In her Detroit Free Press column, Rochelle Riley urges residents of her city to approve a new charter on Nov. 8 that will change the way the city works. Chiefly, it will change leadership, upholding a law passed two years ago requiring that City Council members be elected from seven districts (with two elected at large). She says that new elected officials is the most important change the city needs to continue its renaissance.
… [I]t will create rules of ethics that a 6-year-old can understand, requiring those who enter government to abide by a code of right and wrong.
Those changes, and required input from resident councils in each of the city's new wards, might produce a synergy that can lead to things that must happen in Detroit:
* Restructuring of government into something that works.
* Repairing the retirement system so that the city doesn't wind up like Wayne County …
When a city has gone through what Detroit has in the past decade, you hate to leave much to chance. So I understand the concerns of some charter commission members who preferred that the city's every need be set in stone.
But even with its flaws, the biggest reason to pass the charter is to improve representation, Detroit's most vital need.
Read Rochelle Riley's entire column at the Detroit Free Press.