Non-Fiction – Page 5 – Michele Oberholtzer

February 20, 2015

Troopers- rise UP

Every February, mom and grandma take the long drive up to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to experience the heart of winter in the tiny town of Paradise and watch a dogsled race. The UP 200 is a qualifying race for the Iditarod and I am fascinated by its modest exoticism.

Even before I reached a maturity level where it occurred to me to be nice to my mom, I reluctantly admitted that the trip sounded rather awesome. Now that I’ve reached the maturity level where I deign to love and appreciate and enjoy her, I have been trying to come along on one of these annual trips but it’s never happened before now. I’m doubly excited to be here because we will be returning to some of the sanctified scenes I passed through on foot a year and a half ago en route to a new life.

Well, that life is approximately as messy as it has ever been and I need a break. I don’t know of a unit of measurements for internal chaos but this is registering pretty high. I need to escape that other life for my sake and the sake of those I’ll be leaving behind for awhile. This trip presented itself on the horizon from the squiggles of my everyday life and I am clinging to it. It’s time to rise up: up to the UP, up from the morass of my self-pity and confusion, and up to a place where distance grants perspective and climate demands clarity.

Continue reading “Troopers- rise UP”

January 3, 2015

A Citizen’s Lament

Another newspaper has died in Detroit. Like so many others before it, The Michigan Citizen succumbed to the uncompromising economics of modern news, where corporations won’t pay for unflattering content and readers don’t pay for any. As print media wanes, electronic media flourishes. This tradeoff may appear to be more democratic – anyone can contribute to the internet- but print media, while it has fewer sources, may actually be more likely to represent the people. The reason is that when readers don’t pay for content, corporations do, and the internet can be a surprisingly narrow place to find your news.

Continue reading “A Citizen’s Lament”

December 30, 2014

Bless Your Heart

Grandma died last week. After 2 ½ years of bedrest in a trailer she shared with Dad and his girlfriend, she passed away. Everyone remarked at how she had been of sound mind until the very end. “Just yesterday she called me a nigger!” said one of the home-care nurses with the strange fondness that accompanies all manner of recollections of the recently deceased, he is a white man who had the thankless job of bathing grandma, whose general bitterness was made more potent by painful bedsores. It wasn’t ever clear to the nurse if he was being blamed for causing the the sores by not cleaning enough or for aggravating by cleaning too much, but those details didn’t matter much.

The funeral was miserably sparse. We tried hard to remember that you can’t judge someone’s life based on their funeral when they die at such an old age. At 88, most of the people who knew grandma in her prime are either dead themselves or at least bedridden. Maybe if we had gotten some webcams set up at the local nursing home it would’ve been a better showing. But probably not. Continue reading “Bless Your Heart”

October 31, 2014

Blight Bungle

With a click of a button, over 6,000 Detroit properties were purchased Tuesday for just over $500 apiece. The bidding on this “blight bundle” marked the finale of an auction process whose outcome surprised local government which had scripted a much different ending.

The properties were up for auction because of a Michigan state law that mandates foreclosure for all properties owing three years or more of back taxes. In Wayne County, that amounted to 24,000 properties this year alone.

The auction happened in two phases: In Round 1, all properties are available for a starting price equal to the amount owed in back taxes. Unsold properties make it into Round 2, where the starting price is only $500.

In other words, Round 1 is where the county makes its money back – and Round 2 is where the county takes what it can get.

Local government can’t change these rules, but it can manipulate them to its own advantage. In Round 2 this year, over 6,000 unrelated properties were combined into what was termed a “blight bundle,” in a joint effort by the City of Detroit and the Wayne County Treasurer. Continue reading “Blight Bungle”

October 15, 2014

Joy Ride

There is a movement building in Detroit, slowly building in power and purpose as it meanders through the streets of the city. It is not a protest or a new political party, it is not a tax break or a reality TV show, it is a bike ride. And though it has no manifesto, its purpose is clear: to bring people together through good old-fashioned fun.

Slow Roll is Detroit’s Monday night group bike ride in which thousands of pedalstrians come together to explore the city on a free bike ride. Throughout the route, riders share space with one another, explore new neighborhoods, and deepen their relationship with the city.

Continue reading “Joy Ride”

October 1, 2014

Foreclosed is Forewarned

Tax Foreclosures on 10,000 Occupied Detroit Properties will Displace Thousands

On Monday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes made a landmark decision to authorize continued water shutoffs for unpaid water bills, leaving thousands of Detroiters without access to water. At the same time, though less reported, some 20,000 Detroit residents stand to lose another basic human right — their housing — as the Wayne County Treasurer prepares to carry out mass tax foreclosures across the city.

In October, the Wayne County Treasurer will host an online auction to sell properties whose owners owe back taxes. According to the county website, over 26,000 properties are up for auction, over 90% of which are in Detroit.

Of these, 23,000 made it into Round 2 – where auction prices start at a mere $500. These aren’t just empty lots and vacant buildings; rather, an estimated 10,000 are occupied properties, which means that at least 20,000 people face imminent eviction.

Unopened Tax Foreclosure notice on an abandoned house in Detroit’s Littlefield neighborhood. Motor City Mapping indicated that nearly half of the properties in this neighborhood (3,840) are unoccupied.

Continue reading “Foreclosed is Forewarned”

September 4, 2014

Preview: 2014 Detroit Foreclosure Auction

This week, 24,000 Detroit properties that owe taxes to the city will begin the process of being auctioned off to the highest bidder. The annual event takes on a greater meaning this year as it is running concurrently with Detroit’s bankruptcy trial which also began this week. The auction is the personal version of the city’s financial troubles, showing on-the-ground evidence of the individual struggles which resulting in people’s inability to pay for their property. Looking at the map of foreclosed parcels gives a powerful image of economic disparity — the concentration of foreclosures in neighborhoods like Warrendale is shockingly high, while Corktown boasts a whopping total of Zero. Interested buyers have the chance to purchase a piece of Detroit for what are often very reasonable prices.

The auction is based on property parcels, which may include homes, apartment complexes, commercial buildings and even empty lots in various states of care or disrepair. Most of these properties have buildings on them, and many of those buildings are homes to the current owners, renters, and in some cases, squatters.

The annual foreclosure auction is a powerful force of change for a number of reasons. It offers a burst of revenue for a city that sorely needs it. It encompasses the dream of home ownership for many who could not otherwise afford it. It draws the attention of outside investors with an optimistic view of Detroit. And it also represents a devastating blow to those who face displacement when the place they own or rent is no longer theirs to call home.

The Numbers
The numbers here are absolutely daunting and the reality of what they represent is even more so. After this auction, the Detroit Land Bank Authority will own approximately 100,000 properties. Many of those are too undesirable (think fire-charred blighted homes, dumping sites, entire empty blocks) to even be included in this auction. The properties that are included make up the sub-set of more viable properties (a relative term) that the city has a chance to recoup some money on, and to have taken off their hands.

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How It Works
Round 1 of the auction runs from today, September 4, through Wednesday, September 24. During this period, bidding prices start at whatever amount is owed in property taxes. Any properties that are unsold after this round will go up for auction again in Round 2 which begins in mid-October, where bidding will start at only $500. The bidding for an individual parcel happens over a 2-week period, so properties released for auction today will not fully close until September 17th.

Timing for the bidding is based on batches- groups of 125 properties grouped together by Zip Code. Each batch is released for bidding at staggered 15-minute intervals throughout a week-long period. Some of the most coveted neighborhoods are up for bidding first, including Brush Park, which has drawn a lot of real-estate attention with the announcement of the expanded “sports district” in the area.

Most of the bidding will take place at the end of the two-week period, when the feeding frenzy of last-minute wagers come in. A similar process happened in the final hours before the auction itself, as current owners scrambled to sell or pay off properties before they were foreclosed.

Your Role
If you even think you might be interested in participating, register with the Wayne County Treasurer, there is no cost to register, just to bid. Research the property in advance before you purchase, hidden fees, renovation costs and complications with potential existing residents justifiably make these properties more expensive than their initial price tag. And if you do buy, congratulations, good luck!

Resources
Information, Registration, and Bidding: Wayne County Treasurer
Detailed assessment on each property Why Don’t We Own This?

August 26, 2014

f* the loophole

For a few days it was just Mom and Dad and the three unwed sisters.

It’s strange for me to be back in this category. I was the first of the sisters to get married, 7 years ago. The divorce was long enough ago that it doesn’t seem utterly bizarre that He’s not here, but it takes some adjusting to be back in the kiddy table, Dad paying for my meals when the family eats out together, riding up in the same car as my parents.

One sister would be coming later with her husband and child, but one sister would not be coming at all. We don’t blame her, it occurred to us not to come too, but family is like a currency system that requires mutual agreement to maintain its value. Too many absences show a lack of consumer confidence and people start wanting to come late and leave early and there is general grumbling about going back to the Gold Standard. Basically, we who are present can’t help but bear a slight resentment to those who are absent. Her punishment will not be deliberate, but there will probably be one-tenth fewer phone calls per sister over the next few months which, if amplified over time, could mean a dramatic difference in long term filial contact. Continue reading “f* the loophole”

August 25, 2014

hitchin’ a sail

We walked out to the pier and looked out over the freezing Lake Michigan water 10 feet below. I am afraid of jumping off of things. I can look down over the ledge of a tall building and fly in an airplane and climb a mountain without fear, but the act of willfully letting my feet leave the earth just happens to terrify me. I have been known to freeze up on diving boards, 18 measly inches above water.

This time, it wasn’t so hard. With the 3..2..1 countdown, there was no time to worry. With my sisters to synchronize with, I couldn’t fret and wait and stall and stress. Mom loves when her girls are together. She likes it even more when we let her take pictures of us. She likes it even more when we include her. We pressured her to jump in with us. She agreed. Then, as mothers and fathers and daughters do, I immediately began worrying about the consequences of our suggestion. What if it’s too cold for mom and the water shocks her and she can’t swim and it’s all our fault and she knew better but caved in to the pressure of her three demanding daughters? We jumped together, weeeee!

The three sisters surfaced first and stared at the water where we expected her to be. She took a few worrisome seconds too long to come up out of the water. Everything was fine.

Exhilarated and cold, we made our way farther down the pier to sit and watch the water traffic along the canal. A “boat parade” Mom called it. She has a way seeing the world that allows me to imagine the impossible act of knowing my own mother when she was a kid. It is the gift of a woman who has spent so much of her adult life with children. It made the slow-moving boats trudging through the canal into a sort of a celebration.

From our perch, I told everyone about my half-serious life goal to hitchhike on a sailboat. We joked about how awkward it would be for the people on board, what a gamble it is to accept a ride from someone that you can’t even see, and where on earth they would take you if it all worked.

Continue reading “hitchin’ a sail”

August 24, 2014

but also in blueberrying

Apparently, I am very good at blueberry picking. I always try to challenge myself to take joy out of things that I’m not good at but it is undeniably more enjoyable what I have a god-given knack for it. Yes, even if the talent is for something as insignificant as this. I like blueberry picking. It reminds me of a socially-acceptable version of my bad habit of picking at my split ends. Maybe I have a natural inner energy that tells me that my hands should be busy, and in the absence of berry patches and weaving looms, my productivity displaces itself onto the ends of my hair.

When we arrived to the patch the first rows thrilled us- so many blueberries! My sisters started plucking immediately. A berry here, a berry there, pluck-plunk-pluck-plunk. I stood beside them, looking down the aisle. Why have they paused already? I wondered. For though I could not see it, I felt certain that there would be more berries farther on. I called out “A fool is she who will accept what is nearest rather than what is best.” “In matters of the heart?” they wondered. “Yes. But also in blueberrying.” Continue reading “but also in blueberrying”