Saunteel Jenkins chosen as Detroit City Council president

**Zacha341** · July-10-13, 06:30 AM

From article:

Saunteel Jenkins is now president of the Detroit City Council. Andre Spivey is the new president pro tem.

"I think the council with everything that's going on right now in the city, we need some leadership. So I'm glad that we finally have leadership in place," Jenkins said.

"I'm grateful they had confidence in me to do the job. I'm looking forward to working as hard as I did before as a council person," said Spivey.

The changes come after Council President Charles Pugh went AWOL, President Pro Tem Gary Brown left to work for Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr and Member Kwame Kenyatta resigned.

There was some discussion that Ken Cockrel, Junior would make a strong president pro tem, but he told his colleagues he is not even sure how much longer he will be sticking around.

"I'm in discussions with potential employers right now. I've applied for a couple of things. So there's a question mark in terms of how things are going to play out and when they're going to play out," he said.

Read more: http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/22...#ixzz2YdojUArZ

**TexasT** · July-10-13, 06:52 AM

Good choice [[well, a good as can be, given the circumstances). I like Saunteel Jenkins a lot.

**Hypestyles** · July-10-13, 10:15 AM

so is she still running, city-wide or district? [[side note- I noticed that jones and Watson abstained from the vote)

**antongast** · July-10-13, 10:30 AM

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

so is she still running, city-wide or district?

Jenkins is running for an at-large seat, as is Brenda Jones. Tate and Spivey are running for district seats [[districts 1 and 4 respectively) and the other incumbents are not seeking re-election.

**SWMAP** · July-10-13, 11:06 AM

What does Jenkins have to recommend her?

**TexasT** · July-10-13, 11:12 AM

Originally Posted by SWMAP

What does Jenkins have to recommend her?

I've liked her in my personal interactions with her, as well as when watching City Council meetings. She seems to understand, from what I've seen, the importance of corporate investment in the city but ties it to community investment. For example, when the evil corporate developers wanted to build an apartment complex over Stone Park Pool, she got them to agree to rebuild a small park on their property for the local kids who did use the park and commit to hiring a certain percentage of Detroiters for the project [[in return, the developer got some Midtown land for cheap).

You can't block corporate interests. You also can't let them rape the city. I'm not familiar with everything she's done, but she seems to strike a progressive balance for the city.

**preserve** · July-10-13, 11:19 AM

At this point, who really matters? It's got to be a thankless position.

**ct_alum** · July-10-13, 02:48 PM

Originally Posted by SWMAP

What does Jenkins have to recommend her?

She knows who to call to get her sorry a** walked away from a a DUI accident......Anybody who is BFF with Christine Beatty has nothing to recommend her.