Posted Jul 5, 2011, 12:32 PM
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Registered Ugly
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Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Portland
Posts: 3,628
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Revival Bid Pits Detroit vs. Donor
By MATTHEW DOLANhttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...319014524.html
July 2
Quote:
DETROIT—There's a new driver grabbing the wheel in the Motor City.
He's not an elected official, or a local business titan. He's not even a Detroiter.
He's Rip Rapson, president of the $3.1 billion Kresge Foundation, and his combination of ambition, political connections and financial resources has made him a powerful force in the effort to remake a city much of the country wrote off a generation ago.
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See what areas of the city are struggling, and where Kresge Foundation is putting some of its money.
Under Mr. Rapson's watch, Kresge has invested more than $100 million in Detroit's transformation, funding a riverfront promenade, building greenways and backing incentives for entrepreneurs. And he's just getting started.
"Philanthropy has emerged as the sector best able to provide the long-term vision and shorter-term investment of capital the city needs to right itself,"
Mr. Rapson said at a private gathering of urban experts in Detroit this spring.
That foundation-knows-best attitude exasperates Mayor Dave Bing and City Hall officials, who have sought to reassure Detroiters that their voices, not outsiders, will guide efforts to rebuild the city.
"Everyone talks about Kresge, Kresge, Kresge," the mayor said in an interview. "We're pleased with the support we're getting from them, but... Kresge is not doing this in a vacuum by themselves."
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The latest flare-up between Mr. Rapson and Mr. Bing came this month over the $500 million Woodward Avenue rail line, for which Kresge has pledged $35 million. Kresge worked with Detroit booster Roger Penske, traveling to Portland, Ore., and Minneapolis to learn about their networks, and pushing a system led by the private sector. Mr. Rapson personally lobbied the U.S. transportation secretary to win a key endorsement. The federal government made an initial pledge of $25 million for the project, which supporters expected would break ground next year.
This spring, the Bing administration moved to put its own stamp on the rail line, offering $80 million and signing an agreement with the U.S. Federal Transit Administration about its scope and design—without notifying the foundations first, according to Mr. Rapson.
Norman White, head of the city's light-rail project, says private funders were kept abreast all along the way, but added that Detroit intends to lead the process.
Miffed by being frozen out of part of the planning process, Mr. Rapson began to rethink Kresge's funding. "Are we going to pull our money out? We won't just because we're annoyed," he said, adding that the parties were discussing the issue. He feels good about his bargaining position. "Everyone knows that Kresge is the do or die for the line."
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