Demonstration at DTE Energy

Gather at DTE Energy Offices
One Energy Plaza, Near Bagley and Third Ave., Detroit

Friday, July 24, 4:00-5:00 pm

Demand that Governor Granholm and DTE Energy declare a moratorium on utility shutoffs (heat, lights, water)!

Demand that Governor Granholm declare an economic state of emergency!

Moratorium NOW! Coalition Meets With DTE Energy

Moratorium NOW! Coalition Meets With DTE Energy Representatives to Propose a Freeze on Utility Shut-offs; Demonstration Will Take Place Friday at Headquarters

Two representatives of the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shut-off met with DTE Energy executives on Thursday July 23 to press for a company-imposed halt to service terminations. This demand is being made in light of the worsening economic conditions facing the people of Detroit and the state of Michigan.

DTE representatives did not endorse a moratorium on shut-offs but provided information about existing policies and proposals for new programs aimed at consumers. However, the Moratorium NOW! Coalition maintained that a halt to shut-offs would provide relief to consumers as well as save lives.

Our thoughts and concerns go out to the Detroit family that has loss four love ones as a result of the corporate policies of DTE Energy. Mar'Keisha, DeMarco, DeMonte and Vaughn Reed are no longer with us because of the negligence of a leading profit-making company located downtown.

After DTE Energy officials acknowledged in the newspapers recently that they had received information that could have prevented the shut-off of services for the Vaughn Reed family, the Moratorium NOW! Coalition is demanding that the shut-off of utilities services be halted immediately in order to prevent the further deaths of people in the Detroit metropolitan area.

The Detroit area is experiencing unemployment and foreclosures rates at an astronomical level. Inside the city over 25% of working families have suffered job losses and the consequent economic problems that follow.

The growing unemployment figures, the rising rates of utility shut-offs, the lack of health care, home foreclosures and evictions clearly illustrate that Michigan is in an economic state of emergency. Therefore, the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shut-offs is demanding that Gov. Granholm officially declare an economic state of emergency and immediately place a halt on all foreclosures, evictions and utility shut-offs throughout the state.

Banking institutions, the auto companies, and insurance firms have, all combined, received trillions of dollars in government handouts to maintain their operations. At the same time, millions of workers are losing their jobs, homes, apartments, health care and pensions every year in the United States.

The Moratorium NOW! Coalition is calling for the building of an effective movement to fight the worsening crisis facing working families in this region as well as throughout the country. Please join us in working toward this effort on Friday, July 24 at a demonstration and press conference outside the corporate offices of DTE Energy between 4:00-5:00 pm.

www.moratorium-mi.org

Protest to support family, target DTE's criminal negligence Community members say DTE responsible for the death of four July 16

By Bryan G. Pfeifer
Detroit

The insatiable greed of DTE Energy has led to yet another criminal
atrocity resulting in the deaths of four African Americans in Detroit
July 16.

According to the July 17 Detroit News, the Reed-Owens’ family had
their electricity cut off by DTE for nonpayment July 15. With serious
medical conditions of various family members including asthma,
neurofibromatosis and bronchitis that needed the use of electric
breathing machines, the family was desperate when their power was cut
off. The Reed-Owens’ then went to their church to borrow a gas powered
generator which they placed in their basement; only hours later four
of the five family members died due to suspected carbon monoxide
poisoning. Marquetta Owens told the News that her partner Vaughn Reed,
and their children Mar’Keisha Reed, 17, DeMarco Owens, 12, and DeMonte
Owens, 6, perished in their home. (www.detnews.com).

Like millions of other families in the United States, the Reed-Owen’s,
through no fault of their own, had fallen victim to unemployment when
Mr. Reed was laid off from an auto parts supplier in January thus
creating many financial hardships for the family including their home
being foreclosed on. Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the
U.S. with the official figure at 15.2 percent but it is much higher
particularly in African American and other communities of color.
Foreclosures and evictions in the state are also at depression-level
proportions.

The Reed-Owens tragedy is particularly heart wrenching and outrageous
as the family had filed for bankruptcy protection thus it was illegal
for DTE to shut off their utilities. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court on June
25 sent DTE an electronic notification of the Reed-Owen’s bankruptcy
filing. But DTE didn’t stay the shutoff; instead the corporation
claims the notice was sent to the wrong address-not the home were the
Reed-Owens were residing. And even after a telephone call from Mr.
Reed to DTE on Wednesday, July 15 where he told the company he had
filed for bankruptcy, power wasn’t restored immediately; DTE says it
was going to turn the power back on by the next day but then it was
too late.

Neighbors and family members of the Reed-Owens are outraged and aghast
over DTE’s criminal actions.

“At these times of crisis, what is the problem?” said Pamela Jackson,
Mrs. Owen's cousin who said DTE never should’ve turned off the power.

DTE’s mission: Profits before People

DTE Energy is a monopoly corporation operating throughout the U.S. Its
2008 operating revenues were $9.3 billion and the corporation claims
over $24 billion in assets and $546 in net income according to its
2008 financial filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC). DTE’s two primary utilities are Detroit Edison Company (Detroit
Edison), an electric utility with 2.2 million customers in Michigan,
and the Michigan Consolidated Gas Company (MichCon), its natural gas
utility with 1.3 million customers. DTE is also making “significant
investments in non-utility asset-intensive businesses.”

DTE’s Board of Directors is crawling with Chrysler, Ford, Comerica
and other corporate thieves including investment “advisors,” and a
former Army General who worked for the Pentagon and the Army’s 1st
Infantry Division. Behind the corporation’s slogans of “making dreams
real,” the reality is that DTE’s top priority is putting profits
before families such as the Reed-Owens.

Granholm: ‘State of Emergency NOW!’

To protest the Owen’s family’s death and other murders and atrocities
committed by DTE and to demand that Michigan governor Jennifer
Granholm declare an immediate State of Emergency in Michigan to
include a moratorium on all foreclosures, evictions, utility shutoffs,
layoffs and plant closings, the Moratorium Now Coalition is having a
press conference and demonstration at DTE headquarters, One Energy
Plaza, in Detroit July 24 beginning at 4:30 p.m. For more
information: www.moratorium-mi.org.

-- 30 --

***************************************************

http://www.dteenergy.com/dteEnergyCompany/investors/corporateGovernance/board/boardDirectors.html

DTE Energy Board of Directors

- Anthony F. Earley, Jr. has been chairman of the board and chief
executive officer since 1998 and was also DTE Energy’s president and
chief operating officer from 1994 – 2004. He joined the company in
1994, and that same year was elected to the board.

- Gerard M. Anderson. has been the president and chief operating
officer of DTE Energy Company since 2005. He also served as the
president from 2004 through 2005 and Executive Vice President from
1997 through 2004. He joined the company in 1993. Anderson was elected
to the board in 2009.

- Lillian Bauder is the retired vice president of Masco Corporation.
She previously served as vice president of corporate affairs and as
the Chairman and President, Masco Corporation Foundation from October
1996 through December 2005. Bauder was elected to the DTE Energy Board
in 1986. (C, N, P)

- W. Frank Fountain is the chairman of the Walter P. Chrysler Museum
Foundation Board of Directors and advisor to Chrysler, LLC. He
previously served as senior vice president of external affairs and
public policy at Chrysler LLC. He joined Chrysler Corp. in 1973 and
held top leadership positions in the company's corporate controller's
office, treasurer's office and government affairs office in
Washington, D.C. He was elected to the DTE Energy Board in 2007. (A,
P)

- Allan D. Gilmour is the retired vice chairman of Ford Motor Company.
He served as vice chairman from 1992 to 1995, and then again from 2002
until his retirement from Ford Motor Company in 2005. He was elected
to the DTE Energy Board in 1995. (C, F, O)

- Frank M. Hennessey has been chairman and chief executive officer of
Hennessey Capital LLC since 2002. He is the former vice chairman and
chief executive officer of MascoTech Inc. He joined the DTE Energy
Board in 2001. (A, O)

- John E. Lobbia is the former chairman and chief executive officer of
DTE Energy. He retired in 1998. He joined the company in 1965 and has
served on the DTE Energy Board since 1988. (F, N)

- Gail J. McGovern is president and chief executive officer of the
American Red Cross. Prior to that, she was a professor at the Harvard
Business School, president of Fidelity Personal Investments and
executive vice president of consumer markets, AT&T. She was elected to
the DTE Energy Board in 2003. (F, P)

- Eugene A. Miller is the retired chairman, president and chief
executive officer, Comerica, Inc. and Comerica Bank. He retired in
2002. Miller has served on the DTE Energy Board since 1989. Mr. Miller
is currently the DTE Energy Board Presiding Director. (C, F, O)

- Mark A. Murray. has been the President, Meijer, Inc. since 2006.
Prior to that he was the President of Grand Valley State University
from 2001 through 2006 and Treasurer for the State of Michigan from
1999 through 2001. He was elected to the board in 2009. (P)

- Charles W. Pryor, Jr. has been Chairman, Urenco Investments, Inc.
since January 2007 and was the president and chief executive officer
of Urenco Investments, Inc., from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he was
the chief executive officer of Utility Services Business Group of
British Nuclear Fuels, plc and the former chief executive officer of
Westinghouse Electric Company. He has served on the DTE Energy Board
since 1999. (F, N)

- Josue Robles, Jr. is the President and CEO of USAA and was
previously the executive vice president, chief financial officer and
corporate treasurer of the USAA since 1994. A retired U.S. Army Major
General, Robles served more than 28 years in the military, including
an assignment as director of the Army budget and Commanding General,
1st Infantry Division, The Big Red One. He was elected to the DTE
Energy Board in 2003.
(A, P)

- Ruth G. Shaw is the former president and CEO of Duke Power Company.
Shaw joined Duke Energy in 1992, and held a number of executive
positions, including president of Duke Energy Foundation, and
president of Duke Nuclear. Prior to joining Duke Power, Shaw served as
president of Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, NC, and
president of El Centro College in Dallas, TX. Shaw joined the Board in
2008. (N, O)

- James H. Vandenberghe is the former vice chairman, Lear Corporation.
He retired in 2008. He was previously the Chief Financial Officer,
Lear Corporation. He was elected to the DTE Energy Board in 2006. (A,
F, C)

Committee membership: A - Audit, C - Corporate Governance, F -
Finance, N - Nuclear Review, O - Organization and Compensation, P -
Public Responsibility

***************************************************

DTE Energy Key Facts: 2008 Annual Report

Revenues $9.3 billion
Net Income $546 million
Market Cap $4.6 billion
Assets $24.6 billion
Credit Rating BBB-
Employees 10, 471

Demonstration at DTE Energy

Demand a Moratorium on Utility Shutoffs!
DTE Energy Officies, One Energy Plaza, Near Bagley and Third Ave.
Friday, July 24, 4:00-5:00pm

more info: 313.671.3715 or 313.887.4344

Our thoughts and concerns go out to the Detroit family that has loss four love ones as a result of the corporate policies of DTE Energy. Vaughn, Mar'Keisha DeMarco and DeMonte Reed are no longer with us because of the negligence of a leading profit-making company located downtown.

After DTE Energy officials acknowledged in the newspapers recently that they had received information that could have prevented the shut-off of services for the Vaughn Reed family, the Moratorium NOW! Coalition is demanding that the termination of utilities services be halted immediately in order to prevent the further deaths of people in the Detroit metropolitan area.

The Detroit area is experiencing unemployment and foreclosures rates at an astronomical level. Inside the city over 25% of working families have suffered job losses and the consequent economic problems that follow.

The growing unemployment figures, the rising rates of utility shut-offs, the lack of health care, home foreclosures and evictions clearly illustrate that Michigan is in an economic state of emergency. Therefore, the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shut-offs is demanding that Gov. Granholm officially declare an economic state of emergency and immediately place a halt on all foreclosures, evictions and utility shut-offs throughout the state.

Banking institutions, the auto companies, and insurance firms have, all combined, received trillions of dollars in government handouts to maintain their operations. At the same time, millions of workers are losing their jobs, homes, apartments, health care and pensions every year in the United States.

The Moratorium NOW! Coalition is calling for the building of an effective movement to fight the worsening crisis facing working families in this region as well as throughout the country. Please join us in working toward this effort on Friday, July 24 at a demonstration and press conference outside the corporate officies of DTE Energy between 4:00-5:00pm.

Mortgage Idiocy — Bank Sues Itself Which Denies Charges

From Dvorak Uncensored:

From the you-can’t-make-this-crap-up-department, unless you’re dealing with mortgages in Florida:

“Due to state foreclosure laws, lenders are obligated to name and notify subordinate lien holders,” said Wells Fargo spokesman Kevin Waetke.

Being a taxpayer-subsidized, too-big-to-fail institution, it’s possible that one of the few ways for Wells Fargo & Co. to know what it is doing is to notify itself with a court filing.

In this particular case, Wells Fargo holds the first and second mortgages on a condominium, according to Sarasota, Fla., attorney Dan McKillop, who represents the condo owner.

As holder of the first, Wells Fargo is suing all other lien holders, including the holder of the second, which is itself.
[...]
Wells Fargo’s defense lawyers even filed an answer to their client’s own complaint.

“Defendant admits that it is the owner and holder of a mortgage encumbering the subject real property,” the answer reads. “All other allegations of the complaint are denied.”

This is even dumber than the lending practices that led to this foreclosure mess, yet this is what the court record says. I learned about this from “The Consumer Warning Network” Web site, which posted an article by Angie Moreschi titled, “Have The Banks Gone Crazy?”

“We’ve apparently reached the perfect storm for complete and utter idiocy by some banks trying to foreclose on homes,” Moreschi wrote.

McKillop, the condo owner’s attorney, told me he thinks Wells Fargo doesn’t know what it’s doing, and that its lawyers figure it is all billable hours to them.

Detroit Diaries: Standing Up for Justice at The People’s Summit

By Desiree Cooper

In mid-June, summer finally arrived in Detroit after an endless season of soupy, chilly, Seattle-like weather. Detroiters were out in droves for the Red Bull Air Races and a smooth jazz festival along the bustling Detroit River.

But I didn’t go to the summer festivities. Instead, I went to check out the kick-off of the National People’s Summit [1] and Tent City in downtown’s Grand Circus Park.

National People's Summit [2]The summit, which was held June 15 to 17, and may soon be traveling to a city near you, is a convocation of activists who have watched the bail-out of the financial institutions and the reorganizing of America’s auto industry, while wondering when any of the changes were going to trickle down to the average worker. The situation is especially dire in Michigan, where the African-American unemployment rate is barreling toward 28 percent, the nation’s highest. In April, there were an estimated 16,000 Detroit homes in foreclosure, according to the Detroit Free Press. At 14 percent, Michigan’s foreclosure rate is higher than the 12 percent national average.

“Because Detroit is the manufacturing center of the world, we caught the crisis first,” said Abayomi Azikiwe, 51, one of the spokespeople for the National People’s Summit. “People thought we were doing something wrong in Detroit, but with the economic crisis spreading, they’re starting to see that corrupt economic policies are the problem. With downsizing, outsourcing of American jobs and the over-extension of credit, it’s all starting to unravel.”

The People’s Summit is timed to coincide with a National Business Summit held in Detroit this week, attracting more than 1,000 of America’s corporate leaders to the Motor City to “define America’s future.” The problem, said Azikiwe, was that workers and ordinary citizens weren’t exactly invited. “The people who are meeting to define America’s future are the same people who created this problem,” said Azikiwe. “They haven’t changed their perspective.”

Summit organizers hope that at least their counter demonstrations will cause people to stop and think about how their lives are being affected by global economic policies.

“It’s crazy, what people are willing to accept,” said Ahmina Maxey, 23, who attended the summit as an environmental activist. “When you get out and learn more about the issues, you can’t be contented to sit and do nothing. The economic crisis touches everything from labor to air quality to health care. It’s all interrelated.”

Rocio Valerio, 24, is a Mexican immigrant who came to the United States at age 9. Also an environmental activist, she attended the summit to join in a spirit of collaboration with other concerned Detroiters. “There’s a feeling, energy and connectedness you get when you gather with others for a common cause,” she said.

The crowd grew slowly on Sunday afternoon as Detroit City Council candidate and activist Joan Gist opened the summit with a prayer. She was followed by Latino workers who implored the crowd to focus not upon immigrant labor, but upon the slave-labor policies of corporate America that are exploiting undocumented workers while displacing legal workers.

Listening to the speakers, I felt myself awaken from the numbness that had entombed me after a winter and spring chock full of bad economic news. I started to think that these ordinary people who were calling for fair trade policies, a human-oriented balance between the military budget and the social safety net, an investment in America’s infrastructure, national health care, and the regulation of financial markets knew just as much as the corporate big-wigs about what was good for America. How many homes and jobs must we lose before Americans stop being complacent and insist that their voices be heard?

I asked 67-year-old Willie Kirksey whether he ever felt that protest was futile.

“Once you get sick of protesting, that means you’ve given up,” said the Alabama native, who was a spot welder for Chrysler in better years. “You can’t ever get tired of standing up for justice.”

Desiree Cooper is a contributing author to the anthology Other People’s Skin: Four Novellas. A former columnist with the Detroit Free Press and co-host of public radio’s Weekend America, she is now a freelance writer, BBC correspondent and novelist. You can find her at www.descooper.com [3].

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URLs in this post:

[1] National People’s Summit: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20090615/BIZ/906150384

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[3] www.descooper.com: http://www.descooper.com/

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