Mayor Duggan announced last week that he has secured nearly 215 acres of land on the east side to hand over to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), ensuring the development of the first new auto plant in the city in 30 years. FCA is making a $4.5 billion investment in the new plant and expansions to five other Michigan plants. FCA says it will create 6,500 jobs. They had given the city a short 60-day window to come up with the land for the new plant.

Duggan, proud of his accomplishment, said at the press conference announcing the feat, "We did something that I doubt any other city would have tried and we did it without the benefit of eminent domain."

The acquisition of the land cost the city $107.6 million, with 50.6 million coming from the city. The rest is coming from state grants and loans (which presumably will also come back to the city). Along with the cash, the city is swapping a total of 155 acres of land, including 117 given to Crown Enterprises and 25 to DTE energy.

The size of city investment brought the deal under the Community Benefits Ordinance. This ordinance, backed by business interests to thwart one with real enforcement powers, is a flawed effort. But east side residents, among the most organized in the city, have put forward visionary ways of thinking about how the current FCA development can be leveraged toward a more sustainable and just future. The CBA being pushed at the grassroots level anticipates a world beyond mass production and extractive industries, arguing for the development of solar and wind power and for the skills and capacities of people to encourage self-sufficient and self-sustaining communities. Residents have also called upon the FCA to create neighborhood stabilization policies, including a moratorium on water shut-offs and tax foreclosures.

This forward-thinking by community organizations has unsettled the city administration. While the mayor has attempted to control the CBA process, he cannot limit the power of the ideas being generated there.

It is also now clear that if the Mayor is to retain any credibility about the CBA, he is going to have to address the enormous costs associated with the acquisition of the land. The land give-away to Hantz Farms is completely overshadowed by the deal with Crown Enterprises.

Crown Enterprises is the name of the company owned by the Moroun family. The Moroun’s are not noted for their civic consciousness. In this latest deal in order to get the 82.2 acres owned by them, the city agreed to pay $43.5 million and 117 acres of land. This is ten times the cost for a little over half the acreage of the remaining land. The city paid only $4.6 million for the other 132 acres.

At the very least the Moroun Family and the City should enter into another CBA so that the community can gain direct benefit from the public lands and cash given the Crown Enterprises.

Detroiters have become wary of deals done under deadlines. There is a long list, including Poletown, Marathon, Detroit Axel, Hantz Farms, and the drive to bankruptcy, where corporate powers press the city for quick decisions. Almost always these are decisions that benefit the corporations and leave the city with broken promises.

Perhaps Duggan thought that the good news of jobs would overshadow the outrageous deal with the Morouns. Or the outrageous deal with Hantz. This kind of deal making has never benefited the people.

Whatever the limitations of the CBA process, we have the strength of committed, experienced community organizations dedicated to finding pathways toward a just future. This gives us all a strong basis for hope.