密歇根新闻广播 骑士老板丹尼尔吉尔伯特能得到他想要的一切吗?

Last Thursday, there were huge headlines that Dan Gilbert, the billionaire who has bought much of Detroit, wants to invest a billion dollars to build a major league soccer stadium and complex in the city's downtown.

This was largely greeted with sort of the breathless excitement you'd expect when your team finally wins the World Series. There was a little mention of the fact that the land on which Gilbert wants to build his 25,000 seat stadium not only doesn't belong to him, but in fact is part of Wayne County's criminal justice complex.

What's there now is the county courthouse, the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice, a modern juvenile¹ detention² facility, and the famous unfinished jail, which sits open to the elements. Construction was halted three years ago because of cost overruns during the famously incompetent³ Ficano regime.

Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, who beat Bob Ficano and others in a landslide⁴ less than two years ago, has determined⁵ that the most sensible, economical and practical solution was to just finish the jail, and the county intends to seek bids this fall.

However, now the Quicken Loans and Rock Financial czar wants the land. There's a sort of assumption in Detroit these days that, as one woman I know put it, "whatever Dan Gilbert wants, Dan Gilbert gets." That seemed to color much of the media coverage⁶.

But Evans doesn't feel that way—and after talking with him for an hour, I came to see why. Evans has earned credibility. When he took office in January 2015, the county had huge budget deficits⁷ and health care liabilities.

There was talk of bankruptcy⁸ and emergency management. But Evans, a savvy⁹ lawyer in his own right, instead worked out a consent agreement with the state, and went to work on the financials. Evans learned his way around budgets as both Detroit police chief and Wayne County sheriff, and he knew the experts he should be consulting.

Today, the deficits are entirely¹⁰ gone, and health care is on a better footing. But criminal justice and finances are still important. When it comes to where to put the stadium and the jail, Warren Evans says, "I don't have a dog in this fight" as far as location is concerned.

But he notes that the area has been a criminal justice site for a century, and that it makes sense to have criminal justice facilities centrally located and easily accessible.

And he does have one bias¹¹. He told me "(Gilbert's) project can't cost Wayne County taxpayers¹² any more than continuing," as they are now, and there can be no further delays.

Indications are that the county commissioners¹³ are with Evans on this. The only way he said he'd consider selling to Gilbert is if somehow the mortgage tycoon¹⁴ could pay for them to build a new jail, courthouse and state of the art juvenile facility elsewhere, and have it ready first. "Clearly that has got to cost more than us finishing this project. So whatever the difference is, that's what they have to guarantee."

You never know how negotiations¹⁵ may go. But Detroit is a city with vast vacant spaces, and destroying a criminal justice complex that works where it is may not make a lot of sense.

Jack¹⁶ Lessenberry is Michigan Radio's political analyst¹⁷. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

1 juvenile   

n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人，他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
• Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。

2 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

3 incompetent   

adj.无能力的，不能胜任的

参考例句：

• He is utterly incompetent at his job.他完全不能胜任他的工作。
• He is incompetent at working with his hands.他动手能力不行。

4 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。

5 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

6 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

7 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

8 bankruptcy   

n.破产；无偿付能力

参考例句：

• You will have to pull in if you want to escape bankruptcy.如果你想避免破产，就必须节省开支。
• His firm is just on thin ice of bankruptcy.他的商号正面临破产的危险。

9 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

12 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

13 commissioners   

n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官

参考例句：

• The Commissioners of Inland Revenue control British national taxes. 国家税收委员管理英国全国的税收。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The SEC has five commissioners who are appointed by the president. 证券交易委员会有５名委员，是由总统任命的。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

14 tycoon   

n.有钱有势的企业家，大亨

参考例句：

• The tycoon is on the verge of bankruptcy.那名大亨濒临破产的边缘。
• The tycoon has many servants to minister to his needs.那位大亨有很多人服侍他。

15 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

16 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

17 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。