Detroit Land Bank Authority Executive Director Saskia Thompson on leading through controversy
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| Saskia Thompson -on a personal note, showcasing the historic beauty of what was ripped from the people in fraudulent tax and mortgage schemes may not be the best image to roll with. |
I do not have opinions. I have evidence.
She's the executive director of the Detroit Land Bank Authority, which owns about 27,000 Detroit structures — mostly residential properties. The public agency sells properties at auction and on the traditional real estate market and has demolished more than 10,000 structures since Mayor Mike Duggan took office in 2014.
How is the Detroit Land Bank Authority a public agency when you write the checks out to the Corporate Shape Shifter Title Source? Normally, in government, or an incorporated entity, you write the check out to the City of Detroit, and not use a FEIN of a 501c3 Detroit Land Bank Community Development Corporation.
How is the Detroit Land Bank Authority a public agency when you write the checks out to the Corporate Shape Shifter Title Source? Normally, in government, or an incorporated entity, you write the check out to the City of Detroit, and not use a FEIN of a 501c3 Detroit Land Bank Community Development Corporation.
Thompson came to the DLBA in 2017, amid a federal investigation into the agency that had begun a year earlier into its demolition program, which is funded in part by federal dollars. The agency has faced scrutiny for its evaluation of demolition bids, its billing of federal dollars and how its contractors have handled hazardous materials abatement and fill dirt. The investigation is ongoing.
The lead "public agency" is called SIGTARP, of the U.S. Treasury. I still want to know how you contracted for demolition when you are not the City of Detroit. How were the checks cashed?
The lead "public agency" is called SIGTARP, of the U.S. Treasury. I still want to know how you contracted for demolition when you are not the City of Detroit. How were the checks cashed?
Thompson has brought nearly 20 years of experience in municipal government to bear in righting the ship. She worked for Mayor Dennis Archer's administration as an assistant for public policy projects from 2000-2001. After that, Thompson worked for the city of Charlotte, N.C. for about nine years before moving to Philadelphia, Pa. for a position as the city's deputy finance director and executive director of the office of property data. She left Philadelphia to join the DLBA, where she leads the agency's staff of 150.
She should have stayed in North Carolina.
She should have stayed in North Carolina.
How did your upbringing influence your career?
My mother is a lawyer and spent her career working in downtown Detroit fighting for pension, Social Security and workers' compensation issues. She later focused on employment discrimination. My father is a professor and does a lot of economic work. He was a union organizer for a long time. It wouldn't fly if I told them that I was going to work for corporate America helping other people make money. The overarching mantra in my family growing up was, whatever you do, you have to give back in some way.
Detroit shaped me as much as my family did. I went to Detroit Public Schools (Thompson graduated from Cass Technical High School) and took Detroit transportation. When people say there's two Detroits and people are left out of this new generation, I don't debunk that. Downtown today doesn't look like how it did when I previously worked here. However, we can still make this a city that everyone can participate in.
We as Detroiters get to pick what we are going to be going forward and I think because I'm from here, I understand that.
Why did you move back to Detroit? How have you seen the city change?
When I worked for Dennis Archer there were a lot of exciting things going on in Detroit in the late '90s and early 2000s. We were building Campus Martius, General Motors was moving into the Renaissance Center and the Super Bowl was going to be held in Detroit. I worked on a lot of exciting projects — including making the Renaissance Center streetscape accessible for pedestrians and many big projects that had the potential to be game-changers. You had hope and felt like a lot of positive things were going on.
When I moved away from Detroit in 2002, Detroit was struggling with a shrinking economy. My frame of reference at the time was so specific to Detroit that it was hard to see how other cities were struggling with problems. I remember doing police ride-alongs when I was working in Charlotte and wondering where all the bad neighborhoods were.
I don't feel like I actively decided to move back to Detroit. I wasn't really ready to leave Philadelphia, because my daughter was about to be a senior in high school and I was not looking to uproot her.
However, the more I looked at this job, I decided it was the right move for me. I came to the conclusion that being at the land bank at this point in time was a unique opportunity and that I was uniquely qualified to be the person who took over. I am a Detroiter and I understand the factors of how we got here and what that actually means to people.
However, the more I looked at this job, I decided it was the right move for me. I came to the conclusion that being at the land bank at this point in time was a unique opportunity and that I was uniquely qualified to be the person who took over. I am a Detroiter and I understand the factors of how we got here and what that actually means to people.
What do you feel are some common misconceptions about the Detroit Land Bank?
People automatically assume that if there's a blighted property in Detroit we own it. That was the image promoted. We own a quarter of the real estate in Detroit, but we don't own everything, so we're not in control of all of the factors in the neighborhoods that would make things better for folks. The city has a tremendous number of challenges, but none of them are new. We own properties that have been in public ownership for decades, or in some cases did not sell for $500 at county auctions. We own property that somebody thought had no value at all, and our job is to create value out of that and to remind people that there is value in this city. We still want to know who owns the land because I found a land patent.
The misconception that frustrates me the most is that we're mismanaging demolition. With all the negative press the land bank received about demolition, there was no focus on all the other positive work the land bank was and still is doing. Even when I was doing my due diligence about coming here, people would say, "You don't want to take over the land bank. Everybody there is terrible and you've got to clean house." When I got here I learned that's clearly not true. This organization is full of smart, talented, dedicated people who are committed to making positive changes. The DLBA is full of "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending) and I wonder if this is the reason for this job posting for general counsel. They are going to need really good inhouse counsel considering the fact that they are not part of the City of Detroit, with no access to its Corporate Counsel, unless Larry Garcia is monitoring the contracts with them as a "public agency".
General CounselDetroit Land Bank AuthorityDetroit, MI Full Time
GENERAL JOB SUMMARY
General Counsel is the Detroit Land Bank Authority’s (DLBA) Chief Attorney. As such, he/she is responsible for overseeing and identifying the legal issues in all departments and their interrelation, as well as business policy. They will also oversee the entire legal team.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Provide legal opinions and counsel, and serve as a trusted advisor to the Board, Executive Director and Executive level staff
Keep abreast of DLBA’s legal context and advises and educates the Board, and executive team with regard to changes and trends that could affect their ability to advance their programs. These might be related to FOIA requests, real estate laws, land banking laws, etc.
Oversee the DLBA’s legal team
Provide advice to the Executive Director as to the selection and retention of external counsel; and manage the organization’s relationship with external counsel
Coordinate legal and policy reform efforts, including legislative drafting, analysis, testimony, and advocacy
Develop and maintain the legal and contractual infrastructure required of a Michigan public authority including organizational policy, document retention, filing and registration requirements, labor and immigration law, contracts, leases, and agreements
Develop, implement and maintain systems and processes for the documentation and tracking of legal matters, including, for example, filings and registrations, legal threats, business agreements, and the like
Act as a spokesperson and advocate for DLBA’s legal positions as requested by the Executive Director or the Public Affairs team
Meet regularly with all DLBA staff and program leaders to ensure information shared with partners and residents is accurate and timely
Strategize, renegotiate and conclude contracts with vendors, etc. as they arise; and provide effective support of other managers of the organization in their negotiations
Serve as one of the organization’s key contacts and negotiators with government agencies
Ensure a timely response to all legal claims and legal inquires directed to DLBA
Review and approve all legal documents
Assist in developing the values and unique strengths of the DLBA, which is highly transparent, collaborative and community-centric
Communicate regularly with Executive Director regarding status of special projects
Perform additional duties as assigned in Board resolutions and as directed by the Executive Director
QUALIFICATIONS (Knowledge, Experience, Skills and Abilities)
Juris Doctorate from an American Bar Association-accredited law school
Member in good standing of the State Bar of Michigan
At least six (6) years of related legal experience
Knowledge of land banking, tax foreclosure, municipal, and real estate law
Experience with legal issues for non-profit organizations and employment law is appreciated
Excellent time management skills and ability to multi-task
Ability to work well in a fast paced and demanding environment
Detroit residency, preferred
Management experience, particularly supervising/managing legal work of others
Ability to become a trusted advisor who will be viewed as a strong resource with discretion in keeping sensitive material confidential; a hard worker with a high energy level; a strong manager and administrator with a high sense of personal responsibility and integrity
Ability to think analytically and write clearly
Must have a general orientation towards building appropriate processes and structures
Must be a mission-driven individual with a strong sense of public service to the residents of the City of Detroit
Most people think that demolition is most of our business, but it's not. Community members — those day-to-day people who are living in Detroit's neighborhoods — have every right to be frustrated, but they're not worried about our demolition programs. They're worried about the vacant houses on their block. If anything, they want us to be doing demolitions faster. There's been calls from people telling us that we shouldn't be doing any demolition at all, but I guarantee that the people living in the neighborhoods where we made a real impact by tearing down some of these vacant homes feel differently about that. When we demolish a house we are eliminating a noticeable blight on the neighborhood, as vacant houses attract all sorts of crime.
I wonder what happened with the DLBA solicitors over there at WilmerHale? Oh, wait, Jeannie Rhee and Bob Mueller are busy, busy, busy with Grampa Corsi and the Ham Sandwiches. On the other hand, it is much more economical to hire inhouse counsel. I wonder what Michael Brady is up to.
How did you work to change that narrative?
When I first got here, I felt strongly that we needed to be in the community more than we were. I changed the name of the public affairs department to the community affairs department. That may seem like a small thing, but I wanted us to be in the neighborhoods talking to people and making our programs accessible to them, not requiring people to come downtown to talk to us. Our community affairs staff now holds office hours in every district in the city. I felt that we couldn't change the negative perception to the media until we are actually talking to the people who are living, breathing and benefiting from our programs every day, and the positive stories will follow. Now, almost 18 months later, I still think that was right decision. We still get a ton of phone calls every month, but not every call is negative. People are asking, "How can I buy this home? How can I tap into this program?"
What's the biggest challenge you've had to overcome in your role?
It is hard to manage an organization that everybody has an opinion about via right or wrong. I'm constantly fighting the notion that the land bank does X, Y and Z, and then I have to cut through that myth and say, "I'm sorry that you had this negative experience, but let me help you in the here and now. Let's do this differently." When you are in the media and the news reports so much about one thing and it detracts from everything else — I think the biggest obstacle is overcoming that.
What do you wish people were focusing on?
I am most proud of the fact that every time we manage to sell a house, the buyer is required to fix the condition of their home. It's a condition of the sale. You can't buy a house from the land bank and sit on it with no investment. We are always working toward moving through our inventory as quickly as we can. The goal is to get those houses out of the land bank's inventory and into the hands of the individuals who are going to renovate them and live in them.
Have you fixed the issues with the titles, yet? Make sure to let MIED know when you do.
Have you fixed the issues with the titles, yet? Make sure to let MIED know when you do.
The best thing the land bank does is require renovation, which creates a whole host of spin-off activities and investment in the city. Every time we successfully sell a house and somebody renovates it, that's another individual or family of people who are living here, shopping here, working here and bringing back that sense of community that we've lost in a lot of places because so many homes were abandoned for so long. We've had noticeable change in four years and I think that folks that work at land bank should be proud of that.
That noticeable change is called gerrymandering.
That noticeable change is called gerrymandering.
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