Imagine Detroit as a city where children don’t have to grow up next to abandoned buildings and blight.
That is a vision Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan hopes to turn into a reality if he is re-elected as mayor.
During a recent Real Times Media (RTM) Pancakes & Politics Overdrive with Mayor Mike Duggan at RTM Studio 1452, he sat down with businessman Dennis Archer Jr. to share his re-election campaign ideas and more.
During the nearly hour-long personable interview, Duggan discussed light-hearted topics like the three favorite things he loves about Detroit (the people, its manufacturing base and Comerica Park) and more serious matters about how he plans to move the city forward if he wins.
“Why do you want to run again? I see what you deal with,” Archer asked Duggan about him throwing his hat in the race.
“The question I had from the beginning, ‘Why am I here?’” Duggan said. “I want us to build a city for the long run so the person that comes after me and after that person has something to build on.”
Duggan said that when he started, he had a “pretty clear understanding” of where the city is and knew there was a trajectory he had to establish to get to where the city is today: fix public services, jobs and workers.
In his first four years, it was about getting the street lights back on, ambulances, buses and more.
“Then the next four years [it was] jobs in the city — people thought the city was dead; counted obsolete,” Duggan said, adding that the city has soared above the expectations of failure by landing the first new auto assembly plant in North America in 15 years “north of the Mason Dixon line,” hiring almost 4,000 Detroiters, then got General Motors “turned around.”
“They are … going to be making electric vehicles of the future,” Duggan said, adding that other worthy accomplishments include an Amazon investment in the city and more. “We have proven we can compete with major cities in the country and land employers. That is happening — now we have to get to the next phase — make sure Detroiters have skills for the next jobs, and time to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty.”
Duggan added that in the next four years “we’ve got the jobs coming” and it is time to reduce the unemployment and poverty rate, along with abandoned buildings in the city.
“From the Packard Plant to the vacant house next to you, I want to get them all gone in the next four to five years,” Duggan said. “Can you imagine a city where you raised your children and they didn’t walk by abandoned buildings?”
Archer also asked Duggan what he has in mind when it comes to COVID-19 related initiatives.
“You have been the leader … Detroit has been the leader of mask testing … vaccinations … what more can we do?”
Duggan said that because President Joe Biden is in the “right place” at the White House he is helping with more vaccine rollouts unlike the previous administration.
“I feel like 800 pounds was on my shoulders six months ago is gone because Joe Biden is on our side,” Duggan said, adding that “there are still really big problems” but they can be solved. Some include the rising rate of COVID-19 cases.
“We went from outstanding testing … the city is really committed to masking and social distance and infection rates were really low in the city for about eight months,” Duggan said, adding that as almost 140,000 Detroiters are vaccinated it’s time to help those who have mobility issues and vaccine hesitancy issues. “Now we want to shift to a lot of community sites where you can walk up and don’t need an appointment. … I think that is going to be the next challenge for us and the team is gearing up with that right now.”
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