Detroit will have to wait to see who will control the Cobo convention center after a Wayne County Circuit Court judge delayed a decision on the matter on Thursday.
According to The Detroit News, Judge Isodore Torres said he will make a decision before the April 20 deadline on whether to grant an injunction against interim Mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr.’s veto of the Detroit City Council’s attempt to block a Lansing-brokered plan to transfer authority of Cobo from the city of Detroit to a regional authority with voting members from Detroit, the governor’s office and Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.
If an injunction isn’t issued and Cockrel’s veto stands, the state will relieve Detroit of the convention center’s operating deficit, give the city $20 million and spend $288 million renovating and expanding Cobo, home of the North American International Auto Show. If Torres grants an injunction, then the plan cannot carry forward, and may be set back entirely.
During Wednesday night’s mayoral debate, Cockrel defended his the plan by saying it was imperfect but still good for the city. Cockrel’s opponent, businessman Dave Bing, said Cockrel didn’t provide leadership on the issue, but he neglected to say that he agreed with council members who voted against the state’s plan.
Justin Miller is a political journalist based in Wayne County who has worked for Real Clear Politics, blogged for The Atlantic and covered the 2008 elections in Ohio for The New York Observer’s Politicker.com network of state politics news sites.
