Greg Murray is the vice president of a city of Detroit union that is opposed to Mayor Bing’s plan to cut services to residents of the City of Detroit to move the Detroit Department of Human Services to the health department’s Herman Keifer complex. There are other unions who oppose this move as well (such as AFSCME Local 1642, and the Association of Professional and Technical Employees).
The move is being financed by closing two health care clinics, laying off workers at the health department, not filling head start positions so they can bank the unpaid salaries, and by directly diverting Head Start funds at a time when the federal government is cracking down on mismanagement at the department and Head Start’s chronic under-enrollment.
21,000 Detroiters losing welfare benefits (read more in the Detroit News)
The move is being done while three active investigations are underway (two federal and one local). Potential evidence could be “lost in transit.”
With bus service the way it is now, getting to Herman Keifer will be a hardship for people who normally walk to the current DHS site on Grandy and East Warren. The majority of people being serviced at the current site do not have cars.
The city is using a general contractor for the renovations on the fifth and sixth floor of Herman Keifer that has not demanded its sub-contractors honor Detroit’ s “Living Wage” ordinance, so Detroiters are right now being underpaid at the contractor’s Broderick Building work site in Downtown Detroit.
The city snuck the contract through during council’s recess, just like the sludge contract. They created an artificial emergency by claiming that the DHS headquarters was a health hazard, which it is not.
They are trying to get at those federal funds to offset general fund costs, which is not allowed by the federal government. Two recent “whistleblower” lawsuits have been filed in Detroit alleging that the Bing administration is trying to siphon off federal funds.
The city council has scheduled a hearing TODAY at 2 p.m.
Greg Murray
Vice President
Senior Accountants, Analysts, and Appraisers Association
65 Cadillac Square, Suite 2905
Detroit, MI 48226
