A dispute over who controls Detroit’s cable TV public access channel may have, at least temporarily, derailed plans for the city’s new police headquarters.
The city plans to renovate the old MGM Detroit Grand Casino into Detroit’s new police headquarters. A bond issue in December raised 100 million dollars for that and other public works projects. Work was supposed to start on the new police headquarters next week.
But the Detroit City Council rejected the mayor’s plan for how the money will be spent. Council members say they want more influence on the spending plan. Several also suggested their votes were tied to a conflict the council is having with Mayor Dave Bing over programming on the city’s public access Cable TV channel.
Karen Dumas is a Bing spokeswoman. She says the council’s decision is disappointing.
“Council president (Charles) Pugh went on record today as saying that all city business is suspended until the citizens are able to see (the city council) on television at least 5 days a week.”
It’s unclear when the city council could reconsider the vote.
