DETROIT – Hopes to turn Cobo Center over to a regional authority that would oversee renovation of the state’s largest convention center appeared dead as the Court of Appeals unanimously ruled Friday the Detroit City Council had the authority to block the transfer.

In the decision (Detroit City Council v. Mayor, COA docket No. 291394), Judges Michael Talbot, Christopher Murray and Cynthia Stephens upheld the ruling of the Wayne Circuit Court that Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. did not have authority under the statute transferring Cobo ownership to veto the council’s resolution.

The judges wrote that they were “constrained” not to expand the statute’s authority to allow for the veto.

The spokesperson for Cockrel said he would not make an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court. Since the statute required title of Cobo to be turned over to a regional authority by April 20, Monday, to be effective, it appears that this effort to restore and revive the center is dead.

Now, Cockrel wants to reach out to the state and the surrounding counties to find a way to resolve the issue of expanding the center.

Legislators and Governor Jennifer Granholm spent much of the nearly 24-hour final session day on 2008 trying to work out the details of the arrangement that would have transferred ownership of Cobo to a regional authority that would have included one representative each from the city, the state and Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. The authority would then have overseen renovation and expansion of the center.

In addition, the arrangement would have extended a liquor tax and hotel and motel tax until 2039 to help pay the cost of the renovation.

Upgrading and expanding the center is considered critical to keeping the North American International Auto Show, the primary conference located at the center, in Detroit. The show is only committed to be in Cobo through 2010.

Granholm said officials now had to focus on a new agreement to allow for the expansion of the center.

“Today’s ruling leaves very few options. There is no question that any new options will require broad-based support from all the interested parties before there can be any political will in the Legislature for a new funding plan for an expanded Cobo. Once the mayor and the city council agree on a plan that is acceptable to all of the interested parties, then we will be in a position to move forward,” she said in a statement.

But a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester) repeated earlier comments that there is little legislative stomach to revisit the issue. “The government gave (the council) an opportunity to adopt a reasonable plan. To have them reject it is not productive,” said Matt Marsden.

With the state facing crushing budgetary problems on top of other issues such as dealing with the Detroit Public Schools financial crisis, returning to the question of Cobo “is not the best use of time,” Marsden said.

The Detroit City Council rejected the Cobo proposal in February, wanting the city to get more money, have an additional member of the regional council, and have priority on contracts and jobs for the center’s renovation go to Detroit companies and residents.

Cockrel vetoed the resolution, and the council filed suit in Wayne Circuit Court against that veto. The trial court decided that the mayor could not veto the resolution.

The Appeals panel concurred with that ruling, holding that the statute creating the transfer specifically gave the council the authority to reject the agreement.

Because the Legislature did not include the ability of the mayor to override the council by veto in the statute, the court could not rule that power into the measure, the court said.

Following the ruling, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said he is unwilling at this point to continue discussions with the city on the issue of expanding Cobo unless Detroit voters defeat some members of the council in November.

Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano said the decision puts the city on the hook for maintaining the center along with finding the financing to expand the center.

Macomb County Commission Chair Paul Gieleghem said it may be necessary to look at options other than Cobo to keep the auto show. And Patterson has already suggested that there are several locations in Oakland County that could handle an expanded center.

The trade publication Automotive News reported Friday that the Detroit Auto Dealers Association, which has overseen the auto show, is now looking at options to hold the show.

This story was provided by Gongwer News Service. To subscribe, click on Gongwer.Com

a>>