I know I'm tired of the Cobo Hall story, but it is really the in-
fighting within the city government of Detroit, where the council has
battled the mayor over controlling the facility and paying for the
needed repairs, that has worn me out.
But today Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson took it up
another level, challenging the region with a promise that his county
could host the North American International Auto Show if it could not
return to Cobo.
This is a promise that would be kept, even if it had to be done quickly.
Things get done around here. Sometimes, that's good; sometime, it's
bad as some would like to debate an issue longer rather than see it
implemented. But an Oakland County auto show can get done.
His is an administration that looks for results, not long-discussed
plans. Perhaps, that's because the planning gets done and does not
devolve too often into a political fight with lengthy trips to courts.
The reaction to Brooks' promise to bring the auto show here has
completely changed the scope of the Cobo fight. For years, back when
then-mayor Kwame Kilpatrick preached that the auto show would leave
the region without a new Cobo (never mind the residents fleeing
without police protection or decent schools), the fear was losing the
auto show.
Detroit and the Michigan auto industry could never survive such an
upheaval, many preached.
With a single rant, Brooks just took that argument off the table.
Cobo can fend for itself with its Detroit management and oversight.
The auto show will live on.
And then the dog show can move, too.