Euphoria Over
Skinphorea: Community Celebrates Newest Black-Owned Facial Bar in Corktown City.Life.Style. B1
Michigan Chronicle
Vol. 84 – No. 49 | August 11-17, 2021
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Wayne County Sees a Rise in Credit Ranking By Megan Kirk Seven years ago, when Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans took office, the county was in rough financial waters. From a credit rating of Baa1, the upgrade to A3 comes from one of the world’s top-three credit-rating agencies. The upgrade comes as a result of financial improvements through changes in policy and operations put in place by the Evans Administration. The report, released by Moody’s Investor Services, gives a detailed account of the agency’s decision to boost the county’s credit rating. The company uses a grading scale from Aaa to C with 21 total notches. Formally ranked in the medium grade category, Wayne County is now upper-middle grade. With the rise in rating, Warren C. Evans Wayne County can now barter for better contract terms for funding. “When I first came to office, we had to make tough decisions to set the county on a sound financial course,” said Evans. “Now, we are seeing the fruits of those decisions. Wayne County is a good investment because of the decisions we made. Those decisions are saving taxpayers money in the form of lower financing costs the county incurs during its normal operations.” The bump in credit rating shows the county’s ability to meet its longterm debt obligations. Helping to appear as a worthy investment to institutional bond investors, the county’s new rating means it will cost less to finance long-term infrastructure and investment projects. The credit rating bump is particularly monumental as it happened during a time where financial security was up in the air. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the county to adjust its revenue forecast due to the statewide economic shutdown. Despite the shutdown, the county has managed to continue to grow and stay committed to its financial program. “We have finally stopped robbing Peter to pay Paul,” said Evans. “Wayne County is living within its means, and it is making investments in projects and programs that are growing our tax base, attracting new companies and good-paying jobs and improving our quality of life.” According to the report, Moody’s also determines the county’s economy will strengthen based on its strong financial position and federal money received as a part of the pandemic to help mitigate economic
See CREDIT
RANKING page A2
WHAT’S INSIDE
Detroit Water and Sewer Director Gary Brown
“We’re Going to Get to the Bottom of Who Should be Held Accountable” DWSD Director Speaks on Recent Flooding
By Sherri Kolade In late June things got nasty in Wayne and Washtenaw Counties, especially, where torrential rain and flooding during left thousands of residents with flood damage. The flooding resulted in damaged vehicles, waist-deep water in basements, sewage backup and destroyed valuables and memories. Detroit Water and Sewer Director Gary Brown said that this storm which was considered a thousand-year storm was the result of global warming and poor infrastructure, and someone needs to be held accountable. “We got a tremendous amount of water in a very short period of time,” Brown said of the up to eight inches of water flooding the streets, homes and businesses within a 19-hour timeframe. “Most of that came in three [hours] -- we also know there were some pump failures. ... We’ll find out what happened. Most importantly, what can you do to make this system more resilient, so it doesn’t happen [again].” In a late July interview, Brown spoke with Real Times Media’s Studio 1452 Digital Anchor Andre Ash on the issue of flooding. “There’s been a lot of talk about the city’s infrastructure as it relates to underground water piping. ’We’ve seen the pictures that have been reported over the several weeks of flooding in the
City of Detroit,” Ash said, adding that since this issue took place, FEMA has stepped in providing financial support for qualifying flood victims. “Where is the lay of the land right now in your department as it tries to tackle preventing a major flood? Brown, who sits on the board of directors for the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) said that issues including pump failures have already been identified. Brown added that there is going to be a study on the flooding issue, and the GLWA board will soon be hiring an engineering firm. He said whatever the answers from the study are will be disclosed in a “transparent” way. “[We] are going to be very transparent about the outcome of what happened and how it happened, and most importantly how are you going to fix it,” he said. “People have now been flooded three or four times in the last two or three years -- they want this fixed, and they deserve to have it fixed.” Ash asked Brown about infrastructure problems, global warming, and possible management failure, how each contributed to the problem and which was more to blame. Brown said that “there’s a lot of things going on” when it comes to the issue of local flooding. “This is the largest municipal utility in North America,” Brown said, adding that “without a doubt” on the sewer
side it is “the most complex system in America.” He added, “You have pumps that [are] working in parallel or in conjunction with other pumps and it all has to be coming along and operating at the same time.” Brown also said that “there is no doubt” that the amount of flooding that took place was exacerbated because all of the pumps were not working. Brown said that even if the pumps were working the area “absolutely” still would have been touched by flooding because the system was built 100 years ago and built for a 100-year storm. “With global warming, clearly the rainfall is more intense, more frequent than what took place 100 years ago, 50 years ago … this was called a thousand-year storm by many meteorologists. The system is not built to handle that type of rain,” Brown said, adding that some plans could be put in place to fix the problem including a long-range plan, a permanent solution from GLWA to separate the piping that today carries both stormwater when it rains and sewage. “If it’s more water than the pipe was meant to handle it is going to surcharge into the lowest point, which is someone’s basement,” Brown said, adding that it would take over a decade to fix. That route would also cost about $17 billion -- $8 billion of those dollars would have to be spent in the City of Detroit on assets.
Detroit Recovers: Duggan, Officials Deliver FEMA Assistance Overview By Sherri Kolade Flood victims in the city of Detroit, and metro Detroit can breathe a bit easier as financial relief comes to residents most impacted by the June flooding.
Detroit Remembers
The 1967 Summer of Peril Roots. A3
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See BROWN page A2
Mayor Mike Duggan, along with officials from FEMA and SBA, shared with residents on Wednesday, August 4 during a press conference at the Detroit Public Safety Headquarters how to apply for flood relief for individuals who sustained damage from the storm of June 25-26th. The torrential rain and flooding of June 25-26 in Wayne and Washtenaw Counties left countless people with damaged vehicles, waist-deep water in their basements, and destroyed keepsake items. Many more people were also left wondering how they would afford to pay for the damages caused by the flooding that
hit so close to home. Help, however, is on the way in the form of assistance after President Joe Biden approved on Thursday, July 15 Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s request for disaster declaration for Wayne and Washtenaw Counties following the record flooding. The declaration comes after
Whitmer sent a letter to President Biden on July 13 requesting that he declare an emergency disaster for the state of Michigan. “President Biden’s declaration opens up critical resources to help Michigan residents recover from this disaster,” said Whitmer previously. “The flooding on June 25-26 had devastating im-
pacts on Wayne and Washtenaw County residents who suffered damage to their homes, loss of personal property, and faced unimaginable stress. With the resources we will receive thanks to President Biden’s leadership, we will put Michiganders first and help our communities recover and rebuild.” “I am really pleased today to have with us representatives of the FEMA and the Biden administration,” Duggan said during the press conference. “What President Biden has done is nothing short of remarkable.” On July 15th, President Biden approved a National Disaster Declaration for this storm, paving the way for federal funding to help for recovery efforts. As part of the presentation, Duggan and FEMA officials explained the process of what to do if a resident received a denial letter from FEMA. Offi-
See FEMA
ASSISTANCE page A2