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Detroit

MOTOR CITY JOURNAL: Dear Mr. Penske: Clean this first

Readers weigh in: Every corner of Detroit could use some attention

May 10, 2006

BY BILL McGRAW
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

After learning that Super Bowl Superman Roger Penske's next assignment for Detroit is to marshal forces to keep downtown clean, the Rev. Donald Lutas had a thought.

Why not clean up the entire city?

"And keep it clean," Lutas, a Detroiter, wrote on the Free Press Web site, answering a request for readers' comments on urban cleanliness after Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick announced Penske's new role Monday.

Lutas, hardly the only reader who suggested that Penske work his magic beyond downtown, continued: "Go through any section of the city, and one is confronted with garbage, mess, dirt and more of the same. Clean up every corner of the city. Give us clean grocery stores, clean convenience stores, clean gas stations, clean strip malls, alleys and streets. Give us clean post offices and schools and police precincts."

Penske is the self-made billionaire nearly deified for masterminding Detroit's superb showing during Super Bowl XL. As some readers hinted, the decision to have him concentrate on keeping a chunk of downtown tidy is a curious one.

You don't have to be an urbanologist to see that the central business district is virtually litter-free compared to the rest of Detroit, especially since the Super Bowl helped spur a massive downtown makeover and an influx of new restaurants, bars, housing and retail.

As the new chairman of the civic group Downtown Detroit Partnership, Penske will have more on his plate than just garbage.

But tackling the debris problem across the vast city outside downtown is more in keeping with the talents of a man with his brains, ability and track record.

"Thank you, Roger, for your great leadership efforts. As soon as you get the downtown cleanup going, please move quickly to the neighborhood cleanup efforts," wrote Joey.

"Primping up downtown is nice, but Detroit's a city of real people, not just structures and commerce," e-mailed CEE.

In describing Penske's new gig, Kilpatrick said he would announce a second cleanup, aimed at neighborhoods, later this year. Industrialist and sports legend Dave Bing is expected to lead that effort. No details were available Tuesday.

Driving the west side Tuesday from 8 Mile to downtown, many neighborhoods appeared tidier than they had two months ago, but it wasn't hard to find significant piles of trash even on well-tended blocks: Clarita and Freeland; Ohio and Fenkell; Tuller and Ellsworth, and even on Leslie, not far from the home Kilpatrick occupied before he moved into the city-owned Manoogian Mansion after being elected mayor.

Kilpatrick has acknowledged illegal dumping is a major problem in Detroit, and he said it is not necessarily connected with his decision to end the city's bulk-trash pickups due to budget problems.

In his budget address to the City Council last month, Kilpatrick promised to mount an aggressive effort against dumping, and he has asked the council to approve the creation of 33 additional positions in the Department of Public Works to do nothing but clean up dumps. June 1 will mark the start of the city's most aggressive effort ever against code violations and dumping, he said.

Mayoral spokesman James Canning said Tuesday that city workers have cleaned up 905 illegal dumps since January.

Other readers, in e-mails and phone calls, urged leaders to fix Detroit's streetlights, do a better job illuminating buildings, demolish decayed structures and institute free parking after 5 p.m.

A couple of readers suggested the cleanup should start in the offices of elected officials in city hall. Others took their frustrations out on each other.

Then there was the message from an e-mailer known as "Unknown from GR." It advocated firing Lions general manager Matt Millen.

Contact BILL McGRAW at 313-223-4781 or journal@freepress.com.