Desiree Cooper, from the Detroit Free Press, has a great article that rationalizes the need for the Detroit City Council to vote in favor of the transfer of operations from the city to the zoological society.

Like it or not, council, it’s time to let zoo go

She does a great job of just simplifying the zoo transfer as well as looking ahead to many more future decisions for the city that will not come easy. Detroit’s City Council needs to realize (and boy do I hope they do, and soon) that they need to do some “estate planning” just as we do in our later years for there to be any hope for the future. They also need to recognize offers of help for what they are - offers of help.

The state, contrary to what the city council thinks, is not trying to take over Detroit and be the boss of this once proud city. You cannot expect to afford the same services and amenities when your population (which is to say, your tax base) has shrunk to a pale shadow of its former self. Detroit needs to prune its dead and decaying branches in order for it to flourish once again. If the current city council members cannot grasp this simple truth, then maybe when election time comes around the voters should seek a change.