Garland is a plant to get up in that glorious Governor's Office so he can show off all his IT experience by allowing all these foreign corporations, if they are even incorporated, full access to all the data of the State of Michigan, because he is consistent in his positive demonstration of being completely deft when it comes to being in a position of authority.
I call him a spokestoken, but I have seen more colorful terms floating around the chatter-verse.
I have even seen plans to replace Gretch, if there is even an election, because, you know, he is a tech guru, and all, right?
Anyway, I thought GG, The Tech Guru (that is his new name) was crying broke last week as the reason why he could not clean up the property, so where did he get that money to pay those taxes?
Anyway, I thought GG, The Tech Guru (that is his new name) was crying broke last week as the reason why he could not clean up the property, so where did he get that money to pay those taxes?
Gilchrist late on taxes for blighted building
Detroit — Garlin Gilchrist II, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, has a history of failing to pay property taxes on time for a blighted duplex apartment building he owns in Detroit and was forced to clean up this weekend.
As of Monday morning, city records showed Gilchrist owed $768.23 in taxes on the property after missing a deadline to pay an initial installment Aug. 15 or pay in full by Aug. 31. The Detroit Treasury Department considered the bill late but would not flag Gilchrist as delinquent unless he failed to pay by Feb. 28.
"The taxes will be paid in full as of today," said Zack Pohl, a spokesman for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gretchen Whitmer's campaign. Less than 20 minutes later, he provided a receipt showing the balance had been paid.
Gilchrist was delinquent on his tax bill for the property last year and his case was sent to Wayne County for collections. He paid off $935.18 in late taxes and fees on June 5, according to county records. Whitmer announced him as her running mate Aug. 20.
Her campaign said earlier Monday that Gilchrist has provided the city with evidence he secured and cleaned up the fire-damaged duplex that he was in danger of losing due to its blighted condition.
The building has become fresh ammunition for Gilchrist's Republican opponents, who accuse him of “incompetence" as he works on a campaign that promises to "get things done." Over the weekend, GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Schuette filmed a social media video in front of the Detroit house and called on Gilchrist to resign from the Democratic ticket.
Gilchrist bought the duplex apartment in August 2016 in the North End neighborhood for $27,000 from the Detroit Land Bank Authority, city records show.
Gilchrist's ownership of the 253 Marston St. property and its condition were first reported by Deadline Detroit. The land bank, which controls property lost in tax foreclosure and is the city's largest land owner, said Friday the condition of the property is "unacceptable" and gave him until the end of Monday to provide proof it is safe and secure.
"We sent the Land Bank all of the documentation that was requested prior to the deadline to demonstrate that the property is secured and being maintained, and we believe the property is currently in compliance," Pohl said Monday morning.
The land bank did not immediately confirm or comment on the matter.
Gilchrist issued a Friday statement saying he had "exhausted his personal resources" to do extensive repairs to the duplex and is trying to continue repairs by securing a loan. City records show Gilchrist filed permits for electrical work to be done in 2016.
"The apartment building is not in the state that I want it to be in, even with the significant progress that has been made thus far," Gilchrist's statement read.
Derrick Powers, 21, said he has lived two houses down from the complex for at least a dozen years, dating back to a time when it had been occupied.The vacant building is next door to an occupied complex with family flats.
Powers said Monday he hadn't seen any activity on the property in recent days. In the past, he has seen work trucks outside and the formerly collapsing porch has been repaired. There are also new windows and a new gate around the perimeter.
As of Monday morning, there were some bricks and cinder blocks on the grass in the front yard of the property. There no longer appeared to be any mattresses moldering the back yard, as reported last week by Deadline Detroit. But the back yard remains disheveled, and there is a pile of bricks back there.
The lawn was mowed, the fence was locked and secured, and building materials and trash that had been dumped were removed from the front and rear of the property, said Pohl, with the Whitmer campaign. "The property is safe and secure."
Powers, the neighbor, noted it’s been two years since the property was bought and said he doesn’t see a reason why it hasn't been rehabilitated.
“I don’t think it’s hard. You’ve got to put the effort in,” said Powers, who told The News he was not familiar with Gilchrist but thinks “it’s crazy” that the owner of the blighted apartment building is the running mate of the Democratic candidate for governor. “A lot of places around here have been fixed up.”
Across the street is a lot that Powers said has long been vacant. The property to the other side of the Gilchrist property is also vacant with open windows and signs that say “private property.”
Powers said overall the area is “on the rebuild” and he’s seen progress with many formerly vacant properties nearby, Powers said. On Monday morning, two work men were clearing debris from a property on the corner down from Gilchrist's dilapidated building.
Schuette visited the property Saturday and filmed a campaign video from outside a perimeter fence.
“There’s kids riding on the sidewalk nearby, no security,” Schuette said. “(Gilchrist's) not living here. How’d you like to be his neighbor? Yet he wants to be part of running the state of Michigan? You wouldn’t want to hire him because he’s not making sure this property is safe for people and his neighbors here in the city of Detroit.”
Pohl called it a "desperate" attack from Schuette that he does not think voters will buy.
“Every poll shows Bill Schuette losing badly to Gretchen Whitmer, so now he’s attacking her running mate to distract voters from the fact that Schuette filed nine lawsuits to rip health care away from Michigan families," he said, referencing legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act that Schuette was part of as attorney general.
Asked Friday if her campaign was aware of the property when it vetted Gilchrist to be her running mate, Whitmer said she had “a conversation about it” but told reporters “the imminent need to remedy it was not something we appreciated until relatively recently.”
The situation “requires immediate attention, and it’s being given that,” she said Friday. But Whitmer argued the condition of the property has little to do with Gilchrist’s ability to help run state government.
“Give me a break,” she said. “You know, Garlin wanted to come make an investment in the city of Detroit. He was excited to come back home. ... Obviously, people have bumps, and he’s trying to do his best to get it remedied, and I’m confident he will."
When she announced Gilchrist as her running mate in mid-August, the former Senate minority leader called him a “tech guru” who could help her “get things done.”
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