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July 27, 2007
Council votes on Tiger Stadium, and ... you'd better just read the story
The Detroit city council turned down Ernie Harwell's plea to give him time to mediate between the city and groups wishing to preserve part of Tiger Stadium, instead casting a vote today on Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's plan to raze it and have an as-yet-undetermined developer build condos in its place. Two votes, in fact, which is where it starts to get confusing:
- The council voted 5-4 (I haven't been able to find a record of who voted which way yet) to approve the mayor's demolition plan.
- The council voted 6-3 not to transfer title to the stadium to the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, the agency that would need to carry out the demolition.
- The council voted (no voting tally reported yet) to allow the city to begin selling off seats and other memorabilia from the 95-year-old ballpark as soon as next month.
As for what this all means, according to council president Kenneth Cockrel, the council intends to hold off on demolition for a bit longer, though since it's already endorsed the mayor's plan and authorized the sale of any historic bits of the stadium that would allow it to be preserved, it's hard to see what they're waiting for. "I talked earlier of not wanting to turn this into a soap opera," Cockrel told the Detroit Free Press. "It looks like it's going to be a soap opera for at least a little while longer."
If any FoS readers watched the actual proceedings and can add to this account, please do so in the Comments section below.
It was a strange day, Neil. Martha Reeves, who--because she was uncomfortable voting in such a hurry--made a motion on Wednesday to invite Ernie Harewell, who accepted and made an eloquent plea for taking until September before voting, volunteering, as you say here, to mediate between the different interests.
Then Reeves turned around and cast the deciding vote in favor of voting today! Everyone was in shock. That vote was a straw vote, but it gave the green light, and we knew we were in trouble.
Besides Reeves, Ken Cockrel, Sheila Cockrel, Kwame Kenyatta, and Alberta Tinsley-Talabi voted to go ahead and vote today. JoAnn Watson, who has been the most powerful voice in opposition to demolition, was joined by Monica Conyers, Brenda Jones, and Barbara Rose-Collins.
The other 5-4 votes went the same way. The weird 6-3 vote to hold on to the property had Reeves and Tinsley-Talabi joining the other opponents of demolition, in the (perhaps mistaken) belief that they were retaining a level of control over what happens.
It was a weird, frustrating, and disappointing day.
Frank Rashid
Posted by Frank Rashid on July 27, 2007 09:26 PM
It was a strange day, Neil. Martha Reeves, who--because she was uncomfortable voting in such a hurry--made a motion on Wednesday to invite Ernie Harewell, who accepted and made an eloquent plea for taking until September before voting, volunteering, as you say here, to mediate between the different interests.
Then Reeves turned around and cast the deciding vote in favor of voting today! Everyone was in shock. That vote was a straw vote, but it gave the green light, and we knew we were in trouble.
Besides Reeves, Ken Cockrel, Sheila Cockrel, Kwame Kenyatta, and Alberta Tinsley-Talabi voted to go ahead and vote today. JoAnn Watson, who has been the most powerful voice in opposition to demolition, was joined by Monica Conyers, Brenda Jones, and Barbara Rose-Collins.
The other 5-4 votes went the same way. The weird 6-3 vote to hold on to the property had Reeves and Tinsley-Talabi joining the other opponents of demolition, in the (perhaps mistaken) belief that they were retaining a level of control over what happens.
The lawyers will have to sort it out.
It was a weird, frustrating, and disappointing day.
Frank Rashid
Posted by Frank Rashid on July 27, 2007 09:26 PM
Maybe Reeves thought that, by forcing the vote right after Harwell's speech, that sentiment would swing in her favor. But then to vote in favor of demolition... why bring in Harwell if she wanted demolition? Just bizarre.
Posted by rone on July 28, 2007 10:02 PM