NOVEMBER 2011

EXECUTIVE continued from page 26
is not a good place, “said Patterson.
“I don’t think Ford, GM or Chrysler
are being bullied by unions and I
see a lot of cooperation happening between
the groups,” responded Ficano.
Huda Fadel from Blue Cross
Blue Shield then asked about infant
mortality rates. She recapped
an earlier statement and noted that
Southeast Michigan is the healthcare
capital of the world but yet infant
mortality is on the rise in the
region. “What are we doing about
infant mortality?”
“Infant mortality was the focus
of attention in Pontiac nine years
ago and the numbers are improving
but we still need to get better,” said
Patterson. “Bob has mentioned that
he and the city have competing programs
and probably will get merged
some day. It is an important thing
the government does provide and it
is one of the essential services that
have to be funded. It is not in line
for any cuts.”
“I am really in favor of the merger
between the City of Detroit and
Wayne County in terms of health
departments,” said Jackson.
“Public health is very important,”
said Ficano. “We just got a
grant for the New Me program. How
many mothers do we have whose
child, sick at 2 in the morning, will
walk into the ER even if you don’t
have insurance?”
Ficano also noted that there are
many great programs that people
don’t know about or how to get to.
Martin Manna, executive director
of the chamber, posed the last
question of the day, going back to
the issue of incentives to chains like
Whole Foods.
“What type of incentives will be
given to those who have been servicing
the city for 30 to 40 years?”
he asked.
“Not all utilize what is there,”
said Jackson. “There are different
incentives depending on the industry
and size of the deal. That target
is what the people of the city and
the mayor are asking us to do. All of
these developers in these deals are
local people. Go in as a developer
and you will get the same benefit
these developers are getting. All
of these deals have local developers;
they are not coming from other
states. They are all local people.”
The CIA, Blue Cross Blue Shield
of Michigan and Comcast were the
premier sponsors of the luncheon,
which attracted more than 200 people,
primarily business owners and executives
in the community.
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The media besieges Ficano for comment on “Severance-gate.”
28 CHALDEAN NEWS NOVEMBER 2011