DETROIT – Hero. Rescuer. Superstar.
Those are lofty words, but ones that some experts say they'll gladly use for Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, if he accomplishes his enormous task of fixing the city's finances.
Detroit has a $327 million deficit, and far greater long term liability costs. A consent agreement didn't inspire much reform. There's little left to cut and it's difficult to collect revenues.
So here we are. Orr is barely two weeks into his 18-month tenure as EM. We haven't heard much yet about his first moves, but chances are -- they won't be popular. It's hard to be popular when just about all your options are painful.
Difficult decisions are coming, but WDIV-Local 4 expects them to be accompanied by CREATIVE thinking and COOPERATIVE solutions.
Two weeks down, 76 weeks to go. Let's hope by then, Kevyn Orr will EARN those glowing adjectives.