LANSING – The Michigan House had its say on the status of transferring Cobo Center to a regional authority on Thursday by passing two bills that would allow for a lease agreement between Detroit and the authority.
As was the original legislative deal, which died after the Detroit City Council rejected it, hotel-motel and liquor taxes would be extended to pay for the necessary renovations to the hall in order to keep the North American International Auto Show.
SB 587 (66-42) and HB 4998 (66-43) are the “beginning steps” in the House having a conversation with the Senate on how to proceed with Cobo, said Rep. Bert Johnson (D-Highland Park), who both chairs the committee the bills were reported out of earlier in the day and the Detroit Caucus.
“We will work closely on a solution that is amicable to all of us,” he said.
A lobbyist for Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson indicated his opposition to the bill, which also saw two Detroit lawmakers dissent. Only a few Republicans supported the measures.
Rep. Coleman Young Jr. (D-Detroit) said at a time when people in the city are losing their jobs and homes, the bill would remove from the city one of its assets.
“There’s nothing in this bill for Detroiters,” he said.
Rep. Shanelle Jackson (D-Detroit) countered that by saying as representatives of the people, she and others were at the table trying to figure out a solution to this issue.
“It’s a step forward in our conversation to the world that we can stand together,” she said.
An amendment offered by Rep. Fred Miller (D-Mount Clemens) to make a convention facility in Macomb County part of the second option should another Cobo deal fall through, which he said didn’t think would happen, failed on a 23-85 vote.
The Senate version of the legislation allows Rock Financial Showplace in Oakland County to be given money for an expansion to keep the auto show.
Under substitutes for the bills, the city could lease Cobo to the regional authority for 30 years in exchange for $20 million to cover the city’s loss of parking fee revenues.
To move ahead with improvements to the facility, the Detroit mayor and authority could enter into a separate agreement in which city workers would do the renovations and the city would be reimbursed for the costs.
In addition, the authority would have to make its best efforts to hire people from southeast Michigan and buy goods and services from firms in the area.
And a citizens advisory council would be appointed to give recommendations to the authority on how to proceed with renovations, although the authority could act if the council didn’t make any recommendations.
Young was joined by Rep. Bettie Scott (D-Detroit) in opposing the bills, as Ms. Scott earlier in the day had gotten into a back and forth argument with Mr. Johnson about her concerns on the bill.
During the committee hearing, Scott had questioned where the city council was at in terms of supporting the bills.
Jackson said all of the councilmembers had been given copies of the bills and Mr. Johnson said while some have affirmed their support in private conversations, the negotiation on the bill hasn’t “gotten to that point yet” where the council is formally supporting or opposing it.
Scott then went into a series of questions, saying last time the committee heard testimony on the bills “there were questions without any answers.”
Johnson then tried to get Scott to ask her questions on the side to officials who could provide the answers she was seeking. In the meantime Ms. Scott kept talking over Johnson and asked why she couldn’t ask Jackson the questions when “she proposed it.”
Jackson said some of the questions were in regard to what is currently law and not what was necessarily in the bill. Eventually, Scott dropped the issue and later on asked officials representing the city, which supports the bills, to get her some answers.
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