Charles Pugh's council bid getting press attention - because of the "ghey"

**ThaFuzz** · June-09-09, 07:21 PM

First, from noted LGBT blog Pam's House Blend:

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/...-councilmember

And from Chicago Tribune:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...,0,46222.story

**jtf1972** · June-09-09, 07:38 PM

Have any local pol figures endorsed him?

LodgeDodger · June-09-09, 08:40 PM

Why is gay even an issue?

**daddeeo** · June-09-09, 08:43 PM

Because it's news. When is the last time a black, openly gay guy ran for city council?
Like it or not, this is different and thus news.

**jtf1972** · June-09-09, 08:43 PM

It shouldn't be, but we are an immature society.

diver1369 · June-09-09, 08:44 PM

It's only being brought up to appeal to those who with a prejudice against homosexuality.

**rustic2** · June-09-09, 10:00 PM

I was at a press conference recently at which a middle-aged woman spoke about putting her life together a year after a horrific beating by a burglar at her workplace in Plymouth Township. The police had identified a suspect and were publicizing their search for him. [[He was later arrested and charged.) The woman suffered terrible injuries, including brain trauma, and couldn't yet return to work.
She was trying to explain how she had felt safe at work in the suburbs and remarked that she "wasn't in downtown Detroit." Now I see the fallacy in that comparison and I know that downtown, strictly defined, is probably safer than most other parts of Detroit and even some suburbs. But hers is a common misconception, or misperception, and, for most people around here, illustrates a simple point. It wasn't quite politically correct, but It was understandable for her to make the remark in that context.
Anyway, Charles, after the interviews, had to pipe up and chastise her, OK mildly, in front of everyone in the room, by saying he lives in downtown Detroit and he feels safe. I found it inappropriate and juvenile of him and felt even more sorry for this fragile, traumatized woman.
Somehow, his indignation at a perceived slight became more important than the painful story the woman had been trying to tell.
Come to think of it, I should've called him out on that.

**irish_mafia** · June-09-09, 10:12 PM

I'd feel better if he said that as a newsman he had covered the council and he understood that it should be eliminated.

**gnome** · June-10-09, 03:49 AM

Charles Pugh showed up to the Detroityes Picnic on Belle Isle. He chatted with a few folks for quite some time. I had a couple of minutes with him and asked him what in his background or education makes him qualified to sit on City Council.

He went on at length about the ablity to get along with others, to respect the citizens, to change the dynamic on council, but never did hear what made him more qualified than anyone else.

His one plan to make the city safer consisted of having a "Angels Night" once a month and to change the charter to allow council have appointment power over city department heads. He said that writing a budget was common sense.

He was in favor of wards or districts and thought the city charter needed a tune-up.

However he didn't have an opinion on who should sit on the Charter Commission and didn't want to comment on John Johnson's [[former city attorney and kwame sycophant) chances.

I didn't get a chance to ask him about his support within The Shrine although he did say he could bridge the city/suburb divide because of his personality.

All in all he was pleasant, smiley and empty.

**Hypestyles** · June-10-09, 01:14 PM

at the august primary, will all 150+ candidates names be listed?

after the August primary, will there be debates? public forums at all?

**gnome** · June-10-09, 04:31 PM

Mr. Pugh does have a website for your review. www.Pughforcouncil.com It features some of the detailed plans Charles has for the City.

Here is his plan for City Services:

One of the most important things that Detroit must do in order to make itself a place that is responsible to residents is to have reliable and efficient city services that do not cripple the wallets of Detroiters. The city of Detroit must make sure that trash is picked up on time, street lights are working and water services are available and affordable. In addition, we must work to continuously create efficiency in how the city operates.

Good hard hitting stuff.

Charles does have a plan for former prisoners:

Many of Detroit’s unemployed are citizens returning to the general population from jail and prison. No company awarded a city contract should discriminate against applicants because they are felons and I will work to insure that returning citizens have an equal opportunity for employment on city contracts.

So, ...That's good stuff too. Appeal to your base. I suggest evryone take a look-see at pughforcouncil.com. It's very user friendly. Aquaint yourself with JoAnn and Ken's next tablemate.

**buildingsofdetroit** · June-12-09, 10:55 AM

It's also news because in a city that's more than 80% black, and after the proven effect of the increase in black voters for Obama helping to pass the gay marriage ban in California, if a gay black man is elected to council in Detroit, it will be an impressive, historical and welcome event in this city.

**bailey** · June-12-09, 11:35 AM

a nd after the proven effect of the increase in black voters for Obama helping to pass the gay marriage ban in California

Buildings, while that is the conventional wisdom, I believe that has been pretty much debunked. Isolating the black vote, yes they had a majority vote 'no', however,; that majority was not the decisive measure of victory. I believe it has been shown that one could remove the black vote entirely and the results would have been the same. There were many other groups that voted, in larger overall numbers, for obama and for prop 8.

Of course, while the underlying facts are not correct, its the conventional wisdom that matters and I believe you are right on about what the meme will be coming out of this election if Pugh were to win a seat. Especially in Detroit where the "black" vote is really the only one that matters.

**BillyBBrew** · June-12-09, 01:33 PM

I really don't care who gets elected *to city* council so long as they are qualified and competent to do the job and do it in a professional and competent manner. Why is it such a big deal if a person is black, white, male, female, gay, str8 and so on. I still don't get why this stuff is so important. Shouldn't we be focussing on how qualified he is to do the job?

*edited for grammar*

**Danny** · June-12-09, 01:57 PM

Charles Pugn for Detroit City Council. Detroit needs NEW leadership not leftovers.

**Pcm** · June-12-09, 03:14 PM

"...because of the "ghey""

I thought for sure the graf artist Ghey had endorsed Pugh.

Originally Posted by Danny

Charles Pugn for Detroit City Council. Detroit needs NEW leadership not leftovers.

Now, who's Charles Pugn?

**kraig** · June-12-09, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by Danny

Charles Pugn for Detroit City Council. Detroit needs NEW leadership not leftovers.

Detroit needs GOOD leadership. Heck, Monica Conyers is new. Martha Reeves is new. What does new mean?

**firstandten** · June-12-09, 03:37 PM

Originally Posted by BillyBBrew

I really don't care who gets elected *to city* council so long as they are qualified and competent to do the job and do it in a professional and competent manner. Why is it such a big deal if a person is black, white, male, female, gay, str8 and so on. I still don't get why this stuff is so important. Shouldn't we be focussing on how qualified he is to do the job?

*edited for grammar*

Here's one of the problems selecting city council members. The nature of the position is that it provides a budgetary check to the mayor, but it doesn't have policy implications. The council consistently tries to stretch the boundaries of that relationship, that's when the mayor slaps them around and reminds them what there function is. That is one of the major reasons name recognition goes a long way in those races. We really don't have a standard or metric to evaluate their fitness for office so personality comes into play. For example Pugh is well spoken, a TV personality, talks politics sometimes, active in the community etc, etc. Mr. Pugh may make an excellent council person, however we won't know until he gets into office because all of our evaluation of him is personality driven. We better hope he's good because once he gets in, then the power of incumbency takes over.

**BillyBBrew** · June-13-09, 05:22 PM

Pigs must be flying, this is the 2nd time I've seen Danny actually support and endorse someone who is openly "Ghey" Wow!

1st&10 - I agree with you about not knowing what you are REALLY getting until they get in there. I fully support revising the charter and City Council by district. C x D would allow more qualified people with smaller budgets to campaign in smaller areas and actually get to know the people they represent instead of just passing through once or twice to campaign. What you are saying could not be more true with Martha Reeves and MonCon.