Before the July filing, nearly 40 cents of every dollar collected by Detroit was used to pay debt, a figure that could rise to 65 cents without relief through bankruptcy, according to the city.
Orr praised the judge’s ruling and pledged to ‘press ahead.’ He also acknowledged that pensions would be a sensitive issue because they represent a ‘human dimension’ to the crisis, with some retirees getting by on less than $20,000 a year.
City truck mechanic Mark Clark, 53, said he may look for another job after absorbing pay cuts and higher health care costs. Now a smaller pension looms.
‘Most of us didn’t have too much faith in the court. … The working class is becoming the have-nots,’ Clark said outside the courthouse. ‘I’m broke up and beat up. I’m going to pray a whole lot.’
Marcia Ingram, a retired clerical worker, said she may need to find work but added: ‘How many folks are going to hire a 60-year-old woman?’
The judge spoke for more than an hour in a packed courtroom, reciting Detroit’s proud history as the diverse, hard-working Motor City devoted to auto manufacturing.
But he then tallied a list of warts: double-digit unemployment, catastrophic debt deals, thousands of vacant homes and wave after wave of population loss.
Behind closed doors, mediators led by another judge have been meeting with Orr’s team and creditors for weeks to explore possible settlements.