at local four and click on Detroit
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our welcome back to the Grand Hotel back
with our roundtable for the morning and
as we wrap things up here from the
island let's talk a little bit about the
big takeaways Stephen it looks to me
like there is a great deal of fatalism
right now once again that we're not
really going to end up seeing Trant
reach regional transit on this year's
ballot anyway yeah I had a conversation
with both Mark Hackel and Warren Evans
Heather they've got rather rambunctious
it did and I have to say I haven't seen
the two of them get into it quite that
way before before we went on the air
they were talking about
the joys of being cops right they're
both former sheriff's they were they
were really into it together and as soon
as we started there was this iciness
that built up between them and and a
real animosity almost and and it what it
struck me about it was that I don't
think this is just about transit there's
something bigger going on here
especially on hackls part and there's
something else bugging him about what's
going on that that's driving this this
discussion yeah we wrote Daniel Holmes
and I wrote a column on that yesterday
yeah you we sat down with hackle we
caught hackle on the island and it
quickly became more than about transit
he talked about the pushback that you're
going to start to see from suburban
communities about all of the policy and
all of the emphasis being on Detroit and
if you think about this region it really
is in many ways a zero-sum game we're
not growing jobs we're not growing
population and every time there's a
shift one place someplace else loses and
Hackel was talking about it and I've
seen it get this personal or they're
open since the Coleman young days you
know that I just happened to put you
next to the head of the Detroit Regional
Chamber I well I what no one knows point
is exactly right so we live in a region
that has had a shrinking economic pie
for 40 years and that creates a culture
of scarcity and when you have a culture
of scarcity you're not used to growing
the economic pie where everybody wins so
now that you were seeing all this great
momentum in the city of Detroit we're
naturally assuming that
coming at the expense of the suburbs and
yes there are some examples of companies
from the suburbs moving into the city
it's basically reversing the trend that
happened you know in the past cities and
suburban areas go through a natural
expansion and contraction right now
globally we are in a inflow into urban
areas those not just happening in
Detroit's happening across the world
yeah I guarantee you 30 years from now
there's gonna be another kind of
reallocation if you will and people move
from the cities back into the suburbs
due to cost reasons technological
investments it's just the way it's going
to Dan Gilbert's got several hundred
square thousand square feet of office
space residential space retail space
coming online and over the next few
years with the Hudson sight no but I've
heard Brooks Patterson many times
complain about Gilbert coming out to his
communities and poaching jobs we've got
to start growing this region absolutely
right oh if we're going to fill all this
space downtown without hurting other
areas so you see much any light at the
end of this very long transit tunnel
well and that's so much what I just
listening to you three discussing
exactly that that I think it depends on
whom you speak with right there some
that still remains somewhat positive
because it does feel like I would say
that this conference is bringing out I
remember 10 years ago I should say that
that there was just it felt like every
single day we were getting announcements
that a plant closure manufacturing and
so it's it's sometimes hard for me to
think about a pessimism when I remember
this conference what it was like 10
years ago and now there's this growth
and it feels like but everyone's still
kind of talking about this negativity
around this one issue which is huge I
mean let's be clear it takes up the
oxygen but just looking at it in that
narrative that it's not happening in a
vacuum and yet we are seeing all this
growth I mean so much movement to
downtown it's just how fascinating that
dynamic is a decade later you know and
at this conference there was announced
220 employers signed on to a statement
saying we want demand and need regional
transit now and it's kind of you know
the first time the business community is
kind of said hey wait a minute we're the
ones with the employees we're the ones
who need to have people come to us to
work here or get health care here or
recreation
we need transit it's not just for the
people without and I've said to people
it's one thing for Mark Hackel and the
mayor of Detroit to get into two
politicians to get into a scrap it's a
different thing for Brooks Patterson to
get sideways with a huge employer like
Gerry Anderson or Mary Barra or whoever
right you know just on a positive note
on this heckle and Evans did sit down
privately yesterday I got a note from
her called a text from Hackl afterwards
saying it was a good meeting we worked
through a few things we agreed to
disagree on the November ballot but we
agreed to keep working to try to bring
efficiencies to operations and to see
how we can make the system better
business leaders had said to me this
week that this conversation sounds
really different away from the cameras
and microphones than it does in front of
even Mark Hackel understands that we
need improvements in Regional Transit I
mean he obviously there's lots of things
about the RTA he does not like okay but
he understands that better transit will
help his County well in fact now his big
worry is people confusing the RTA fight
with a smart phone
it's a smart and you know you know
Macomb County is not an opt-out
community they're all in and you know
they and us a hugely supportive smart
you know so there's common area to build
part of me that wonders though do you
need to see it I know I keep harkening
back to sort of the past but but this
idea of like you know the grand bargain
again but with transportation some folks
who maybe aren't so part and that the
heat of the conversations I mean
remember the judges who came in and kind
of helped to broker some things well
there you go sandy there you go all the
money it's actually right all right gang
thanks very much for the conversation
sandy thanks as always for the
hospitality appears really appreciate
you being part of it yeah it's been been
a fascinating week as it always is I
want to let you know we also hosted a
number of what we called our four minute
your soapbox debates up here you'll find
those not only a click on Detroit comm
but also on our Facebook flashpoint
group page in fact we invite you to join
that if you're a part of the flashpoint
family
we will be doing those it's a little bit
of voter engagement here that we'll be
doing throughout as we head toward not
only the primary but toward Election Day
as well now that's going to wrap it up
for here on Mackinac Island at the
beautiful Grand Hotel have a great week
meet the press coming up next and we'll
see you next time right back here
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