Detroit Charter WITH COMMENTARY.pdf
Having received an email [[quoted at the bottom of this post), I thought it important that I make this statement. Feel free to pass it on.

All,

I encourage all Detroit voters to read the proposed charter Detroit Charter WITH COMMENTARY.pdf for themselves before deciding how they will vote. To that end, I am personally forwarding an electronic copy to you and to anyone else who requests it.

In 2009, Detroit voters overwhelmingly voted for districts. That measure passed by a majority vote of the people of the city of Detroit. Please note that any vote you cast on November 8, 2011 will not change that. Districts will come to the city in 2013 because Detroiters have already approved districts. Your vote on the revised charter presented to you on November 8, 2011 will help decide HOW those districts function but it will not change the fact that we will HAVE districts.

The charter revision process was a long and arduous process and we all know that it is, and will always be, impossible to please every one of us. As with any Democratic process, some things were voted on and passed and others were voted on and failed. That is a very basic principle of democracy. The revised charter has changes that affect ALL Detroiters, thus all should read it for themselves.

We all know that change is not easy, nor is it swift. The only way change will come in the city of Detroit is if each and every one of you reads the proposed charter for yourself and casts your vote based on your understanding of the contents. I am not asking you to vote for or against the charter, I'm simply asking that you ensure that you are an informed voter when you go to the polls to vote on the charter question. Informed voters gather information from all sources and do their own homework. I have trust that you will do that.

Cara Blount
Detroit Charter Commission

On 2:59 PM, ______wrote:

The year 2011 is a pivotal year for African Americans in Detroit. Several ballot initiatives that made their way to the ballot in 2009 under questionable circumstances threaten to diminish forever the political power of Blacks in Detroit: Council by districts, which had been resoundingly rejected by Detroit voters since 1918, miraculously passed in 2009 by an overwhelming majority.

The election of council members by district promises to dilute the Black vote when it takes effect in 2012. Another undertaking that will forever change Detroit is Mayor Dave Bing’s plan to force hundreds of thousands of Detroiters to relocate to designated areas of the city, as part of a plan to “shrink” Detroit. The plan was devised with virtually no input from the citizens of Detroit who believe Bing’s plan is intended to free valuable Detroit land for annexation by suburbs that are landlocked.