To: Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Gov. Snyder - Have Dinner with Donald
Governor Snyder, please accept the invitation to have dinner with Donald Smith. Donald was a Detroit city worker for 29 years, and he would like you to see for yourself the very people whose lives will be devastated if their pensions are gutted through the bankruptcy you and your "emergency manager" have foisted upon Detroit.
Why is this important?
I asked the governor to come have dinner with me -- because he needs to know what it's like to be a retiree trying to get by in Detroit.
He needs to see my face, to know I'm here and that I'm a human being -- and that I'm not the only one.
I worked for the city of Detroit for 29 years. I showed up for work every day. I poured my heart into serving my community. I just feel like an old jacket. You use me up and then throw me away. In my condition no one's going to hire me. I'm 68 years old...but I gave the city the best year's of my life.
Some Detroit retirees don't even get social security -- and we can barely scrape by on the $19,000/year that most pensions are after a lifetime of work.
I am starting this petition because I think it is more than unconstitutional to take away the pensions of those who worked their entire lives for a city they love. It is wrong.
I was told when I started with the city, "If you worked hard and did honest things, you would have a pension."
Our pensions should be protected, and long before Governor Snyder pays back his wealthy Wall Street banker friends.
That's why I asked the governor to come have dinner with me -- he needs to know what it's like to be a retiree trying to get by in Detroit.
In fact, a local TV news crew came to my apartment the other day to hear me invite the governor to dinner. You can watch the clip here:
http://www.upworthy.com/what-theyre-trying-to-do-to-this-man-is-rough-but-what-he-says-at-the-end-is-devastating
He needs to see my face, to know I'm here and that I'm a human being -- and that I'm not the only one.
I worked for the city of Detroit for 29 years. I showed up for work every day. I poured my heart into serving my community. I just feel like an old jacket. You use me up and then throw me away. In my condition no one's going to hire me. I'm 68 years old...but I gave the city the best year's of my life.
Some Detroit retirees don't even get social security -- and we can barely scrape by on the $19,000/year that most pensions are after a lifetime of work.
I am starting this petition because I think it is more than unconstitutional to take away the pensions of those who worked their entire lives for a city they love. It is wrong.
I was told when I started with the city, "If you worked hard and did honest things, you would have a pension."
Our pensions should be protected, and long before Governor Snyder pays back his wealthy Wall Street banker friends.
That's why I asked the governor to come have dinner with me -- he needs to know what it's like to be a retiree trying to get by in Detroit.
In fact, a local TV news crew came to my apartment the other day to hear me invite the governor to dinner. You can watch the clip here:
http://www.upworthy.com/what-theyre-trying-to-do-to-this-man-is-rough-but-what-he-says-at-the-end-is-devastating