"Detroit government is terribly broken and
dysfunctional", says Lessenberry, "in a way it has so far proven impossible for elected
leaders to repair. The basic problem is this: What was once a prosperous
city of nearly 2 million people is now a largely dilapidated and
shrunken one of barely 700,000 mostly very poor people.
In addition to vast debts and a current
budget deficit, the city has a social services and public employee
sector built for a larger, richer city, and can no longer sustain it.
Especially not in the face of massive revenue cuts from the state."
Sad but true.