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Candidates Aren't To Different in Issues & Beliefs
October 16, 2001
Staff
On October 9th a forum was held which allowed the city council candidates to address many potential voters for the upcoming November election.
Those candidates that showed up are listed below:
Maryann Mehaffey - MM
Brenda Scott - BS
Ken Cockrel - KC
Sharon McPhail - SM
Kay Everett - KE
Alberta Tinsley-Talabi - ATT
Barbara Rose Collins - BRC
Alonzo Bates - AB
David Murray - DM
Hansen Clarke - HC
Veronica Massey - VM
Bettie Cooke-Scott (who came in 40 minutes late) - BCS
Kenneth Hollowell - KH
Felix Sharpe - FS
Other council candidates did not attend.
As each candidate was allowed 2 minutes to respond to each question only three questions in addition to the closing and opening statements were allowed for in the time frame for the council race.
Some of the opening statements made include:
KH - spent the last three years as an executive with the teamsters
MM - a lot of progress initiated in the previous years on council but she wants to run again to see those programs implemented.
SM - has an extensive background in the legal field and will bring that experience to the council table
DM - says city has been disenfranchised and wants to see the city given back to residents.
BS - prior to joining the council 8 year ago she was a council assistant under to other councilpersons.
FS - used to work with Ed McNamara, current Wayne County executive and Dennis Archer, current Mayor of Detroit.
ATT - has lived in the same home on the east side for forty seven years.
The first question asked what are your qualifications and why does each candidate want the job. The moderator thought that the opening statements answered this question and went on to the second question.
Next question asked what are the blocks that prevent the city council from operating efficiently and how can they be removed.
AB - Detroit needs more money and resources.
HC - says the city council takes people for granted
KC - says that council has not had the will to enact a committee system and that the entire council meeting on every issue is too much and inefficient. He would provide a more structured and organized way to deal with council problems.
BRC - Believes that council should have special committees that correlate with city departments. Believes that the city council should stop meeting on every day and that the meetings are boring.
KE - Does not believe the city council has major stumbling blocks. She blames the mayors administration and says council has not set an agenda for themselves. She says committees would cause road blocks to council functions. And those committees would take away political power from the council body.
KH - He believes in the committee system because where he has worked in the past three years has been using committees. He is opposed to discussions in Lansing on Detroit matters and that Detroit should make its own changes.
MM - city council is a check and balance system to the mayor. She has proposed nine committees.
SM - She says that there needs to be a change to allow the city council to follow the expenditures of money allocated from the budget that the mayor then spends. She added that city council needs their own attorneys as an effective means for the citizens to challenge the mayor through the city council.
VM - She does not believe the charter blocks the council's ability to function or work.
DM - Says the council does not have enforcement authority to enforce any ordinances passed by council that are not implemented or ignored.
BS - Likes the committee structure or current tasks forces that council currently has and also that council needs to set its own agenda.
FS - Supports a committee structure as opposed the council acting as a committee as a whole.
ATT - Supports the proposed committee format but also says its much bigger than committees. Power for the council comes at the budget time.
{Several candidates who are also current council members sad that a problem is that the mayor works on an issue for several years and then gives it to the council to vote upon with little time for discussion or debate.}
Next Question was to name the top three problems for the cities neighborhoods that can be solved by city council.
ATT - Affordable Housing, Opportunity for Small Business, crime prevention
FS - Crime (says Detroiters are living in fear), Cleanliness, dope houses
BS - Safety and Service, Code enforcement/ordinance enforcement, Strip malls
DM - housing for seniors, public safety, education for the youth
VM - fear of crime, decaying neighborhoods, lack of businesses
SM - Risk management to reduce the effects of lawsuits, Create and mandate and insurance fund, takeover of the schools
MM - affordable housing, transportation, predatory lending
KH - affordable housing, vacant lots, transportation
KE - housing in the $60k to $80k range, City is Dirty, Recreation
BRC - housing
KC - lack of police in community, code enforcement, abandoned homes
HC - neighborhoods are dirty, people don't feel safe, families with poor health or other problems
BCS - housing, policing, neighborhoods restoration
AB - delivery of city services, development, recreation
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