Detroit council votes again to put art in trust

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DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit City Council on Monday
unanimously reaffirmed its approval of placing valuable works of art
threatened by the city’s bankruptcy into a charitable trust.
The council took a second vote after federal mediators said there were defects in a June 5 resolution.
Both votes were 8-0.
The council voted Monday to approve the transfer, rather than simply to endorse it, said Council Member
George Cushingberry Jr.
"This is a final and full-throated approval of the transfer of assets," said Butch Hollowell,
Detroit’s corporation counsel.
They
moved to place the art in a charitable trust after some Detroit
creditors expressed interest in the collection as a way for the bankrupt
city to pay off debt.
That led foundations, museum officials, Gov.
Rick Snyder and others to try to protect the art.
The vote also
follows the Michigan Legislature’s allocation of $195 million as part of
an $816 million "grand bargain" to shore up Detroit’s municipal
retirement systems and guard the Detroit Institute of Arts from a forced
sell-off during the bankruptcy proceedings.
About 2,800 city-owned works of art have been valued at $454 million to $867 million.
On
June 9, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler pledged $26 million to cover
part of the museum’s $100 million share of the bargain. A dozen
foundations have committed about $360 million.
"This grand bargain
is a very good deal for the people," Hollowell said. "The art and all
of its contents are going to be here for the benefit of the people of
Detroit in perpetuity."
The bargain is central to emergency
manager Kevyn Orr’s plan to erase $18 billion in municipal debt. Orr’s
restructuring plan is subject to U.S. bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes’
approval. A trial on the plan is scheduled to begin Aug. 14.
The
decision to give up ownership of the art was a hard one for City Council
members, Cushingberry said. But he said the opportunity to shed the
crippling debt load was an opportunity Detroit couldn’t forgo.
"A
lot of my colleagues are hearing in the community that people are
concerned that the city is being systematically devalued," Cushingberry
said. "The objective is to get us out of bankruptcy as soon as we
possibly can, and I think this furthers that along the way."

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