Excellent!

I am completely opposed to a millage increase for ANY city that is not Detroit, to support the DIA, which clearly doesn't need it.

VOTE NO!

A great fact based discussion that should make any taxpayer stop and pause. When do the tax requests stop, our elected officials that keep asking for increases are completely out of touch with reality.

Great write up! Love to see the DIA's response. Specifically #5

Detroit is already in default on its bonds, and only forbearance by bond trustee Bank of America Merrill Lynch keeps them out of bankruptcy court. If Michigan doesn't stop that process, the bankruptcy judge's prime source of cash for creditors will be Detroit's DIA art collection. While it's worth so many billions that the judge will likely run out of creditors to pay before running out of paintings to sell, the leftovers will hardly be worth visiting, much less funding with a .2 millage. Since the paintings are worth so much, Detroit could stop the process itself by raising money with its DIA art collection and paying its creditors on time. It has the resources so that its artworks can fund the arts and a lot more, and art finance innovations exist that will let the artworks hang on DIA walls while they do so. Detroit just needs the political will to put those resources to work. In truth, the DIA needs this millage like that lottery winner needed welfare.

Such negative responses, but not surprising. With these attitudes let's just call it quits and move on out of here!

Those are 15 excellent reasons. One's good enough for me. NO ON DIA.

Well said Dr. Barr.

I appreciate the responses which point to the fact that IT IS NOT THE DIA. IT IS MANAGEMENT OF MONEY. Our Oakland, Wayne and Macomb representatives in Michigan Congress, Senate and representatives, our county representatives in the Tri County ALL KNEW ALL THE ABOVE FACTS. These cannot be new to them. It is across the board abdicating their duty to represent the interest of the residents who voted for them and not the private interests of a powerful lobby which is waisting 2 million dollars to advance a corrupt cause. How many can be admitted to DIA with 2 million dollars? Lastly, I am a member of DIA for more than 30 years and donated plenty. Who will donate money to the DIA knowing that this CHARITY institution is actually well financed by the public? And why does Michigan and Governor Snyder ignore the issue.

You're absolutely right, Isaac Barr MD, that the DIA is a Detroit asset, but the DIA Founders Society -- the contractor that runs it -- sells anything they want anytime they want. If you doubt that, look up Custer's Last Flag, which they sold for about what they're spending on this campaign. They didn't ask approval of the City or public to sell that one. Detroit did indeed invest in DIA -- Breugel the Elder's Wedding Dance is a City of Detroit purchase -- but many of the billions in artworks Detroit owns were donations as you suggest -- donations that the DIA has often cared for for decades at taxpayer expense. If Detroit defaults, millage proceeds may end in Detroit's treasury, but it will be the bankruptcy trustee who decides what to sell. Even if Detroit doesn't default, they can close the museum, sell assets, etc., especially after the DIA Founders contract ends in 2018. Spending 230 million new dollars on the DIA after prior taxpayers investments have already grown to billions is just bad management. Detroit should use the wealth it already has, rather than imposing taxes on folks with low fixed incomes. Thanks for your research and your reply.

The DIA lacks transparency and is mismanaged. They spent millions on their ad campaign and it didn't work. Now, they and their millionaire director from England want to stick it to us taxpayers. Third world mentality. They want people who are barely making ends meet in and around Detroit want to keep them fat and happy. Just VOTE NO.

I would like to know why every time funding is stopped, the taxpayers are asked to shell out money. I know that the DIA did some cost savings measures a year a two ago but couldn't they do some more and maybe start making money at the place?....it is a beautiful building that could be used for weddings, etc.

Agree completely with Dr. Barr. When I asked some yes voters when was the last time they went to the DIA they said it was 20 years ago when I asked when they last sent in a donation ..they said can't remember. Lets close up the inside and just look at the pretty building and maintain the outside as a piece of art. That is what most people do anyway.

I have cut and pasted the following from the June 7th meeting of the Oakland Commissioners.....if I understand it correctly an attempt was made to exempt Oakland county from the DIA tax or to nullify its passing if the DIA tax was rejected by Wayne and Macomb Voters, This attempt failed...so if I understand this correctly even if Wayne and macomb fail to pass the DIA tax, and Oakland passes it...Oakland is stuck with the tax. You can thank the following commissioners who allowed this to happen. Read below: and vote the NAYS OUT OF OFFICE.

Moved by River supported by Gosselin the resolution be amended as follows:
B. NOTWITHSTANDING SUBSECTION A ABOVE, THE (Oakland county)AUTHORITY SHALL NOT LEVY AND/OR SHALL NOT COLLECT A TAX FOR ANY PERIOD UNLESS THE VOTERS OF BOTH WAYNE COUNTY AND MACOMB COUNTY HAVE ALSO AUTHORIZED THE LEVY AND COLLECTION OF A .2 MILL TAX FOR A PERIOD OF NOT MORE THAN 10 YEARS PURSUANT TO 2010 PA 296.
Vote on amendment:
AYES: Matis, Nuccio, River, Runestad, Scott, Taub, Weipert, Bosnic, Gosselin, Long. (10)
NAYS: McGillivray, Middleton, Nash, Potts, Quarles, Woodward, Zack, Covey, Crawford, Dwyer, Gershenson, Gingell, Hatchett, Hoffman, Jackson. (15)
A sufficient majority having not voted in favor, the amendment failed.
MISCELLANEOUS RESOLUTION

This is nothing more than overt attempt to add nuance to a position that begins and ends with the self-serving idea that other counties shouldn't have to pay for institutions that they patronize. Study after study shows the value of the arts and its presence and effect on our youth. Framing it as a choice between funding police and funding the museum is a false argument. This sanctimonious caterwauling from the sainted "taxpayer" over everything that doesn't involve tax breaks is nauseating, and now it is infecting things like funding the DIA. As a kid I was bused from a suburban enclave to see the DIA. Do we really want to deny our children that experience because some whiny TV commentator has stoked your righteous indignation over, ----egads!--paying for something of which there is an actual benefit?

Or perhaps we should just stop funding social and cultural institutions altogether and give the liquidation proceeds to the Tri-County taxpayers so everyone can have an extra $200 to buy a new HDTV? Isn't that America?

Why should we pay for a bloated, mismanaged organization where the director makes a 1/2 million dollars? Let them reign in their salaries and benefits, charge admission, obtain better ratings and we will see in a few years. If people want to support the arts, then do it. But don't expect the 99% of people who rarely go there to do it. The truth hurts.

I will be voting no on the DIA request.

So Issac parrots the so called facts from the Troy Tea Part and everyone eats it up hook , line and sinker.
Nice, comparing the DIA to Toledo is like comparing a big wheel against a Benz. Utter baloney.

Lianne, wasn't able to get to Crain's link but I have read plenty on the pros and cons of voting for the DIA tax, oh but I wouldn't expect you to know that. Sorry, but until the curator and his assistant take a pay cut this family will be voting NO!

Hey Lianne, you don't know one thing about me, what arrogance, I don't even have a cell phone because I can't afford one. But you seem to know everything. Vote NO on the DIA, thanks for helping me make my decision!!!!!!!

Out of 12 major Art Museum's Graham Beal is 11th in compensation. You cannot compare his salary to the Governor's - that is like comparing an athletes million dollar salary to the salary of the President. Of the 12 museums mentioned in the Free Press, the DIA receives 2% tax support while many of the others receive as much as 95%. The 0.2 mill is a small price to pay to keep the museum open - how about the naysayers taking a trip downtown to see what a beautiful museum we have. Needless to say I will be voting YES!!!!

Dr Barr. You are incorrect on the Toledo Museum of Art. They have a huge endowment sonething the DIA is lacking. So I hope everybody votes YES to save the DIA on August 7

Can't afford the police officers to keep the visitors of the DIA safe...so it's doors will close with or without this mileage. Police officers paid below poverty level aren't exactly inclined to protect the privileges of us suburbanites...would you?

Move it to a try-county location..
Free of blite and dangerous parking and watch the profits grow.
I am not saying its the people...its the time to move into an area that will appreciate it and use it.

Acessabilaty!
20min drive + the parking is a mess + the panhandling...lets be realistic about detroits art scene...it is not what it used to be...why? The dia is small and outdated...many of the worlds top rated museums have "upgraded" moved or is more open to the public...ie.paris,rome,spain,moscow...rebuild for the future with great parking, longer hours, safer area...we can put detroit back on the map as an art center people would travel to...stop catering to ourselves and think of the big picture.

oops. then = than.

The DIA is small, yes, but this is Detroit, not Paris. Trying to compare the two is ridiculous. We'll get longer hours when attendance goes up. And Midtown is extremely safe. The Wayne State area has its own police force. They keep the panhandling pretty under control around there, and there are very few incidents. Detroit isn't the war zone people seem to think it is. Maybe try going there before you make judgments about the area or quality of the exhibits. There's some really great art there.

Also, ever been to Scarab Club? MOCAD? District VII? Tangent Gallery? There's a ton of art galleries and exhibits in Detroit. We really have a thriving art scene.

I'm glad I found this article, as it has been difficult to find anyone willing to put forth the best possible form of an argument against this millage. Some of it is transparent and a lot of it is warping and making bad comparisons between public officials and how much it costs for a competent museum manager, but there are valid arguments here about how the DIA has historically used its funding.

Much of it has been parsed out well above, but I should note that the reason the DIA has taken in so much recently is a massive donor drive to save the museum after it lost state funding. That's not a long-term solution.

Every other art museum in the country on the DIA's level has either a very large endowment, or public funding, or both. The city paid for it until they couldn't because people moved out of the city. The state paid for it until too many people moved out of the state. So now it falls to us. Is it that much money for any of us? No, not really. Do we want an art museum on a level with the major metropolitan areas? Yes we do. Complaining about the responsibility falling to us is like whining that we have to buy candy on Halloween even though 3/4th of the block doesn't currently have kids. This is what a community does so we can have the kind of community we want. Trying to get around that, however annoyed you might be about yet another tax, comes off as petty for a good reason: it's petty.

Racism is alive and well as expressed in this disenting opinion, however is tit for tat the answer? That the city donated to Charles Wright and donated zilch to the DIA is reprehensible and racist. My conjecture is that the DIA has long had the reputation of being a "white," island of Europeon history in a now demographically African-American community. Indeed the majority of its members and visitors come for the special events that only occassionally include works related to African, and Black History. To my knowledge there has never been a comprehensive project on Detroit's racist history other than a short projects on the role Reverand Martin L. King played in it, and of course the underground railroad which is given short shrift. Thus the need for the Charles Wright Center which I compare to the Holocaust Memorial Center in West Bloomfield.
Instead of tit for tat lets not cut off our nose to spite our face. The DIA is everyones Museum and I do like the idea of free admission for all. Hopefully, as Detroit's educational system and economy improves there will be more support in the future from a less racist Detroit City Council that sadly reflects a smoldering urban resentment for a mostly white suburban Detroit.