In a recent poll of 400 Detroiters, one question asked about city services or functions that would have an impact on whether they’d stay in the city or leave. Only 4.75 percent cited the mayor’s office and only 5.25 percent mentioned the city council as playing a role in such a decision.
No one mentioned the Detroit Public Library.
Wayne State student Andre Harris said he doesn’t find the poll results surprising.
“Not very many people use the public library system anymore,” said Harris, a sophomore studying global supply chain management. “Especially because most people that use them (libraries) are in school and they have school libraries at their disposal.”
Harris said that not only would most students use their school libraries, people are also more likely to download books from the Internet.
Harris, who isn’t a Detroiter, didn’t comment about the mayor and council.
Detroiter and Wayne State student Sam Sillmon said he wasn’t surprised at the low results for the mayor and council because, in his opinion, no one cares about politics in Detroit.
“And the library is a non factor, now that we have the Internet,” he said.
He added that politics aren’t as big a factor as they used to be, because people aren’t involved in the city as much today.
“People are more concerned about their safety than they are about the politics,” added Doc Dennard, also a Detroiter and WSU student.
Chad Dresden, a sophomore studying dietetics and nutrition, and who lives in Warren, said he wasn’t surprised by the results about the library.
“Education doesn’t seem to be too much of a priority in the city limits,” said Dresden. “It can’t be. I mean, sadly, they have enough to worry about.”
He added that Detroiters should be worried about education, but the reality is that when a single parent has three, four or five kids, education isn’t at the top of the priority list at that point.
“You’ve got to feed them, you’ve got to take care of them,” he said.
On the other hand, Dresden does believe the mayor and council should be bigger factors in determining whether people would stay or leave.
He also said he believes every mayor Detroit has ever had has been corrupt to one degree or another and have contributed to the city being in its present condition.
“You would think that people would notice a trend,” he said. “It’s the only city in history that loses a million people, so it’s gotta be saying something.”
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