Detroit area doctor charged with fraud after perscribing 2.2 million doses of painkillers

Statute of Justice | Stock photo by William Cho/pixabay

Francisco Patino, M.D., a physician from the Detroit area who was the top prescriber of oxycodone 30 mg in Michigan was charged in a superseding indictment unsealed today. He was allegedly involved in a health care fraud and money laundering scheme that brought in more than $120 million in illicit funds. As part of this plot, he distributed more than the alleged medically unnecessary distribution of over 2.2 million dosage units of controlled substances that were medically unnecessary injections and resulted in patient harm.

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider of the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge Steven M. D’Antuono of the FBI’s Detroit Division and Special Agent in Charge Lamont Pugh III of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General’s Chicago Regional Office made the announcement this afternoon.

Patinowas charged in the superseding indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of money laundering. These charges are in addition to the two counts of health care fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and pay and receive health care kickbacks that was charged in the initial indictment. The case is pending before U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood of the Eastern District of Michigan. Trial is scheduled to begin on April 7 before Judge Hood.

The superseding indictment alleges the laundering of the proceeds of the health care fraud scheme to falsely portray the defendant as a legitimate doctor through the publication of a diet book and plan described as the “next Atkins,” paid-for appearances on a nationally syndicated television show, and the sponsorship of boxers, cagefighters and prominent Ultimate Fighting Championship world champions and hall of famers.     

Patino owned, controlled and operated numerous pain clinics and laboratories in Michigan – including Global Quality Inc., RenAMI, FDRS and Patino Laboratories – and was the top prescriber of Oxycodone 30 mg in Michigan from 2016 to 2017. From 2008 until his arrest, Patino induced patients to come to his clinics by offering unnecessary prescriptions for addictive opioids, of which he ultimately prescribed over 2.2 million dosage units of medically unnecessary controlled substances, including fentanyl, oxycodone and oxymorphone. Patino prescribed these opioids to Medicare beneficiaries, some of whom were addicted to narcotics.

According the indictment, Patino forced patients to submit to unnecessary and sometimes painful back injections and other procedures in exchange for the opioid prescriptions as part of a scheme to defraud Medicare of over $120 million.  The superseding indictment alleges that Patino persisted with these unlawful practices even after Medicare informed him that the injections violated Medicare’s rules and after Patino entered into a consent order with the State of Michigan that his prescription of opioids “constitute[d] a violation of the public health code.”

Patino also ordered unnecessary urine drug testing in exchange for illegal kickbacks, the superseding indictment alleges. Patino was aware that his ownership structure and kickbacks were a violation of law and authored emails acknowledging that such ownership constituted  a “violation of the Stark and Anti-Kickback laws” and attempted to conceal and disguise the ownership structure and scheme in order to keep himself “out of federal prison & having all our assets seized to pay a $15 million fine.”

Patino also allegedly conspired to launder money in connection with the creation and promotion of the “Patino Diet” plan, which Patino described to others as the “next Atkins diet.”  In order to conceal and disguise his illegal health care fraud scheme, Patino allegedly paid for the authorship and publication of a book touting the diet plan, entitled The Age of Globesity, and paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to promote the diet plan and appear as the exclusive medical expert on a nationally syndicated television show.

In addition to concealing the scheme by paying money to falsely portray himself as a media personality and a legitimate physician, the superseding indictment alleges, that Patino laundered the healthcare fraud and kickback money by entering into sham contracts or employment relationships to pay others on his behalf to sponsor boxers, mixed martial artists and UFC combatants.

The charges against Patino are related to a broader investigation into the Tri-County Network of pain clinics in Michigan and Ohio, which involves over $300 million in alleged Medicare fraud and the alleged distribution of over 6.6 million dosage units of controlled substances.  In connection with the investigation, 22 defendants, including 12 physicians, have previously pleaded guilty or been found guilty at trial. 

Disposing of perscription drugs properly - a guide for 2020

Perscription drugs - Photo by Steve Buissinne/Pixabay

It's a sad fact that one in four teens in the United States, according to data compiled by the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids. To make things even worse, most of these kids are getting their drugs not from shady dealer but from their own medicine cabinet.

Because of this, one of the best ways to stop perscription drug abuse is to dispose of unused, expired, or unwanted medications properly. Disposing of these drugs keeps them out of the hands of teens or anyone else who shouldn't have access to them.

As an added bonus, disposing of perscription drugs properly also prevents them from getting into the soil or water supply. When this happens, the medications that were designed to heal humans become an environmental hazard for fish and wildlife. After all, these medications were intended for humans and humans only.

All of these reasons make it incredibly important for perscription drugs to be disposed of properly.

For those readers who live in the Detroit area, Henry Ford Health Systems has a total of nine locations throughout Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb Counties where people can drop off unused, expired, or unwanted medications. I used their service myself recently when my doctor changed one of the medications that I take; leaving me with a couple weeks of my old medicine still at home.

A complete list of these nine locations can be found on their website. Besides these Henry Ford Health Systems, one can also find several other locations where people can drop off perscription drugs in Oakland, Macomb, Monroe, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties by clicking on the appropriate links. Each of these locations will ensure that the drugs are desposed of properly so they don't become a problem for someone.

Last, but not least, for those individuals who are looking to dispose of perscription drugs outside of the Detroit, many pharmacies have drop boxes nationwide where patients can dispose of them safely. One can find their nearest location by visiting this website and searching by address or by ZIP code.

With this many options for safe disposal available, I hope that we will soon see a dramatic drop in the number of teens who absue perscription drugs that they find in their own homes.

This guide to disposing of perscription drugs - updated for 2020 - is your Tip of the Week for the week of December 23, 2019.

These tips are brought to you by the Warrendale Detroit Blog as part of our Tip of the Week series. Please check back next Monday for more advice on your home, money, and life. In the meantime, please feel free to check some of our previous Tips of the Week.

Thank you for visiting the Warrendale Detroit Blog.

Remembering the hoarder who came to Warrendale

Reflecting on Detroit - Photo by Garrett Lee Davis/Pixabay

Detroit is a city where every block is filled with memories; filled so thick at times that one doesn’t need to have ever lived or even visited here in order to sense their lingering presence. This now vacant lot on Artesian Street is one of those memories for me.

For several years, the house that was once on this lot only a few hundred feet north of the border between the cities of Dearborn and Detroit was an exceptional eyesore. The gentleman who lived there was both a squatter and a hoarder.

He clearly had mental health issues. The Warrendale Community Organization, the City of Detroit, and others all tried to get him some type of counselling.

Photo by DeeDee86/Pixabay

This individual, who I will call by the obvious pseudonym of Henry T. Hoarder, had no interest in any type of therapy. He simply wanted to be left alone with the trash that he collected.

The fact that his collection of scrap lumber, twisted metal, and odd pieces of plastic attracted rats and other vermin was of no concern to him. The rats, he figured, didn’t bother him or his treasured collection of trash. It seemed obvious to him, therefore, that he shouldn’t bother them.

The fact that he didn’t own this home in Detroit and wasn’t paying any property taxes was of even less concern to Henry still.

Every week that went by, more and more junk was accumulated around this Detroit property. It wasn’t long before one couldn’t even see Henry’s house from the street. All that was there was the mountains of trash that he collected.

Neighbors asked him to at least move everything inside the house that he was squatting in. He replied that he couldn’t do that. He had too much other stuff that he was hoarding that no more could fit inside.

Photo by Ania Klara

As the weeks dragged on, it was collectively decided by the powers that be that they would leave Henry alone for a little while. Winter was fast approaching and the thinking at the time was that, since this home had neither gas nor electricity, the cold would drive Henry from this property faster than the Detroit Police Department could and with less risk of anyone getting hurt in the process.

I still don’t know how Henry did it but he made it through the winter. I know that he didn’t burn any of the trash he was hoarding. This trash was, after all, much too important for him to burn even if the alternative was freezing.

As warm weather returned to Detroit, Henry’s collection continued to get larger and larger. He promised repeatedly that he would do something to contain it but he never did. Instead, Henry’s hoard of trash would soon begin to spill over into the adjacent lots of his neighbors.

The weather continued to get hotter that summer and so did tempers at the southern end of the Warrendale neighborhood. Henry’s hoarding was only getting worse and this expanding raft of refuse was causing ever increasing problems. Neighbors no longer had to worry about the hoarder’s trash being an eyesore next door. It was a problem that had spilled, rats and all, into their own yards.

Henry T. Hoarder was eventually evicted from the house on Artesian Street that he was squatting in. I shudder to think, though, how many truckloads of trash the City of Detroit must have hauled away from that house.

Once Henry and his collection were removed, the house returned to its vacant state - a condition that it would remain in for another year or two as the city of Detroit continued to work its way forward after bankruptcy.

Eventually, the neglect reach a point where it was determined that this once sturdy house had become structurally unsound. It was demolished a couple of weeks ago. All that remains of Henry T. Hoarder’s life in Warrendale is a vacant plot of land and some memories.

The lot where the hoarding house one stood - Photo by Frank Nemecek

Michigan has one of the lowest rates of uninsured residents

Lighthouse in Manisteque, Michigan - Photo by David Mark/Pixabay

There is some good news on the healthcare front for those of us in the Detroit area.

According to a new report from the online financial service WalletHub, Michigan has one of the lowest rates of uninsured residents of any state. 5.41% of residents in the Great Lakes State currently lack health insurance. This is in contrasts to 8.5% of all Americans, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

This means that Michigan ranks in ninth place on the list of states with the lowest percentage of uninsured residents. Only Massachusetts, Vermont, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Iowa, Connecticut, and New York have a smaller percentage of residents who lack health insurance.

In addition to that bit of good news, there is also the fact that Rochester Hills – a northern suburb of Detroit – has one of the lowest uninsured rates of any city in the United States. A mere 1.979% of its residents lack health insurance, which gives it the ninth best ranking of any city in the United States. The cities of Livonia, Ann Arbor, and Troy also each had uninsured rates that are dramatically better than the national average.

Looking at the inner city, Detroit is also better than average for large cities. 7.79% of all Detroiters currently lack some form of health insurance and only 4.23% of children in the city are uninsured.
The one bit of disappointing news is that 9.397% of adults in the city of Detroit currently lack health insurance.

There is no data readily available that shows how the Warrendale neighborhood compares with the rest of Detroit. However, on an anedotal basis, it would appear that it is at least somewhat better than other parts of the city.

Grant opportunity for healthy kids

Leadership Prep Academy - Photo by Action for Healthy Kids/Flickr

Since the program began in 2009, Action for Healthy Kids has provided $8.7 million in grants and technical support to help schools achieve their student wellness goals. Now through April 5, schools and parents are invited to apply for a series of grants.

These grants will be available for the 2019-2020 school year. Grant opportunities fit into three basic categories:

• Game On Grants. These grants will secure funding and resources for your school to introduce or improve nutrition and physical activity programs. With a grant of $1,000 or more utilizing AFHK’s flagship program, Game On, you can build a school garden, jump-start active recess, purchase physical education equipment, host taste tests, kick-off an after-school activity club, and so much more.
• Parents for Healthy Kids Grants. This program is a chance for parents to make their mark on school health! Parents and parent-led groups (such as PTAs and PTOs) can apply for a $1,000 school grant to provide funds and resources to introduce or improve fitness or nutrition programs and engage families in health at school and at home. This opportunity helps to ensure that all students have access to healthy choices.
• School Breakfast Grants. This is a grant opportunity to expand access to school breakfast for hungry and undernourished kids. Grants from $1,000 to $3,000 can support equipment and other resources needed to implement or expand Breakfast in the Classroom, Grab-and-Go Breakfast, or other alternative breakfast programs that help students start their day right.

Parents and educators are invited to visit http://www.actionforhealthykids.org/grants for more information and to learn how to apply. The deadline for all applications is April 5, 2019.

Oak Street Health helps to save the lives of seniors

Stock photo from Pixabay

According to data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, deaths in recent years among Americans that result from influenza have ranged from a low of 12,000 during the 2011-2012 flu season to a high of 46,000 during the 2012-2013 season. The saddest part of all is that the elderly can be particularly vulnerable and most of their deaths could be prevented with a vaccination.

When 12,000 Americans dying from a preventable illness is at the low-end of the spectrum, we as a community clearly have a problem.

Quite frankly, I don't care what Jenny McCarthy or Jim Carrey has to say about the matter, vaccinations are safe and effective - especially when it comes to the flu. This is why I've gotten my flu shot every year for the past several years in a row.

I was thrilled to hear, therefore, that Oak Street Health is launching a special program near the Warrendale neighborhood to encourage and enable more senior citizens to get their annual flu shot. This is a thing that really can save lives.

The medical staff at Oak Street Health will give a free flu shot to any senior citizen who is on Medicare. The closest Oak Street Health location to the Warrendale neighborhood is located at 27155 Cherry Hill in Inkster. If anyone has any questions, they can call the center at (313) 749-1178.

Oh, and when you go get your flu shot, please be sure to tell them that Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey sent you.

It won't make a difference in terms of your flu shot itself. However, it would probably annoy Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey to hear that people are mentioning their names when getting vaccinated.

Anecdotal thoughts on the governor's race

A friend of mine, who I've had the pleasure of knowing for more than a decade, Brenna Lane posted some anecdotal thoughts on the race for governor of Michigan on her personal Facebook page. She addressed some things that she had seen about Democratic candidates Shri Thanedar of Ann Arbor and Abdul El-Sayed of Detroit.

With her permission, I wanted to share her thoughts with everyone as a guest commentary. The following are her observations on Shri Thanadar's campaign as well as her personal experiences with Abdul El-Sayed, which I publish here with only minor editing.

Stock photo by Sanja Gjeneor/Pixabay

Some anecdotal thoughts on the Governor's race here in Michigan:

Story #1
In my economically distressed neighborhood in Highland Park, there are Shri Thanadar signs everywhere. While driving home yesterday, I saw a van in the parking lot at Dean's liquor store at McNichols and Second. It was unmarked, but two men stood at the open back doors, one handing bundles of Shri signs to the five or six men waiting in line to receive them while the other counted cash and gave it to a man who had a bundle of signs under his arm.

I later saw my neighbor go by carrying a Shri Thanedar sign. I asked him if he was pulling it out and he said, "no, I'm putting them in all up and down the block." I asked, "Willie, why are you supporting this guy?" and he replied, "because they gave me $20 if I put out 20 signs."

Story #2
During my junior year of high school, I attended Andover High School in Bloomfield Hills. Abdul El-Sayed was in my grade. We had Calculus and AP Physics together. He was generally kind, humble, and very smart.

One time, I was waiting for our bus with my girlfriend who had presented a paper in one of her classes that day. She was dressed up for the occasion - wearing a skirt (out of character for her) and it was the first day she had ever worn makeup to school (the first time her mother ever allowed it). She was heavy handed with the makeup, and her look that day was a stark contrast to the way she normally dressed, which was a much more conservative, nerdy-bookish look.

Four guys on the basketball team, all seniors, approached us and asked my friend if she was planning to "go to 8 Mile" (that is, become a prostitute). They continued by asking her how much she would charge, making hand signs mimicking oral sex and thrusting their hips as they laughed. She was trying not to cry, I was telling them to fuck off.

Abdul El-Sayed was walking down the hall, saw what was happening and got between us and the guys. He asked them if that's how they thought men behaved. He asked "do you feel proud right now? getting laughs from your friends at the expense of her feelings?"

I don't remember everything Abdul El-Sayed said that day in high school, but it was basically like "you guys are seniors, this girl is a sophomore, pick on someone your own size or better yet, don't be the kind of man who picks on anyone."

The called him a f****t, and her a whore again a few times and then left. Abdul El-Sayed apologized to both of us. He said that things will be different when we were out of high school and the boys grew up to be adults.

Although I'm still not sure he was right on that last part, Abdul El-Sayed was standing up to bullies that were bigger than him and pushing back against toxic masculinity when he was 16 years old. Even if I didn't love his politics, I would still vote for this guy because of his character. He truly is a servant leader.

This is a crucial primary. Please - get out and vote. And if you employ people, please give them the time to vote.

Stay sober this Memorial Day weekend

Tequila - Photo by Miguel Prado

Here comes the summer drinking season—Memorial Day, June graduations and weddings, Fourth of July, the beach, and barbecues!

What could go wrong?

Plenty, if you don’t have a plan for getting through the summer sober.

In Alcoholics Anonymous, we call the period from Thanksgiving through Christmas and New Year the "Bermuda Triangle" of sobriety—many alkies come in, but not all make it through.

If anything, summer is more dangerous for people in recovery, because there are so many social cues to drink.

What’s a recovering alkie or addict to do?

Here’s some kitchen-tested advice that gets passed along the Twelve Step meetings as holiday periods approach.

No. 1: Have an exit strategy.

Even before you get to the event, whether it’s a barbecue, a wedding, or holiday party, have a plan for leaving as soon as you feel uncomfortable. When everybody’s drinking, the pace of conversation and behavior, in general, seems to suddenly accelerate.

This is an extremely uncomfortable moment for people newly in recovery, and sometimes for people who have been clean and sober a long time.

When that moment arises, you want to have a plan for leaving. Did you come in your own car? Can you call an Uber or a cab? Will public transportation work? Or can you just walk out of there? Determine your exit strategy even before you enter. Don’t stick around once the drinking heats up. You won’t be missed. Everyone else will be too drunk to remember whether you stayed or left.

No. 2: Get a drink.

As soon as you get to the event, go to the bar or beverage area and get yourself a soft drink or juice—and carry it with you everywhere. People are far less likely to offer you a drink, or force a drink on you if you’re already holding a drink.

If people ask you what you’re drinking, tell the truth. The more insistent they get that you should be drinking, the more likely it is that they need a program, too.

If you put your drink down, even for a microsecond, it’s no longer your drink. Go back to the bar or beverage area and get a new one. That’s because alkies have this very slick trick of switching out their beverage "accidentally on purpose."

"I thought it was my Coke!" we exclaim pitifully. "How could I have known that it was actually someone else’s rum and Coke?"

It doesn’t even matter if you are maintaining visual contact with the drink—once it hits the table, it’s no longer yours. Go back and get a fresh one.

No. 3: Remain anonymous.

You don’t have to tell people that you are now sober in Alcoholics Anonymous or clean in another Twelve Step program. It’s nobody’s business. Sometimes, the newly sober tend to "overshare" with people in our lives. You are not in a Twelve Step meeting when you are at a party featuring alcohol (or other substances). You are out in the big, bad world, where no one cares that you are clean.

You do not owe anyone an explanation for your choice not to drink. Your sobriety is, in fact, none of their business. You do not need to share that vital information with anyone. Remember that the last name of every Twelve Step program is "Anonymous."

No. 4: Stay home.

There is no law that says that newly clean and sober people must test their sobriety or abstinence at every family or social event that comes along. If you’re feeling shaky about your recovery, don’t tempt fate. We love to do it, but ultimately, it could be a self-defeating choice.

If you feel that a particular event may be too much of a test for your recovery, make up an excuse and go to a meeting instead. Give your own sobriety a chance.
So there you have it—four ways to stay clean and sober through the often treacherous summer holiday season. Come Labor Day, you’ll be sober as a judge…instead of having to appear in front of one!

Publisher's note: This guest commentary is presented by New York Times bestselling author Michael Graubart has published Sober Dad: The Manual for Perfectly Imperfect Parenting (Hazelden).

Friday Focus: Conference to explore medicine and the arts

As part of my occasional Friday Focus series on stories that I don't feel are getting the coverage due them in the mainstream media, I wanted to mention the Creative Minds in Medicine Conference, which will happen in Cleveland later this month.

One of the speakers that I am particularly excited about is a session on impact of lead contamination on children and their educational development. This, in my opinion, is a huge issue in Detroit and one that isn't getting as much attention as it deserves. More on the information lead poisoning in Detroit and its impact on children is available here, here, and here.

In an effort to bring awareness to the ever-growing link between medicine and the arts, Cleveland-based, Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) will be hosting its first ever Creative Minds in Medicine Conference at the new Cleveland Global Center for Health Innovation. This conference, which takes place on October 29 and 30 will feature a variety of keynote speakers who will focus on the increasing overlap and collaboration between the arts and medicine nationwide.

The two-day event will be filled with diverse discussions led by several nationwide experts on a variety of arts and healthcare projects, practices, research and trends. Keynote speakers include:

Gary Glazner, the founder and executive director of the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project. Glazner will speak on Dementia Arts: Celebrating Creativity in Elder Care. In his fun, high-energy talk, Glazner will relate simple techniques to create high-quality arts programs, build communication skills and help increase the ability to connect with people living with memory loss.

Sunil Iyengar, the research and analysis director of the National Endowment for the Arts. Iyengar will discuss in his Research Agenda for the Arts and Health session, the efforts of leading a federal taskforce to encourage more extensive research on how the arts help people reach their full potential at all stages of life.

Mel Chin, the lead behind Operation Paydirt. This project is a national movement that is designed to support awareness and solutions to lead contamination and address childhood lead poisoning, which is huge in Detroit. As part of this seminar, Chin will demonstrate how arts and culture plays a key role in raising awareness about pressing community health issues.

Nadine Licostie, the director of “The Last One”, a feature-length documentary that summarizes the controversial battle and stigma surrounding the AIDS virus and the gay community. This film frames the quest to sew the last panel into the Quilt, representing the end of AIDS. She will discuss her film making journey, uncovering the birth of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and its subsequent impact on politics, science and the media, as it has become the largest ongoing community art project in the world.

In addition to the keynote speakers, attendees will have the chance to experience firsthand the healing power of the arts through demonstrations and activities, and help shape how the arts and healthcare dialogue in Greater Cleveland is making an impact nationwide. Specifically, the conference agenda also includes several panel discussions on important topics, including: Arts and Health Economy, Arts & Culture in a Changing Healthcare Landscape, and Arts, Culture & Social Change: Fostering Healthy Communities to name a few.

“Northeast Ohio is at the national forefront of a remarkable new dynamic: the growing intersection of our world-class healthcare sector and our world-class arts and culture sector. The interplay between these industries is sparking new ideas, new programs, new products and services. CPAC showed in our recent research report that this intersection is evolving and expanding rapidly. The Creative Minds in Medicine Conference is a timely opportunity to bring together arts and healthcare experts from around the nation to identify ways to support and enhance the critical collaboration taking place every day between our arts and healthcare industries,” said Tom Chema, Board Chair of CPAC.

Those interested in attending the conference can register at CultureForward.org. Registration includes admission for both days of the conference, breakfast and lunch for both days of the conference, a reception, and valet parking.

Detroit Residents Can Save on Prescriptions

Detroit residents can save money on their prescriptions with a drug discount card available through the Detroit City Clerk's office.  These free prescription drug discount cards provide an average savings of 20% off the retail price of commonly prescribed drugs at participating pharmacies.  The prescription discount card is available to residents through the City of Detroit in collaboration with the National League of Cities in Washington, D.C.  

Detroit residents have saved $550,000 through the City of Detroit Prescription Discount Card Program since program's launch in March 2010, according to City Clerk Janice Winfrey. 

This prescription discount card offers savings on prescription drugs to residents who do not have health insurance or a traditional benefits plan. It also provide discounts for prescriptions that are not covered by insurance. The card is free to all Detroit residents, regardless of age, income, or existing health insurance.  

Residents may obtain a card from either of the City Clerk' Offices or from participating CVS pharmacies located in Detroit. The City Clerk's Office is located inside the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center (2 Woodward Ave., Suite 200) or at the Department of Elections (2978 W. Grand Blvd.).

For more information, call (313) 224-3261. Prescription discounts for Detroit residents is your Warrendale Tip of the Week.

Guest Commentary: Things the Emergency Manager Should Do

Erik Drader, a resident of the other fine neighborhoods in Detroit, posted a series of comments on the Facebook page for this blog that outlined what he thinks our soon-to-be appointed emergency manager should do once in office. I agree with some of ideas and disagree with others. However, I think this is a great way to start the conversation about what the emergency manager for Detroit should do.

Therefore, with his permission, I am proud to present his comments as a guest commentary on this blog.

There is no entity or organization in the country that is more wasteful, incompetent, and utterly broken as Detroit city government. Given that, the emergency manager should dismantle as much of city government as possible, and transfer the authority and operations to different organizations and/or units of government. Use Cobo, Campus Martius, Eastern Market, and the Riverwalk as successful examples of the city turning over responsibility to dedicated non-profits, private/public partnerships, regional authorities, or different units of government, and replicate these successes as much as possible. 

I would love to see the city completely get out of the transit business and hand off everything to the new regional transit authority  The city should let Belle Isle become a state park, and then try to find partnerships to help fund and maintain as many other city parks as possible. 

I would also like to see if city airport could be turned over to the county airport authority and expanded. City airport could be a huge asset if the runways were expanded to allow full size aircraft to land there. The City tried to do that while Mayor Coleman A.Young was in office, but there were too many businesses and residents that would have had to move at that time. That area has experienced massive population loss and abandonment, so it should be much easier to acquire the needed land now than it was 30 years ago.

There are many departments that should be eliminated and turned over to state or county control. The departments of health, human services, and human rights are good starting points. The City should also look at turning over property tax collection to the county. 

Any help that we can get from other law enforcement agencies should be welcomed and expanded as much as possible. The county sheriffs department offered to take over responsibility for policing the bus system a couple years ago, and was turned down. The state is willing to deploy more state police officers in the city to help out. Wayne State is willing to help police areas that are a little outside of the Wayne State University district.

If the Detroit Police Department can turn over certain duties and/or partner with other law enforcement agencies, coverage can improve and response times can be cut. Also, there needs to be reorganization within the DPD itself. Shortly before leaving the job, Chief Ralph Godbee said that the DPD had 100 officers working on payroll, which was still being done with paper and pencil. He said that they planned to spend $600,000 on a new payroll system to try to get more efficient. WTF? An organization of 2,500 employees can be properly serviced by a payroll department of 3 civilians. Also, a modern payroll system doesn't cost $600,000 to purchase. Internal restructuring and outside partnering could result in hundreds of additional police patrolling the streets, without any additional expenditure from the city. 

These are just starting points. There is much more that can be done to cut costs and improve service delivery. 

Also, the EM should figure out exactly how much long-term debt is owed by the city and how much of that debt the city can actually afford to pay, and then make a settlement offer to the unions and bond holders. The 2007 United Auto Workers contracts are a good template to work from. The city should set up a union-controlled Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association with a set amount of seed money (negotiated in settlement talks) and then switch over to a defined contribution retirement plan for all city employees.

If the unions and bond holders can not come to a settlement agreement with the city, bankruptcy should then be pursued.

Tip of the Week: Immunization Fair This Sunday

Stock Photo from Stock Exchange

The City of Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion will host its annual immunization fair on Sunday, August 26 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, which is located at 315 E. Warren Ave.

Eligible children, newborn through 18 years old, can receive free immunizations for diseases such as polio, rubella, measles, mumps, tetanus, chicken pox, diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), and Hepatitis B. Additional services include registration for the Women, Infants, and Children feeding program, and enrollment for insurance. Giveaways will be provided.  Parents and guardians should bring a copy of their child’s shot record, identification and insurance card if Medicaid insures. Participants are eligible for shots if they are underinsured or have no insurance.

For more information, please call (313) 876-4334. The immunization fair is your Warrendale Tip of the Week.