Detroit Retirees March to City Hall

Object to emergency city manner calling them "dumb, lazy, happy and rich"

About 15 Detroit retirees were denied access to emergency manager Kevyn Orr's office at Detroit City Hall today so they could demand an apology for a quote attributed to him calling Detroit "Dumb, lazy, happy and rich" in a Wall Street Journal article.

Three security officers guarded the entrance to Orr's office and the retirees left peacefully after demanding Orr or another city official explain his remarks.

Charles Jenkins, who worked in the city's recreation department for about 30 years, called Orr a coward.

"You can go out there and talk nasty things about our city, but we're some good people," said Jenkins, adding his annual pension is less than $20,000 a year. "All around the world, they're talking about us like dogs, saying what type of people we are. We're a loving people, we're a happy people. Then they want to take something from us. It don't make sense. I worked hard. Everybody else here worked hard."