- [Journalist] Just ahead on One Detroit, the future of the auto industry in Michigan.

We'll talk about keeping the motor city competitive and producing the vehicles of the future.

Plus the true cost of water.

We'll preview a Detroit public TV, special examining the factors that have led to the rising cost of water in the great lakes region.

And we'll meet the chef at the Detroit Free Press restaurant of the year Sozai.

It's all coming up next on One Detroit - [Masco advertiser] From Delta Faucets to Behr paint.

Masco corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world experience and enjoy their living spaces.

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Support for this program is provided by the Cynthia and Edsel Ford Fund for journalism and Detroit Public TV.

The Kresge foundation.

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(up beat music) - [Journalist] Just ahead on this week's One Detroit as the United States prepares to pour billions of federal dollars into rescuing water systems a new Detroit public television, special investigates the true cost of water.

We'll have the preview of the show produced by the great lakes news collaborative plus the Detroit Free Press restaurant of the year.

We'll pay a visit to Sozai and Clawson to find out this secret behind its success and what makes it different to most other sushi restaurants.

But first up another in our series of important conversations about the future of work in Michigan, One Detroit contributors, Nolan Finley and Steven Henderson moderated a virtual town hall discussion about the changes in the automobile industry and the impact on the state's future workforce.

Here's a portion of that conversation with guest panel Sandy Baruah of the Detroit regional chamber and Glen Stevens from MICHauto.

(upbeat music) - So I'm sure you all read Daniel House's column this week.

If you didn't, you can go back and read it @detroitnews.com.

- Look at that already, already advertising.

- I love the pitch Nolan.

- We're trying to get a little stream across when we can.

- Operators are standing by.

- It's a pretty sobering column.

I mean, Dan reported that out of some 70 electric vehicle projects that are planned across America worth $200 billion.

Michigan is only competitive for nine of them.

What, when you think about that what does it say to you about our place our future place as the motor capital of the world?

- You know, we've been doing this for 120 years and you can't rest on anything.

We've learned that over the years.

So when you look at are we competitiveness or do we have competitiveness?

You know, you have to look at some key things and he brings up a couple, I mean, site prep, incentives non-labor inputs, the business climate but what I think he was really driving are we a collaborative state?

And do we have the talent in the workforce together with those other things that are important?

And so I would say there's a, that's a yes and a no.

- Yeah, Nolan.

I, you know, here's, here's the rub.

I mean, you know, the real story is that, you know we have this transition that's occurring in the auto industry.

We owned the first and last century of, of what was known as global mobility.

Global mobility is now is now changing.

And not only do we need to have the economic development incentive tools and, and Glen mentioned things like site prep, right?

Because if we, you know, we have to be more than competitive, not just competitive with the other states because you know, it was really hard to break into the auto industry for the first 100 years.

It is less hard now it's still incredibly difficult but you know, it seems like everybody and their dog thinks that they can take a run at being an auto manufacturer.

Now being an OEM, being that final assembler I think everyone is finding that much harder.

Even Tesla is finding it much harder than, than than they thought it would be.

But these parts of the supply chain, like the batteries, like the sub assemblies that are changing dramatically we need to be super competitive there.

- So Sandy, I know this is something you have spent a lot of time thinking about and talking about and trying to encourage our political leaders in particular to do better.

Bring us up to date with where we are on talent.

How far behind are we and what do we need to do to catch up?

- We are very behind.

I, I wish I could spin that a little bit differently but we are in a bad situation when it comes when it comes to talent, you know, one you look at our K through 12 system in Michigan we're not producing the pipeline of of high enough quality K through 12 grads.

That's not just an urban thing.

People love to think, oh that's just a Detroit or Flint thing that is statewide.

Even our highest performing high schools and some of our most affluent communities in the state underperform their national peers let alone their international peers.

Secondly, when you think about the progress that we make in terms of the students that do enroll in either in a two year or a four year program, you know we're seeing some improvement there.

That's good.

That's nice.

But in terms of the success rate of, you know that first day of enrolling in a credential program or a two year four year program and getting that diploma at the end of that process our percentage there is, is not high enough.

And then obviously we all know that we can and should do a better job retaining this, this talent.

This you need to overlay yet another issue which is the type of talent that is necessary for this next generation mobility is different than what built the existing auto industry.

- I would suggest that in fact, I would say emphatically that the next 100 years can be a good bet for us provided we embrace the diversification that's going on in the industry.

And that diversification should be something that we utilize the industry as a platform for.

When you look at machine learning, artificial intelligence, connectivity, that's the industry of today and Michigan can grow its economy around those things provided it has the talent.

I would completely concur with Sandy.

I mean, the fundamentals are alarming.

They just flat out are.

I can't we can't with the work we're doing in the industry solve for all the issues.

But what I do feel is that there's action going on.

Governor Snyder set some things in motion.

Governor Whitmer's administration has picked them up.

I got off the phone with Carrie Everson on the MEDC just a little while ago talking about action on talent.

I just got off the call with the community colleges and a foundation.

That's supporting some work there all around high tech talent because Sandy's right.

I mean, we still have four wheels and a platform but the propulsion system's changing.

And the fact that there's technology stacked in the vehicle becomes a telco provider.

And that's where the monetization is gonna be very very seriously for the OEMs in the future.

And that's where Michigan's gotta be able to lead and play.

And that's dependent on high tech talent.

And if I, if you ask me, what would I do?

It would be more and more investment in high tech talent.

And that's what we're working on right now.

- [Journalist] Conversations about the future of work and making Michigan more competitive our front and center at this year's Detroit regional chamber Mackinaw policy conference.

Join one Detroit for a special hour long show from this year's conference anchored by Christie McDonald on June second at 7:00PM and go to onedetroitpbs.org for live coverage of the conference, May 31st through June 2nd.

Aging infrastructure, maintenance and replacement costs and climate change are some of the factors impacting water systems in the great lakes region.

On May 25th at 7:30 PM Great Lakes Now, and its partners in the great lakes news collaborative examine the true cost of water in a special airing on Detroit public television.

In this segment from the show circle of blue journalists Brett Walton looks into water affordability for residents in Southeast Michigan.

(low beat music) - [Reporter] When you look around the great lakes, it seems water is everywhere, but for many households in the region water is getting more expensive and less affordable.

Brett Walton, a reporter for circle of blue has done extensive reporting on water affordability in Southeast Michigan.

- Water affordability wasn't a big issue until about two decades ago.

And that's because for the longest time water was relatively cheap, but in the last couple decades we've seen the price of water going up faster than almost any household good.

- [Reporter] Over the past four decades, the cost of telephone service, natural gas and electricity have all gone up.

And so has the consumer price index.

But the rise in water prices outpaces them all.

- Comparatively, it's still cheaper than electricity or some other things, but it's going up faster than others.

And that's because the infrastructure we put into the ground 50, a hundred years ago is aging out.

It's gotten to the point where it's at the end of its life and it needs to be replaced.

And that is expensive infrastructure.

- [Reporter] A report from the university of Michigan published last year found that between 1980 and 2018 average water prices across the state of Michigan, nearly doubled when adjusted for inflation.

In some cities, the increase was even larger.

Low income households were hit the hardest.

Oakland county is one of the wealthiest counties in Michigan, but many county residents struggle to pay their water bills.

Jim Nash is Oakland county's water resources commissioner, - Royal township is probably our, our poorest community in the county.

And it actually has some of the highest water bills there's is over a $100 a month on average.

So there is significant issues in that community.

- Nash estimates that about 55% of households in Royal Oak township spend more than 4% of their income on water and sewer services.

- [Jim] Water is unaffordable to them.

Pontiac it's about 35%.

- [Reporter] Oakland county is working on a state funded water affordability plan for both Pontiac and Royal Oak township.

They're hoping it'll become a blueprint that other communities can adapt to their own systems.

The plan has two parts, one to assist those who find the average bill to be a financial burden and the second to help those in emergency situations like job loss or unexpected medical expenses.

- When it comes to people who have just chronic inability to pay.

What we wanna do is have kind of a graded billing system where if it, if you're the very poorest folks half the half the poverty rate would only pay like 30 or $35 a month.

In Pontiac it's about $85 a month or 80, $85 is the average bill.

So this would dramatically lower that bill 50 to a 100% of poverty would be maybe $45 a month.

And we're, we're developing this.

So we're not, we're not fixed yet, but that's the kind of thing we're doing want to have levels of service for folks who have real significant issues paying.

- [Reporter] The county's plan will also address people whose water bill jumps unexpectedly because of a leak or an undetected plumbing issue.

- The next bill is a $1000 instead of you know, 80, we wanna be able to come in and and once they've shown that they've fixed the leak then we can maybe give them credit for that water.

Right now we only give them, we give that the the wholesale cost of the water.

So they save some but not whole bud.

So we're trying to set up a system we can do that.

And then people who have issues, you know who have medical or health issues or, or, you know car accidents find a way of, of local assistance that the you know, the local community can help with that, you know of community foundation, things like that.

So we can, where we wanna work with those folks.

- [Reporter] Outdated plumbing is a real issue.

Something as simple as a dripping hose spigot or a toilet that won't stop running can lead to shockingly high bills.

Water affordability is an even bigger problem just south of Oakland county in Wayne county, the most populated county in Michigan, which includes the city of Detroit.

Megan Wilk is with the Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency.

- A lot of times the residents that come in have just really large bills from a, a small leak or something existing with their, their, their plumbing.

Maybe they're in a old home and the plumbing's just deteriorating and they don't have the money to make the fixes.

So the bill just continues to get higher each month they get late fees tacked onto that.

- [Reporter] Megan showed us a bill from one of her clients.

The total due was staggering, close to $15,000.

- Looking at the bill right now, the usage is very low.

It's below average for a single person living in the home.

So it tells me right now they probably don't have any leaks, but at one point there was probably a leak or something big structurally that was going on to make the bill go up this high.

This is just something that you're not really gonna recover from.

Like you are, you're stuck with this bill, you know for years and paying your current charges, if you're already struggling to pay your current charges for the month, and then you have this past due balance of $15,000 that you have to take care of even enrolling in a payment plan arrangement it's still gonna be unaffordable for you.

- Water's unaffordable and people don't pay their bill miss their payment, the worst case scenarios that your water gets shut off.

And that happens all too frequently in cities not everyone shuts water off for nonpayment, but most do in order to compel residents to pay for service.

So when your water is unaffordable, you get things like in Detroit, you know, in 2011, through 2020, where there were massive water shutoffs, tens of thousands of people losing access to water and then spiraling into community problems, health problems, social problems potential for children to be taken away through CPS.

So it is a very real, very severe community crisis.

- [Reporter] To address health concerns during the pandemic the US government created the low income household's water assistance program and appropriated $1.1 billion to fund it.

Michigan's share was $36.2 million but it's estimated that Michigan households owe around $252 million in unpaid water bills.

So the federal money is just a drop in the bucket.

According to commissioner Nash there will be no long term solution to the problem of water affordability without greater state and federal assistance.

- We wanna have local water systems do as much as they can but the state and federal should be helping us do that because they're the ones that should be guaranteeing the rights of, of Americans.

And that's how I see that.

And, and what we do.

That's why we're pushing the legislation and lancing to have them set up a program for helping local communities do this.

And I think that's, that's gonna be our long term answer is getting this recognized as a human right and the state and federal government's involved in guaranteeing those rights.

That's, that's the most important thing we can do.

We can't just put all the burden on the local rate payers.

It just can't can't work in the long term.

It's not sustainable.

- [Journalist] Watch water's true cost on Detroit public television on Wednesday, May 25th at 7:30 PM.

And for all the stories from great lakes now we have a link @onedetroitpbs.org.

A new sushi restaurant in Clawson has been named restaurant of the year by the Detroit Free Press.

Sozai is one of a small number of restaurants in the entire country that served 100% sustainable sushi and seafood, One Detroit's Chris Jordan caught up with the Free Press food critic, Lindsay Green to learn why she gave Sozai the top honor.

And he talked with chef Hajime Sato about seafood and sustainability.

(low beat music) - I wanted to really celebrate restaurants that are bringing a perspective to an area.

And I think that that's what we're seeing with new restaurants and seeing here in Clawson for Sozai specifically, it's it's that perspective of wanting to serve sustainable sushi.

- Clawson, a small Metro Detroit city with a thriving restaurant scene.

During the first year of the pandemic we followed Clawson's small businesses as they weathered the storm.

But since then a new restaurant has opened and was named the Detroit Free Press restaurant of the year.

Sozai run by chef Hajime Sato.

Sozai is one of just a small handful of restaurants in the whole country serving sustainable sushi.

I met up with Free Press food critic, Lindsay Green in downtown Clawson at white Wolf, Japanese patisserie to discuss her top 10 new restaurants list.

And why Sozai got the top honor.

Your list struck me as very unique because as you said all the restaurants on this list in some way are building businesses with humanitarian or environmental efforts.

Great food is the baseline expectation but to make that list, you know restaurants had to be, you know, more than just great food.

- Restaurateurs really were intentional when they launched their restaurants over the past year because I think that they saw what was needed in the industry.

I think they saw that you needed to be really mindful of diversity.

You needed to be really mindful of things like sustainability.

They really needed to pay attention to the impact that a restaurant has on our society and on our community and on the world at large, the starting point was the traditional great food, great service, great ambiance.

And so that's when I was able to really see, hey what are they doing beyond the great food?

I mean, I think what is interesting about Sozai is that sustainability as a pillar at the restaurant goes beyond even just his sustainable sourcing.

There's also this concept of sustainability within his hiring practices.

He offers benefits to his full-time employees.

I mean, he offers health insurance, which is something that you know, you can't be sustainable if you're not creating a sustainable environment for your workers.

His philosophy of taking that extra step going above and beyond is evident in everything that he does at Sozai.

- [Chris] As a sushi lover, I needed to get the Sozai experience myself.

I booked a reservation at their sushi bar and showed up early to speak to chef Sato and see him and his staff prep the kitchen for dinner service.

- It is really hard to think that the sushi can be sustainable because do you eat sushi?

- Yes, I do.

- Okay, so what's your favorite?

- So now, now I feel bad to say it cause I had no idea that eyo is a really unsustainable fish.

- How about the yellow tail?

Do you like that?

- Yep.

- Okay.

That's not sustainable.

How about blue tuna?

Maybe.

Do you know what kind of shrimp that you eat?

We are literally talking about four or five species that everybody has.

That's probably 90% of the sales.

I cannot use any of that.

That sous-chef has to make a decision of changing that.

That's almost impossible.

That's crazy, right?

So that's why maybe 10 of the sustainable sushi place in nation at the time that I switched 13 years ago and now it's about 10.

- Wow.

- So it's not really catching on.

- [Chris] According to Lindsay's article, the amount of sustainable seafood in American restaurants has actually decreased in recent decades.

And about 34% of seafood served in America is unsustainable.

- The, the thing that really already frustrates me that sous-chef who said that, well, I hope kids and maybe my kid's gonna, you know, take over my restaurant in the future.

Do you understand that within like 10, 20 years you're not gonna get any seafood left when you're doing what you're doing.

Sometimes I feel like you can make a little sacrifice in your life little bit, right?

Then that's gonna change a little bit, right?

Crazy guy like me changing the seafood sustainability and this like 25 sitting restaurants not gonna change anything.

But think about half entire population.

That's 10% reduction on, let's say I'm not gonna eat eel all the time, but maybe I I'm not gonna eat it maybe 10, 20% of the time entire population did it or half a population did it.

That's gonna basically change an entire dynamic of anything that you see.

- [Chris] Chef Sato's advice to sushi lovers who want to eat more sustainably.

- Start with, go to the sushi bar or any kind of seafood restaurant, fish monger, just say where is this fish come from?

Right?

Why do you have this fish?

Just a little something?

Is it local?

Is it seasonal?

Whatever that is.

Right?

- Right.

- That's gonna change a little bit of people's mind or saying that, okay, is this sustainable?

Or not just say that.

Then maybe they can think twice about, oh maybe that's, that's how we have shift, right?

- [Chris] How much do you use more local fish or great lakes fish?

- So we use a walleye for, we call a pure Michigan roll and I use a smelt also from great lakes at this moment.

There's a two that I use.

And of course, I like to increase that.

- [Chris] You also, you do more vegetarian stuff and more with vegetables than a lot of sushi places do.

- One of the things that I guess if you go to the sushi bar, if you say you're vegan or vegetarian then you get like just avocado and cucumber roll.

We don't do that.

We do a lot of pickle vegetables in the house.

And we even have omacasa which is the chef choice meal for the vegan people.

So you're gonna have a lot of choices.

And even if you get sashimi assortment you get a lot of pickle vegetables.

And some people don't eat it.

It's like, eh, it's vegetable.

And I sometimes make them eat it eat your freaking vegetables.

- And now you mentioned the omacasa, the chef's choice experience at the sushi bar.

Yeah, tell me a bit about that.

- I want people to experience something that you would never ever eat from the menu if it's there and yes used to the fried California or spicy minus.

And today I might give you the sea snails, but be open minded.

You might like it.

You never know what you're gonna get.

And sometimes I talk to the customers and even exactly the same omacasa from the menu, I might do touch different because I talk to the customers.

Maybe they're like this way.

Maybe I can push a little bit of it this way.

So every time it's different, that's why there's a counter space over here.

That's the only time I do omacasa, not at the table.

I think relationship's so important.

Especially these days, everything's kind of a internet base and there's no human contact that much, you know, people I think misses that part of it in a restaurant too.

It's so mechanical sometimes.

Right?

- Right.

- I'm more old school.

I'd like to have a regular customer for life.

- [Journalist] That will do it for this week's one Detroit.

Thanks for watching.

Make sure to come back for one Detroit arts and culture on Mondays at 7:30 PM.

Head to the One Detroit website for all the stories we're working on.

Follow us on social media and sign up for our weekly newsletter.

- [Masco Advertiser] From Delta faucets to Behr paint.

Masco corporation is proud to deliver products that enhance the way consumers all over the world experience and enjoy their living spaces.

Masco serving Michigan communities since 1929.

Support for this program is provided by the Cynthia and Edsel Ford Fund for journalism at Detroit Public TV.

The Kresge foundation.

- [DTE Advertiser] The DTE foundation is a proud sponsor of Detroit public TV among the state's largest foundations, committed to Michigan focused giving.

We support organizations that are doing exceptional work in our state visit DTE foundation.com to learn more.

- [Advertiser] Nissan foundation and viewers like you.

(upbeat music)