In most parts of the country, there was a large outcry and movement by politicians from areas where dealers were cut. In many of those cases, the dealers were reinstated. For one thing, they realized the importance of the tax base and other revenue that these dealers produced for their areas.
Even if none of the Detroit leaders cared about us personally, they should have been concerned about losing a half million dollars in property taxes, payroll taxes and other fees and licensing requirements that had to be paid yearly to the city. For over a year after the sale of our building, the city kept sending us a property tax bill. It took about 6 phone calls in a years time to get someone to straighten it out - each time, being on hold for over an hour only to have them say that "it's not my job". They would give another phone number to call and that number would either ring and ring with no answer, or give a full voicemail message. It was comical.
Anyway, Wayne State bought the building and as a state owned university, they are exempt from paying property taxes.
After contacting Bing, an email was sent to Ken Cockerel, president of the city council, followed by a phone message. When he called back, he acted as if he knew nothing about the situation. Keith asked if he had received the email and he said yes. It was a strange and awkward moment. Keith explained it all again and when he was done, Cockerel said "What do you want ME to do?" Keith said that we could use your voice and help to try and save our business. Cockerel said "I don't know what I can do but I'll look into it. He never called back and Keith knew it was useless to pursue his help.
Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (Kwami's mommy) was the state representative for the dealership's district and was a long time customer, as was Kwami. A call was made to her office and the case was made for help. She said she would try to help and she did try. She wrote a letter to Mark LaNeve, the front man for GM during the dealer cuts. Unfortunately, by the time it was sent, he had already "left" GM and it went nowhere.
You can say what you want about Kwami Kilpatrick - we actually think he would have helped us! He was very approachable and had been very loyal to us as a customer. He understood small business and their importance to the city. That might not be a popular statement as of late, but it's true regardless.
We don't blame these public figures for the closing of the dealership. It would just have been nice to have had the support of the city that we'd been a part of for 88 years.
We also made contact with our customers who were high profile ministers in Detroit such as Reverend Wendell Anthony(also president of the Detroit branch of the NAACP, Reverend Jim Holly, Reverend Horace Sheffield and Reverend Ed Rowe. Their support and the support of friends and customers who wrote letters was much appreciated. Thank you. Unfortunately it was all for naught.
Pretty early on in this whole ordeal, I made a visit to my foot doctor(Dr. Garfield - great doctor!). We were talking and he said he was sorry to hear the news about the dealership. Then he said something like "They have this wonderful reputation, this legacy. No one can take THAT away.". It was so touching and I was caught off guard by his kindness. I confess - I cried. I tried not to! He was just one of the many people who helped along the way. Thank you.
We had a problem. We asked for help. No one could help solve the problem... but the support that we did have along the way... it meant everything.
Next blog - signing the termination agreement
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