There are no guarantees in Detroit's bankruptcy, except one: Things change, writes Daniel Howes in the Detroit News.
Belle Isle is becoming a state park. Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr is privatizing city services after years of reflexive ideological resistance. A federal judge is asking regional and national foundations to explore creating a fund to protect the Detroit Institute of Arts’ city-owned collection from being partially sold to support pension obligations to city retirees.
Howes writes that the fundraising effort underscores how complicated Detroit's bankruptcy is turning out to be -- "and how clarifying its reality is, even for sophisticated business and civic leaders."
For example, money from foundations that go into the DIA and pension fund is a dollar that can't support other projects, such as downtown redevelopment and blight removal.
The trick isn’t getting Detroit into bankruptcy; it’s getting it out. The operational restructuring, the financial re-engineering, the probing by mediators for private-sector support of the city’s “Plan of Adjustment” are all aimed squarely at getting that plan confirmed by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes.
