Synopsis
The city of Detroit’s decades-long downward spiral crash-landed in bankruptcy court on July 18, 2013. Recession, decaying infrastructure, crime, and competition from foreign automakers had hollowed out the city’s economic core. Indeed, Detroit was in such bad shape that Michigan’s governor had to appoint an emergency manager to take over the city, replacing its elected leaders. But even that was not enough to turn it around. By the summer of 2013, Detroit was flat broke. What would happen to a major American city that had no money and no realistic prospect for raising any? Detroit had only one truly sizable asset: a collection of masterpieces held by the city-owned Detroit Institute of Arts. And now the city’s creditors wanted to “monetize” that world-renowned collection by putting it on the auction block to cover the city’s debts. Pundits around the world were writing Detroit’s obituary—and liquidating the art threatened to become the exclamation point at the very end of it. In Grand Bargain, Gerald E. Rosen—the chief mediator in the largest municipal bankruptcy in American history and architect of the “Grand Bargain” that saved the DIA’s priceless collection—tells the dramatic inside story of how Detroit was rescued from the brink of oblivion.
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This book is not so much a story about the tick-tock of the Detroit bankruptcy case itself as it is about the collective heart of the people who made all of this possible in less than sixteen months—warp speed in the highly contentious municipal bankruptcy world. It’s often said that a successful story must have heroes and villains. There are many heroes and heroines in this book, but there are no villains. Although there was certainly intense conflict, high tension, deep antagonisms, and misjudgments, this is instead the story of the dozens of enormously bright, talented, creative, courageous, and incredibly dedicated men and women who stepped forward together, many at great personal risk and sacrifice, to overcome doubt, distrust, cynicism, rigidity, self-interest, and the ghosts of the city’s past failures to piece together an almost universally agreed-upon plan to rescue and give rebirth to an iconic American original. In a public square filled with pessimism, we found helping hands. In an era of cynicism, partisan dysfunctionality, self-interest, and civic irresponsibility, we found allies among people with good hearts, hardheaded common sense, and uncommon courage. We learned that even in a time of political polarization, with trust in each other, Americans can find common ground for the greater good. All of us together planted a flag on that common ground and walked away from our work with the hope that others might see it and follow its example. In the end, that is why I decided to write this book, the first telling from the inside of how Detroit was rescued from the brink of oblivion. It is a cautionary tale but also an inspiring one. In this drama, Americans of all backgrounds come together to reaffirm our heritage of good citizenship and offer hope to all American cities facing similar challenges.
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