Moratorium Now! Coalition to Meet With Mayor Cockrel's Office Today at 2:30pm; Group to Demand 'Declaration of Economic Emergency'

Members of the Moratorium Now! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions demonstrate at Detroit City Hall on Oct. 10, 2008. (Photo: Alan Pollock).
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos

For Immediate Release

Media Advisory

Event: Moratorium Now! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures and
Evictions--Meeting With Mayor at City-County Bldg.
Date: Monday, Oct. 27, 2:30pm
Location: Corner of Woodward at Jefferson
Contact: 313.671.3715
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: http://www.moratorium-mi.org

Meeting With Mayor Cockrel's Office to Demand That He Declare an 'Economic State of Emergency' in Detroit; Interim Mayor Cockrel Must Appeal to Governor to Impose Halt to Foreclosures; Billions in Federal Funds Required to Address Crisis

Members of the Moratorium Now! Coalition will be meeting with Interim Mayor Kenneth Cockrel, Jr. today, Oct. 27, at 2:30pm.
We will demand that the Mayor declare Detroit to be in an "Economic State of Emergency." We are also demanding that the Mayor immediately apply to Gov. Granholm for emergency assistance and thereby impose an automatic moratorium on all foreclosures and evictions in the city.

The recent trillion dollar taxpayer bailout of the financial sector on Wall Street points to the gravity of the economic crisis in the United States. In the city of Detroit, the residents are suffering from one of the highest unemployment and foreclosure rates rates in the country. 18% of housing units are vacant amid growing homelessness.

Political leaders that allow their citizens to be exploited by taking public funds and turning them over to the bankers, who created the crisis in the first place, are not only unethical but are clearly operating contrary to the interests of their constituents.

We believe that the people are entitled to these federal dollars handed over to the bankers in order to stabilize the housing market through an immediate freeze on foreclosures and evictions. We are also calling for our tax dollars to provide jobs, health care, energy guarantees and that these funds given to the corrupt banking CEOs and executives be returned to resolve the needs of millions of households across the country.

The Moratorium Now! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions held a picket line and press conference outside the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center on Woodward at Jefferson on today, Oct. 27 at Noon. A letter has been sent to Interim Mayor Cockrel outlining our demands for immediate action on the economic crisis.