Finally, a light (and camera and action!)

Finding good news on Mackinac Island has been like looking for a car dealership. But one bright spot has to be the sudden and shocking reaction to the state's push to create a film industry in Michigan. Since the incentive package was launched in April, some $225 million dollars in film projects have taken shape. That's nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in six weeks. Movie makers are falling all over themselves to get in on a deal that can put 40% of the production costs back in the filmmakers' pockets. There are some big questions that linger about whether the math is upside down --- I spoke with Senator Nancy Cassis and she fears that the outflow might be more than the income due to the way that the various production cost credits are calculated. It's going to take some time to see whether it's a positive net gain. BUT, in almost no time at all, Michigan has accomplished two important things. First, it's shown some new economy agility. (6 weeks!) And second, it fits nicely into the "cool cities" campaign to attract and retain our young, bright, creative minds. (There's not much cooler than the movie industry.) So as we leave Mackinac, there's some light ahead... and it looks like a spotlight.

The Mackinac Clouds

It's raining and quite dreary on Mackinac Island today, and that matches the mood of many of Michigan's businessmen and women who've gathered here looking for any morsel of sunshine. The Mackinac gathering has always been a place to find some optimism, and at the moment, Governor Granholm is doing her level best in her eternally cheery role as the state's morale officer. But, and I wish it were otherwise, the gloom of those attending is oppressive. Auto announcements this week have poured more despair into our economic whirlpool. We find that about half of our college graduates are leaving the state. And many businesses have found that the cure for the Single Business Tax has been worse than the disease. And I'm asked time and again, "Where is the revolution? Where is the courage to change things in a dynamic way?"
Here's a telling little moment. I'm moderating a panel today on the push to attract the film industry to Michigan. Last evening, we had a dry-run of the panel and I asked a production manager what about Michigan brought his production of a television pilot to the state. He said, "Well, first, it really helps that you're a 'right to work' state..."
Um... well, actually...
-Devin

Big Mac, please...

So again, the movers and shakers move and shake their way north to Mackinac Island for the annual policy conference hosted by the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce. There are always workshops and sessions that are the planned portions of the agenda, but the real story of Mackinac often boils down to the conversations on the massive porch of the Grand Hotel between the sessions.
The big topics this year will no doubt include Mayor Kilpatrick's troubles and whether the Governor (who will hear no end to mayor-related questions during her appearances here) should intercede and act on the city council's request to remove the mayor from office. There will also be plenty of discussion about the mess that is the Michigan delegate tally in the presidential primary. (That may finally be settled on Saturday as the Rules Committee of the DNC meets to try and hammer out a deal on the Michigan and Florida delegates.) And lastly, I'm curious to see what kind of discussions break out over mass transit. It's almost a running joke that every year, Mackinac is the setting for a lot of talk on transit which is followed up by absolutely no action back at home. But this year, with gas rocketing higher and higher, John Hertel (who leads the transit effort in southeast Michigan) is finally feeling some traction. He's told me we're getting very close to a big announcement on progress, but given the "you first" mentality that often defines progress in our region, the announcement has to wait until everyone is on board. So tomorrow, we're off to Big Mac --- watch for updates from there.
-Devin

It's Over... Isn't it?

It's hard to see how Hillary Clinton can possibly go on after the results from North Carolina and Indiana. She just cancelled any appearances on the morning news shows (perhaps regretting her premature victory lap speech in Indianapolis), and the money funnel is almost certainly going to run dry starting right about now. And if I'm right about this, something historic has happened this evening.
For the first time ever, the United States has an African American as the presumptive nominee for a major party in the election for President.
I have no idea if he'll win. (I'm remembering that last summer, I predicted that the candidates would be John Edwards and Mitt Romney. Good thing I ask the questions rather than answer them.) And I would not dare to endorse or deride his candidacy.
But right now, it's 20 minutes after midnight on May 7, 2008, and Barack Obama finally has the math working for him in just about every direction.
What a remarkable moment.
-Devin

The Big Night

So this was all supposed to be long over by now (remember Super Tuesday?), but the campaign goes on. And who would have believed that North Carolina and Indiana with their early May primaries would carry this much weight? In fact, could it all end for Hillary Clinton tonight?
Exit polls show her trailing badly in North Carolina. A double-digit loss there coupled with any kind of win in Indiana and Clinton likely lives to campaign another day (even though the long-term math is still problematic for her). But should Obama pull off a win in Indiana, Clinton will have a tough time making the case to go on. She survived a money drought earlier in the campaign, but this one just might be fatal.
-Devin

And now, Council...

The Detroit City Council has a natty problem on their hands. They've already made their disgust with Mayor Kilpatrick well known, and I'm not sure they needed attorney Bill Goodman's report to convince them that the Mayor had betrayed them in the settlement process from the Whistleblower lawsuit. But Goodman's report shows them the tricky footing ahead. The wording of the Detroit city charter is cryptic enough that trying to throw the Mayor out of office would put the council in pioneer territory and there's really no way to guess at how the process would unfold. If the council pursues his removal, it almost certainly would end up in a court fight and there's a chance the felony trial on the prosecutor's eight-count indictment would be over before the council's fight was heard (which would leave it all rather pointless). The council can try the Lansing route and implore the Governor to remove the Mayor, and while that's a clearer path, the Governor has given no indication that she has any willingness to go the Engler route and remove a Detroit-elected leader from power. The last option is for the council to formally censure the Mayor, but while that might be a blemish on his resume, it's largely toothless.
So, council, what now?
-Devin