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Cuts may slam doors on recreation centers
City of Detroit may close 9 of 29 facilities to save millions
November 23, 2005
Email this Print this BY MARISOL BELLO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Derrick Stevenson is a recreation aide at the Kronk Recreation Center located on Detroit's west side. He may lose his job at the famous boxing training ground if it closes in January. "There are a lot of underprivileged kids out here, and it's the only place for them to go," he said. (J. KYLE KEENER/Detroit Free Press)
Cost-cutting steps
The City of Detroit faces a $186-million budget gap this fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2006. Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's administration has looked to close the gap by:
Shutting nine of its 29 recreation centers. The centers expected to close by January are Bradby, O'Shea, Maheras, Johnson, Kronk, St. Hedwig, South Rademacher, Evans and Wigle. The mayor cut the centers' hours in September.
Laying off more than 400 workers since July 1. The city laid off 150 police officers and 65 firefighters over the summer.
Eliminating bulk trash pickup by the end of the year.
The city still needs $78 million in union concessions and $33 million in real estate sales to help balance the budget.
Marisol Bello
The Kronk Recreation Center on Detroit's west side has been a part of Earl Stringer's life for more than four decades.
Stringer, who grew up on Grand River not far from the center, swam in Kronk's pool as a boy. These days, the 50-year-old Detroiter trains amateur boxers daily in the basement of the building made famous for rearing champion fighters.
So it's hard for him to square with the idea that Detroit's $186-million budget problem is now his problem. But come January it may be if the city goes through with a plan to close the Kronk and eight other recreation centers to help fix its ongoing budget crisis.
"I've been coming here all my life," Stringer said Tuesday afternoon outside the Kronk, his gym bag slung over his shoulder. "There's so much history here. It's not right. Why do they have to close this one?"
In a meeting with union officials Tuesday morning, city recreation officials said closing almost a third of its 29 centers was part of a cost-cutting move to save the department $6 million.
A recreation department spokeswoman, Jennifer Roberts, said Tuesday that it's not definite that the nine centers discussed at the meeting will close. The mayor's office did not return calls for comment Tuesday.
Almost halfway into the fiscal year and now two weeks after Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick won re-election in a hotly contested race, the city's budget is no closer to solvency.
The city has not negotiated health care and salary concessions from the unions. Negotiations were postponed until after the election, but the next sit-down with AFSCME, the city's largest union, is slated for Dec. 30.
And even more layoffs are likely, said Jimmy Hearns, AFSCME's chief negotiator.
"Even if we did the days off without pay and health care concessions, there would still be layoffs," Hearns said. "That's where the rub is."
Meanwhile, the city continues to spend about $15 million more a month than it has and by December, its cash flow will drop to $4 million.
Last week, the administration pulled from the table a $47-million budget ********* it had asked the City Council to approve which relied on a deal involving the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel that now seems unlikely to happen.
Budget Director Roger Short said the administration continues to work on solutions to the budget crisis. Even though the council is on recess until January, Short said the administration hopes to call a special session before the council returns to present the body with an updated budget *********.
The latest blow came Monday when one of three major bond rating agencies, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, downgraded the city's bond rating to one notch above junk status.
Union leaders said Tuesday they asked to meet with recreation officials after employees at various centers were told of the closings by their supervisors last week.
"I don't know what this administration has in mind, but this 'Kids, Cops, Clean ...' " said Robert Donald, president of AFSCME Local 836, referring to Kilpatrick's pet project, "The kids are taking a beating right here."
Donald, who attended Tuesday's meeting and whose local represents recreation workers, said this is the third time since January that the recreation department has been slated for cuts.
Now, the city's budget crisis has deepened.
Derrick Stevenson, a recreation aide at the Kronk for the last five years, said his supervisors told him that he may lose his job if the center closes in January.
"It's bad," he said. "There are a lot of underprivileged kids out here, and it's the only place for them to go."
In Detroit's Midtown area, Mario Han****, 17, and his buddy, Lonell Harris, 17, walked past the Wigle Recreation Center on the Lodge, near Mack Avenue, and wondered where they would go to play basketball if the center closes.
"There's a whole bunch of kids in the neighborhood," said Han****, who along with Harris, live in the nearby Jeffries Projects. "It's close to us and it's the only place we really got.
"I guess we got to find something else to do," he said with a shrug.
They MAY shut it down..
Hopefully not!
Either way, I'm still moving to Detroit this July...
Cuts may slam doors on recreation centers
City of Detroit may close 9 of 29 facilities to save millions
November 23, 2005
Email this Print this BY MARISOL BELLO
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
Derrick Stevenson is a recreation aide at the Kronk Recreation Center located on Detroit's west side. He may lose his job at the famous boxing training ground if it closes in January. "There are a lot of underprivileged kids out here, and it's the only place for them to go," he said. (J. KYLE KEENER/Detroit Free Press)
Cost-cutting steps
The City of Detroit faces a $186-million budget gap this fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2006. Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's administration has looked to close the gap by:
Shutting nine of its 29 recreation centers. The centers expected to close by January are Bradby, O'Shea, Maheras, Johnson, Kronk, St. Hedwig, South Rademacher, Evans and Wigle. The mayor cut the centers' hours in September.
Laying off more than 400 workers since July 1. The city laid off 150 police officers and 65 firefighters over the summer.
Eliminating bulk trash pickup by the end of the year.
The city still needs $78 million in union concessions and $33 million in real estate sales to help balance the budget.
Marisol Bello
The Kronk Recreation Center on Detroit's west side has been a part of Earl Stringer's life for more than four decades.
Stringer, who grew up on Grand River not far from the center, swam in Kronk's pool as a boy. These days, the 50-year-old Detroiter trains amateur boxers daily in the basement of the building made famous for rearing champion fighters.
So it's hard for him to square with the idea that Detroit's $186-million budget problem is now his problem. But come January it may be if the city goes through with a plan to close the Kronk and eight other recreation centers to help fix its ongoing budget crisis.
"I've been coming here all my life," Stringer said Tuesday afternoon outside the Kronk, his gym bag slung over his shoulder. "There's so much history here. It's not right. Why do they have to close this one?"
In a meeting with union officials Tuesday morning, city recreation officials said closing almost a third of its 29 centers was part of a cost-cutting move to save the department $6 million.
A recreation department spokeswoman, Jennifer Roberts, said Tuesday that it's not definite that the nine centers discussed at the meeting will close. The mayor's office did not return calls for comment Tuesday.
Almost halfway into the fiscal year and now two weeks after Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick won re-election in a hotly contested race, the city's budget is no closer to solvency.
The city has not negotiated health care and salary concessions from the unions. Negotiations were postponed until after the election, but the next sit-down with AFSCME, the city's largest union, is slated for Dec. 30.
And even more layoffs are likely, said Jimmy Hearns, AFSCME's chief negotiator.
"Even if we did the days off without pay and health care concessions, there would still be layoffs," Hearns said. "That's where the rub is."
Meanwhile, the city continues to spend about $15 million more a month than it has and by December, its cash flow will drop to $4 million.
Last week, the administration pulled from the table a $47-million budget ********* it had asked the City Council to approve which relied on a deal involving the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel that now seems unlikely to happen.
Budget Director Roger Short said the administration continues to work on solutions to the budget crisis. Even though the council is on recess until January, Short said the administration hopes to call a special session before the council returns to present the body with an updated budget *********.
The latest blow came Monday when one of three major bond rating agencies, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, downgraded the city's bond rating to one notch above junk status.
Union leaders said Tuesday they asked to meet with recreation officials after employees at various centers were told of the closings by their supervisors last week.
"I don't know what this administration has in mind, but this 'Kids, Cops, Clean ...' " said Robert Donald, president of AFSCME Local 836, referring to Kilpatrick's pet project, "The kids are taking a beating right here."
Donald, who attended Tuesday's meeting and whose local represents recreation workers, said this is the third time since January that the recreation department has been slated for cuts.
Now, the city's budget crisis has deepened.
Derrick Stevenson, a recreation aide at the Kronk for the last five years, said his supervisors told him that he may lose his job if the center closes in January.
"It's bad," he said. "There are a lot of underprivileged kids out here, and it's the only place for them to go."
In Detroit's Midtown area, Mario Han****, 17, and his buddy, Lonell Harris, 17, walked past the Wigle Recreation Center on the Lodge, near Mack Avenue, and wondered where they would go to play basketball if the center closes.
"There's a whole bunch of kids in the neighborhood," said Han****, who along with Harris, live in the nearby Jeffries Projects. "It's close to us and it's the only place we really got.
"I guess we got to find something else to do," he said with a shrug.
They MAY shut it down..
Hopefully not!
Either way, I'm still moving to Detroit this July...