Intent
Structural Racism
White Privilege
(supremacy)
Implicit Bias
Structuralized Racialization (verb)
Michigan Roundtable-Kirwan Institute Opportunity Mapping
Defining Opportunity◦ Housing ◦ Employment◦ Schooling◦ Health◦ Transportation◦ Food security◦ Living environment
Spatial Racism: Segregation of Race and Wealth in Detroit
Mapping Opportunity in Detroit
Mapping Opportunity and Race
Slavery
Jim Crow
Spatial Racism
Legacy of Spatial Racism
How does the State respond?
Each “Dot” is its own artifact:◦ Emergency Management◦ Detroit Public Schools◦ Detroit Future City◦ Blight Task Force Report◦ DWSD: Water Shutoffs◦ Bankruptcy Plan of Adjustment◦ Pensions
Each “Dot” contains its own embedded manifestation of . . . ◦ Belief Systems (worldviews)◦ Institutional Matrix (power)◦ Magnetic force field
Connecting the Dots
Policies, Institutions & Belief Systems Exert Force Fields
Difference between “debt” and “cash flow” Leading causes for falling revenue (cash
flow)◦ Falling state revenue sharing◦ Falling property taxes (foreclosure crisis)◦ Increasing legacy costs
Financialization and the role of Wall Street◦ COPS and SWAPS and City finances◦ Bond refinancing of DWSD◦ Predatory lending and the private mortgage
financial crisis (Aitken v. Morgan Stanley)
The Causes of the “Fiscal Crisis”
State imposed, anti-democratic regime EM template maps onto neoliberal fiscal
austerity agenda◦ Shrink size of government◦ Privatize public assets◦ Cancel labor contracts and reduce workforce◦ Take the city into bankruptcy
Emergency Manager
Structurally dysfunctional school finance◦ Charter schools◦ Inter-district schools of choice
Cycles of failed Emergency Management EMs cannot solve structural crises Failure of competition/markets as social
mechanisms Failure to protect our children
Detroit Public Schools
Distressed housing market is the template for future land use changes
Investment in City Services altered to map onto existing occupancy rates
No future residential uses in current distressed areas
Detroit Future City
Detroit Future City (housing occupancy)
Detroit Future City (investment in city infrastructure)
Detroit Future City (50 year vision)
Reveals the nature of the neoliberal worldview Consistent with pattern of de-population Water shutoffs
◦ 2014 – 3000/week => 30,000 households◦ 2015 – 800/week => 24,000 households
Assistance plans: Band-Aids not structural remedies (Curt Guyette)
170,493 residential accounts Detroit 73,457 accounts more than 60 days overdue (43%) 24,743 accounts on payment plans 24,450 payment plans over 60 days overdue 293 accounts helped
Water Shutoffs
Demolition is the top and only priority◦ 850 million dollars◦ 80,000 structures◦ 430 jobs
Establish mechanisms to transfer private land ownership to public ownership
Establish mechanism for the reassembly and redistribution of real estate◦ Detroit Land Bank
Blight Task Force Report
Mechanism to enshrine the minimalist state “Exit financing” to fund the Blight Removal
Task Force◦ Proposed to borrow new money to tear buildings
down but not invest in people (did not come to complete fruition)
Absence of investment in people/opportunity
Absence of respect for public employees Logical extension of fiscal austerity and
structural racism
Bankruptcy Plan of Adjustment
Need New Belief Systems & Institutions
Belief Systems:Equitable, people-focused development
Institutional Matrix• New Laws,
policies, rules, norms, regulations
Alternative beliefs and institutions
Equitable- People-Focused
Development
Community Benefits
Ordinance
Community Land Trusts
Water Affordability
Plan
Foreclosure Relief
Respect public
employees
Pathways to Opportunity
Questions?
Thank You
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