District 5 weighing in. Hollier seems a good choice and the more I see of Duggan the more impressed I am. He has an impressive campaign team and if he gets the same level of commitment from staff as mayor, I am sold.
Still think I got that "blight" ticket because of my Duggan sign. Finally got my day in court and everyone seemed too embarrassed to read charges, flat tire [[It wasn't)! Got dismissed but what a huge annoyance.
Yes voting is very important.
I voted for Hollier in the primary, although it was a close decision. However, after seeing the MIVote debate on Detroit Public TV, Sheffield won me over. Hollier spent most of his time repeating his qualifications, while Sheffield identified problems and linked them with solutions. Also, Hollier seemed to promote development above all else, while Sheffield appeared to have safety as her top priority, but also addressed several more. Finally, while both candidates were gracious and pretty tame, Sheffield did show some spunk and assertiveness at one point which gave me the feeling she is more about working for the citizens than moving her career forward.Quote:
Originally Posted by sumas
They're both young, pretty-well qualified and motivated. But in the end, Hollier struck me as a politician, while Sheffield was more a community activist.
Sheffield came around, knocking door to door a few times. I liked her. I think she got a little jaded cause she said tell me about your concerns that aren't blight, crime or streetlight related.???? So I said car insurance but if the other three are not addressed than of of course we will have high rates.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sumas
Perhaps she asked because those are well known needs to be addressed and she wants to be aware of other concerns of the community also.
Duh! Here's more concerns, wild dog packs, idiots in charge, car theft, fire bugs, ridiculous property taxes, Clownsil, un-mowed prairie, jacked up car stereos, drug houses, drugs being sold out of businesses, litter, pan handlers, and of course I could go on.Quote:
Originally Posted by downtownguy
My neighborhood is sweet and we kind of police ourselves.
For the folks living in District 5, could you tell me a bit more about Adam Hollier? Other than the fact that he was an Executive Liasion to the Mayor's Office during City Council meetings, what else qualifies him to be a City Council member? I don't know much else about him.
I already shared my fears about Mary Sheffield earlier. The fact that she's connected to the Kwame/McNamara machine via Horace Sheffield suggests she may be a wolf in sheep's clothing.
I'm still not sure which way I'm going here in District 6, as both candidates are interesting. It's hard to judge a candidate based on their campaign material and speeches. The proof is in what they actually do when it's time to make tough decisions on complicated issues.Quote:
Originally Posted by brizee
I completely disagree with the assertion that this vote doesn't matter. The EM is going to be gone less then a year into the the four-year terms of our newly elected city officials, so this vote is crucial to ensure that we have quality city leaders who can take over the reins from the EM when he steps down.
To be sure, they won't have much official authority for the first 8-9 months of their terms, but they will be very important for the following 3+ years.
I'd have said political corruption and entitlement. Clownsil and Mayor need to take massive pay and benefits cuts. No bodyguards, no city vehicles, minimal staff for the Clowns. Tie their pay to the average wage for their district residents and local business revenues. I imagine some districts wouldn't be paid much. If they want a raise, work to bring jobs and viable businesses to their district residents.Quote:
Originally Posted by sumas
Also, much tighter citizen oversight of DPD and DFD. Does the Police Commission actually have anything to do with DPD? Do they oversee policy, training and spending? Do they have anything to do with discipline and internal affairs actions?
While none of us want to repeat the Kilpatrick years, the fact is there are political machines in most cities, and sometimes you can't throw a stone far enough to miss one them. I prefer to use that as but one of the criterion in judging a candidate's qualifications. After all, Mike Duggan also came from the same McNamara machine that churned out so many of our current and past leaders, including Kilpatrick.Quote:
Originally Posted by 313WX
That said, I will repeat what I said earlier. Hollier [[he pronounces his name with a French twist: "Oye-yea") sounded like he was leaning mostly on his prior employment, and not necessarily on specific credentials or a grasp of the issues and wishes of his constituency. He took a lot of credit for getting M-1 Rail in place. Really? I wonder if his boss at the time, State Senator Bert Johnson might have played a role, too?
In the end, it was a gut reaction to the fact that Sheffield was not parroting campaign-speak that stood out to me. While I don't doubt either one of them has political aspirations beyond City Council, Shefflield seemed to have a more genuine interest in her community, while Hollier came of as self-aggrandizing.
The new council gets ready to be seated in a few weeks.
Hopefully Brenda Jones gets selected over Saunteel Jenkins for president.
I'm reasonably optimistic about this group, but again the GOP is running this city at least until the gubernatorial election next November.
The Repubs will be trying to run the City for a lot longer.
Most people don't realize that there is a bit of a "grace" period in this EM shit whereas once the EM leaves the City, the State, within a certain amount of time after they leave, can re-install the EM if they feel like the City isn't going in the "right direction". You, me and everyone in this area knows that if the State can manufacture another situation to drive Detroit into EM, the State will. Especially if the Republicans loose big in 2014 -- it'll be a scorched Earth policy not seen since WWII.
So, this story ain't over. Look how many times cities have gone through the revolving EM door through this State. EM is not a cure, it's being used as a weapon to hurt anyone who isn't a Christian and Republican.
They don't even have to go through that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Baselinepunk
If the state board and governor don't agree with the council and mayor the EM doesn't leave in the first place. No matter how many times people trot out this 18 month lie.
It sucks being apart of someone elses expirement. Which is what these Emergency Managers are in this state since a success can't be pointed to.
The EAA is another petri dish for the inner city. Which is for another thread I'm putting together.