DETROIT (AP) — Auto industry cutbacks, double-digit unemployment and one of the nation’s highest home foreclosure rates have left Detroit with a dreary economic future.

Now, a mayoral text-messaging sex scandal, federal investigation into a City Council-approved $47 million sludge recycling deal, and poorly run and deficit-plagued public school system have dashed inroads toward respect and reopened Detroit to outside ridicule.

‘‘When we’re out doing business and trying to get customers we sometimes get asked ’You’re from Detroit? What’s going on there?’’’ Compuware Corp. senior vice president Jason Vines said. ‘‘As taxpayers and residents, it has to be disheartening. When your city is used as a public joke, it’s not good.’’

Detroit, like most major cities, is no stranger to scandal. Former City Council members, and even a police chief, have been indicted, arrested or imprisoned.