At the southern end of the county, Roseville approached Eastpointe about considering a joint recreation department authority to be created under PA 321.

Both cities were hemorrhaging money at an unbelievable rate, and it seemed like a no-brainer. One recreation department for two cities at a lower cost to both.

But like everything, the devil is in the details.

What both city councils did their damnedest to squash in the local media in the time-frame leading up to the vote, is even though Eastpointe, which had dumped truckloads of cash into their recreation department for building repairs for almost two decades (many times for the same repair re-done several times over), it actually had usable facilities.

Poor management also didn't help to bring in residents to use their program.

Roseville, on the other hand, had a recreation building which is literally sinking into the ground.

Leaking roof. Walls that are cracking. Emergency Doors that are are unable to be opened due to the door frames warping them closed. Buckling flooring in the gym. They didn't have the money to fix their building problem.

Enter the gullible council from Eastpointe.

Roseville wrote the Articles of Incorporation and came up with the budget for the proposed authority between the two cities. Eastpointe signed off on it.

After the authority was eventually approved and the board selected (with the majority of its members from Roseville), the recreation authority's focus shifted from spending money on recreation programs for the cities, to,  wait for it...