Problems plague city departments

Environmental Affairs

Budget for 2001-02: $1,883,014

Budgeted positions: 14

Created in 1996, the Environmental Affairs Department is charged with cleaning up the city’s estimated 2,000 acres of contaminated property. Five years later, the department has yet to compile a master list or create a strategy for cleanup. Officials are not sure of the exact locations, acreage, ownership or extent of public exposure to contamination.

Fire Department

Budget for 2001-02: $155,833,646

Budgeted positions: 1,886

Last year, the city’s fire trucks were so poorly maintained that on any given day between five and 11 of the department’s aerial ladders didn’t work. Ground ladders were broken and hundreds of fire hydrants were inoperable. Trucks often carried three firefighters when the standard minimum is four. The repair shop routinely ran out of spare parts and supplies, lacked computers for diagnostic tests for the newer trucks and had no working tow truck. The fire training facility was in such disrepair that the city issued a demolition permit for the building.

Health Department

Budget for 2001-02: $96,607,613

Budgeted positions: 667 (including 159 paid by grant funds)

In 1989, the department closed clinics and cut back programs in an effort to save money. In 1992, the city was denied a federal AIDS grant because it failed to spend the previous year’s grant. In 1999, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development took from the deparment what was left of a $5.9-million lead-abatement grant because the project was in a shambles. In 2000, the department was given one year to meet state requirements in family planning, immunization, food sanitation and vision.

Police

Budget for 2001-02: $368,274,621

Budgeted positions: 5,017

In 1984, the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners took away the Police Department’s authority to investigate brutality claims against its own officers. There were more than 800 brutality claims per year at the time, costing the city several million dollars in legal settlements. Police Chief William Hart, who had led the department since 1976, was sent to prison in 1992 for stealing police funds. In 1992, two police officers, Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn were charged with murder for the beating death of Malice Green in front of a Detroit crack house. A 1997 report criticized Detroit police for shooting and killing people at a greater rate than other urban departments. That same year a cheating scandal in the promotion exams negated the results of the exams. From 1987 through 2000, police misconduct lawsuits cost Detroit taxpayers $124 million in settlements.

Recreation

Budget for 2001-02: $66,275,865

Budgeted positions: 816

Poor conditions are rampant at the city’s recreation centers. Examples include: lack of running water, game rooms with no games, no basketballs for the gyms, chained and padlocked locker rooms. Belle Isle is dotted with deteriorating buildings; the island’s lakes are weed-choked and filled with trash.

Water

Budget for 2001-02: $259,858,621

Budgeted positions: 2,420

Sewerage Budget for 2001-02:: $759,909,915

Budgeted positions: 1,499

In 1984 Charles Beckham, former Water Department director, was convicted for extorting more than $16,000 in bribes from Vista Disposal Systems in return for steering business to the firm. The company was owned by Darralyn Bowers, a close friend of Mayor Coleman A. Young. She was convicted of federal bribery charges in 1983 with two others. In 2000, the Water Department computer administrator was indicted on charges of soliciting and receiving $22,000 for a computer contract. Infrastructure is between 30 and 100 years old, with many mains in perilous shape. Mains often break and pressure is uneven. In 2001, Mayor Dennis Archer added $360 million in bonds to the city budget because a federal judge ordered him to replace aging pipes and equipment to comply with the U.S. Clean Water Act. The department had not upgraded its equipment for decades, the judge found.

Library

Budget for 2001-02: $44,066,270

Budgeted positions: 537

Plagued since the 1980s by a lack of funds and branch closings, the Detroit Public Library in recent years has had more visible woes: In July 2000, backed-up storm sewers damaged 3,000 books and documents from the Burton historical collection that were stored in the basement. Some areas were contaminated with fecal coliform bacteria. The Burton Historical Collection closed after the flood and only re-opened full time in June of 2001. Following the flood, the library was rocked by a power surge explosion and fire. Another electrical mishap closed the library earlier this year. The director claimed in 1999 that the library needed $100 million to fix the branches and restore services; many positions are unfilled; library hours are limited.

Buildings and Safety

Budget for 2001-02:: $25,182,542

Budgeted positions: 390 (Including 8 paid by grant funds)

From 1990-2001, 34,931 housing units were lost in the city through abandonment or demolition; 153,916 have been lost since 1970. In the past decade, Detroit lost more housing than any other U.S. city. In 1998, the auditor general asked for an investigation into why millions of dollars earmarked to tear down houses were unspent while the city still had a backlog of 9,000 derelict buildings to tear down. The 2001 auditor general’s report blamed the department for stifling development through sluggish code and permit approval.

Public Lighting

Budget for 2001-02: $72,327,346

Budgeted positions: 369

On June 13, 2000, a blown cable caused Detroit to lose electrical power to 4,500 buildings, including city offices, 250 school buildings, police and fire stations and Wayne State University. 1990 and 1991 saw widespread city power outages. DTE estimates it will cost $175 million to bring the Public Lighting system up to par. A 1986 bond election was approved for $38 million in lighting improvements, but the money remained unspent in 1993. More than $8 million was still unspent by 1996. In 2001, a contractor was charged with 77 counts of mail fraud and violation of banking laws in a scheme to defraud the Lighting Department. He is accused of providing gifts and services to city employees who dealt with his invoices. His original bid, under which he was awarded a contract to replace waste and water pumps, went from $30,000 to $1.9 million. Another contract jumped 1,100% from the initial amount.

Planning & Development

Budget for 2001-2002: $80,388,150

Budgeted positions: 317 (Including 246 paid by grant funds)

In 1985, the city came up with a master plan for handling property after 10 years and three directors. In 1991, during land acquisition for the Chrysler Jefferson Avenue Plant, department director Emmett Moten, Jr. signed an agreement with Joseph Giacalone and three other property owners to pay $40 million to acquire 15 acres and some industrial machinery originally valued at $2 million. In 1995, the department was criticized for driving away business by failing to respond to customers and by hiding behind voice mail to avoid contact with customers. In 1996, employees were caught receiving thousands of dollars from real estate investors in the form of $300 to $500 loans. The investors in turn got cheap city property. In 2001, a former department supervisor was accused of selling city-owned land for personal profit.

– Compiled by Jennifer Nolan / The Detroit News