Good bye, Mr. Patterson

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson has stated in a published interview that he intends to walk away from the water deal that Detroit's emergency manager Kevyn Orr has proposed. I'm okay with that.

Orr's deal does much more for Oakland County than it does the City of Detroit. If Patterson isn't ridiculously happy with it, I'm fine with him rejecting it.

In my opinion, it's time for the City of Detroit to sell that portion of its Water and Sewage Department that is in the suburbs. The portion that is within the city limits should continue to be owned and operated by the City of Detroit. The suburban portion, however, should be sold to a private utility who can provide water and sewage service to suburban customers at market rates.

Detroit will be better off with the cash that such a sale would generate than it would with the lease to the suburbs. Patterson & Company can simply deal with a private utility for their water.