Detroit council sets Charter Commission pay, will reconsider Greektown deal
David Josar / The Detroit News
Detroit -- City Council, citing tough economic times, decided today to pay members of the soon-to-be elected Charter Commission just $50 a meeting.
Initially, Councilman Kwame Kenyatta proposed they be paid $75 a meeting -- the rate that had been paid to members the last two times they met to review the city charter, which were in 1973 and 1997.
But Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr. noted: "There are different times."
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Their compensation will top out at $4,500 each because they are limited to meeting a maximum of 90 times.
Councilwomen Alberta Tinsley-Talabi and Barbara Rose Collins wanted them to receive the higher rate.
"They have to pay for parking and other things," Collins said.
Voters are being asked to select nine commission members on the Nov. 3 ballot.
In other business, council has decided to meet Thursday to reconsider its vote last week that rejected a $15.3 million settlement with Greektown Casino.
The deal is a proposed resolution of a long-standing development and tax dispute between bankrupt Greektown and the city over tax rates and the fact they didn't build a performance space as required.
Council voted down the deal 6-2 a week ago at the urging of local casino investors who are slated to lose money.
Today, Deputy Mayor Saul Green as well as Cid Froelich, a Chicago-based attorney working on the Greektown case for the city, told council that if they reject this payment, a bankruptcy judge could leave the city with nothing.
In addition, Froelich said he believes just three of the 10 investors -- who own a fraction of one percent of the casino -- have not settled with the casino.
Cockrel, one of two council members who voted to take the deal, said the investors should be left on their own.
"I feel for them, but I know at the end of the day, that's why they call it gambling ... if you make an investment and it goes bad, it's on you," he said.
The casino filed for bankruptcy in May 2008.
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