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Source: Detroit Free PressSept.迷你倉 19--About two dozen people who object to Detroit's bankruptcy filing took advantage of a rare chance this morning to address the judge who is handling the case, telling him their reasons they think the city shouldn't be allowed to enter into Chapter 9 bankruptcy."I think the emergency manager should not have the right to use the city pension system to balance the city's debt," city retiree Michael Abbott told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes. "I appreciate you considering that."The objectors say, among other things, that the city is not insolvent and should not be allowed to pursue cuts to retiree pensions. They are among about 110 individual people who filed objections to the city's bankruptcy filing.Hassan Aleem, an individual objector, said Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr should not be allowed to place the city in bankruptcy court because, he said, "only an elected official can file for bankruptcy.""Mr. Orr was never known as the sharpest knife in the drawer," Aleem said.That comment drew a sharp response from Rhodes, who said objectors need to respect the "serious" nature of the proceedings."I understand the depth of feelings that many, many people have about this," Rhodes said. "I truly do. At the same time, however, I have to ask you seriously to refrain from personal attacks on Mr. Orr or really anyone. This is not the time and place for that."Another objector, Paulette Brown, who worked for the city for 30 years before retiring from the water department last year, said she should not be punished because she "was a dedicated civil servant" who endured tough conditions and earned her benefits."Can you imagine how stressful it is to even hear that there is a proposed plan to reduce our pension and medical benefits?" Brown said. "Michael Vick went to prison for cruelty to animals. Your honor, I ask, who's going to prison for the proposed cruelty to retirees?"But Michael Cunningham, in contrast to most residents who attended today's hearing, said he support's the city's decision to file for bankruptcy."This is the only option that we have," said Cunningham, who runs a nonprofit organization that provides Detroit residents help with housing issues. "This is the only way that we are going to force banks to take 10 cents on the dollar for their debts."Cunningham said the policies of major banks, combined with property tax laws, make it difficult for residents to stay in their homes and to buy and renovate homes."If you continue to milk the property tax owners, they will run away," Cunningham said.Cunningham said he wants the federal government to step in to protect Detroit property owners and help the city reorganize its debts.In a municipal bankruptcy, a city must prove it is eligible to file for bankruptcy protection by showing that it is inso迷你倉vent, that it obtained the appropriate authority from the state to file and that it negotiated in good faith with its creditors before it filed for bankruptcy. A city can also argue that negotiations with creditors became "impracticable," or impossible.Until now, jousting over Detroit's ability to seek protection from its creditors and restructure $18 billion in debt has been done almost exclusively by high-paid attorneys representing the city, the State of Michigan and attorneys who represent unions, insurers and bondholders.But retirees such as Olivia Gillon was given the opportunity to speak her mind today, and she did.Gillon, who worked for the City of Detroit for nearly 34 years before retiring in 2002, said banks should not be given "preferential treatment" over retirees. She criticized Orr's plan to cut pensions and health care benefits."It seems like he's putting the onus for fixing the city's problems on the retirees," Gillon said. "And most of us were not even involved in the decisions that were made in the process that got the city into the trouble that it's in now."Joyce Davis asked Rhodes to disallow everything Orr has done."It is like someone robbing us without the use of a weapon. If you have God in you, stop this," Davis said.Perhaps the strangest argument today came from a man who said he is a representative of "the Chair of Saint Peter."Robert Marques, of Dublin, Ohio, said all of Detroit's debts were wiped out on June 30 as part of the "global reset."Marques said he came to Detroit to inform the judge and Detroit residents that the city should not be in bankruptcy."Detroit will be the first city. I don't care what the judge does. He has to follow my orders. Period," Marques said shortly before he went into the hearing today."He must follow the order. Because he is under the Roman Curia. All courts are under the Roman Curia."Marques acknowledged that his legal arguments are highly unusual."Is my argument abnormal? Absolutely." He said. " But this is not a farce."In addition to filing the objection in bankruptcy court, copies of the document were mailed to a number of Catholic parishes in Detroit in a 10-by-15-inch envelope covered with a picture of the city skyline.Ned McGrath, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Detroit, said the legal filing is among the oddest documents the Archdiocese has ever received.To prevent any potential confusion, McGrath e-mailed an advisory to all of the Archdiocese' local parishes to make them aware of the document and the website."To overstate the obvious, I would not encourage any contact with this individual and/or his website," McGrath said in his advisory to the Catholic parishes.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Detroit Free Press Visit the Detroit Free Press at .freep.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存倉