Detroit mayoral candidates embrace unions, look to boost city's economy, build up neighborhoods
Detroit — Five candidates vying to become the city's next mayor focused on issues such as economic development, building up the city's neighborhoods and education at a forum on the city's west side Tuesday evening.
Candidates included City Council President Mary Sheffield; former City Council President and nonprofit CEO Saunteel Jenkins; attorney Todd Perkins; former Detroit police Chief James Craig; and pastor Solomon Kinloch. The event was hosted by the Metro Detroit AFL-CIO, a local labor council with more than 100 other affiliated locals.
Political newcomers called for more action and less "campaign talk," while current and former Detroit politicians and civil servants touted their political track records.
The candidates are five of at least nine who turned in petitions to run for mayor last week. Mayor Mike Duggan has held the office since 2014 but announced a run for governor as an independent late last year.
About 200 people representing different locals gathered in a Corktown labor hall to hear the candidates discuss issues important to unions. Workers ranging from education to hospitality and utility industries asked the candidates questions for an hour and a half.
Economic development
Sheffield, Jenkins and Perkins said the Mayor's Office has the power to shift the culture of Detroit, and make it a union city by enforcing penalties for developers that don't hire union workers.
Sheffield said workers can be heard with programs like the Industry Standards Board, which focuses on working conditions for workers at Ford Field, Comerica Park and Little Caesars Arena.
"The mayor is going to use the bully pulpit and create the atmosphere that unions are not going to be taken advantage of," Perkins said. "Then, when they don't follow through, you have penalties that are followed through on."
The mayor can not only set the tone, but also make demands of developers, Jenkins said.
"If you're bringing a large development to the city of Detroit, you should be prepared to bring union workers along with you to develop whatever, whatever the project is, the Labor Standards Board is great, but we need teeth in the board," Jenkins said. "The board has to be able to make recommendations for clawbacks."
Kinloch said people too often make promises to the city and don't keep them.
"We got to put people at the table who have the courage to not be so intoxicated being close to the proximity of power that they forget why they've been put into power in the first place," Kinloch said.
When asked what policies their potential administrations would enact to help Detroiters own homes, grow savings and better support their families, the candidates differed.
Sheffield said the city needs to invest in workforce development and would like to see more Workforce Development Centers in the neighborhoods, providing wraparound services like child care and transportation.
"We have to invest in policies that create generational wealth," Sheffield said. "We're focusing on transferring renters into homeowners, expanding our down payment assistance program so that we can create more homeowners and create generational wealth for our city."
Craig agreed more work was needed in neighborhoods. He suggested restructuring the Detroit Land Bank in a way that gives Detroiters priority access to properties owned by the city.
"Mayor Duggan came in to address the basics, did a lot of work in places like Midtown, downtown and Corktown, but what I've heard over my time, over my eight years as chief and deputy mayor, we still need to do more in the neighborhoods," Craig said.
Jenkins said her "cradle to career" plan would ensure that Detroiters have access to affordable, high-quality child care so parents can work. Strengthening the Detroit Public Schools Community District to attract families also is key, she said.
"We'll also have public transportation that is available for families to make sure that the 33% of Detroiters that don't even have access to a car have access to a job because they can get a bus that shows up," Jenkins said.
Kinloch said the city needs people who will execute policies and hold those who don't follow through on their promises accountable.
"We've been talking about homelessness. We've been talking about affordable homes. We've been talking about the food desert as long as I've been alive," Kinloch said. "At some point, we've got to stop talking about it and start being about it."
'Two Detroits'
One member of SEIU Local 1, which represents security officers, janitors and arena workers, brought up the concept of "two Detroits," one with a thriving downtown and another with neighborhoods struggling with safety, blight and affordable, quality health care.
To revitalize Detroit's neighborhoods, many proposed using the same tax incentives used to develop the downtown, along with individual community master plans. Jenkins proposed creating one development plan for each of Detroit's seven districts, with community input.
"If in District Six, residents decide they want a movie theater and two restaurants and a dry cleaners, what we'd be saying to developers is, if you can come here and build a movie theater, two restaurants and a dry cleaner, you get incentives," Jenkins said. "If you live in the district, you get the highest level of incentives. If you don't live in the district, but you're a Detroiter, you get the second-highest level. If you don't live in the city, but you're bringing what the community wants, we will still have incentives for you."
Craig pointed to the neighborhood police officer program as an example of his focus on Detroit's neighborhoods, and said he'd bring the same focus to the Mayor's Office.
Kinloch said if he's elected, he would convene unions, block club presidents, residents, philanthropic organizations and elected officials to address Detroit's neighborhood problems.
"How many times have we had people who stood up before and made promises that they didn't deliver on," Kinloch said. "Why are we still talking about it tonight? Why hasn't it been done by now?"
Sheffield said she has focused on Detroit's neighborhoods, touting the city's neighborhood investment fund and the neighborhood beautification grant program. As mayor, she said she would use tax incentives to fuel neighborhood development, bring back neighborhood city halls and continue to address basic issues like sidewalk repairs, tree removal and alley cleaning.
"I don't just talk. I got receipts as well, tons of them to show the work that I've done in this community," Sheffield said.
Education
The mayor doesn't directly control education policies, but the candidates were asked how they would work with the education unions. Several said addressing issues with Detroit's education system also involves addressing things like housing, health care, and food deserts.
"We can't solve the educational issues in this city without touching jobs, economics, without touching food deserts in our communities," Kinloch said. "Making sure they have adequate and affordable housing, making sure they have grocery stores and they (don't) gotta eat out of liquor stores and gas stations, making sure that they have clothing, making sure that they have medical and health resources that they need."
Sheffield said she would create a liaison from the Mayor's Office, working directly with the Detroit school district superintendent. She called absenteeism the No. 1 issue facing Detroit's school system.
"As a city, we can step up to better address the social determinants to why young people are not showing up to school, whether it's health care, child care, housing, all of the wraparound services," Sheffield said. "I would love to create a supplemental Detroit Promise program where we start working with our young children in middle school, elementary school, to ensure they have the wraparound services to ensure they get into the free post-secondary education that is guaranteed for every."
As mayor, Jenkins said she would partner with the Detroit Federation of Teachers to recruit more teachers, and suggested offering some of the Detroit Land Bank's homes, along with grants to fix them up, to teachers who move to the city and work in public schools.
Paulette Compass, an SEIU Local 1 member, works as a janitor at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center downtown. After Tuesday's town hall, she said she favors Sheffield but that Kinloch is a definite competitor. She thinks the two are "neck and neck."
"She's not just talking the talk, she's walking the walk," Compass, 51, said. "In terms of issues, everyday issues, in terms of housing, in terms of safety, in terms of wages, she is involved, and I appreciate that."
Other mayoral candidates include City Councilman Fred Durhall III; entrepreneur Jonathan Barlow; Dean Evans, who works in criminal justice; and retired businessman Joel Haashiim. Rogelio Landin, an activist, plans to run a write-in campaign.
Durhal said he was not invited to participate in the forum and called on the Metro Detroit AFL-CIO to let him join. A crowd of over a dozen Durhal supporters gathered outside the union hall and chanted, "Let Fred speak."
"Detroiters deserve to hear all voices before they decide who they want as their next mayor, and my exclusion from tonight’s forum misses an opportunity to hear from a candidate who has deep experience in both the state Legislature and Detroit City Council and who is committed to making sure growth and opportunity reach Detroiters in every neighborhood," Durhal said in a release. "I will continue to support labor, as I have over the past decade."
Forum organizers said they looked at a poll conducted by Douglas Fulmer and Associates on behalf of the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus and used a minimal threshold of 4% support to determine which candidates to invite, but all candidates who requested an endorsement from the federation were invited, said Daryl C. Newman, president of the Metro Detroit AFL-CIO, in an emailed statement.
The AFL-CIO said Tuesday night that Durhal had not sought an endorsement.
The mayoral primary will take place Aug. 5 and narrow the field of candidates to two.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Detroit mayoral candidates embrace unions, look to boost city's economy, build up neighborhoods
