Voters decided on Tuesday that they would prefer to give Duggan four more years and a second term in office than to “give the Motherland back to the people.” In a predictably resounding defeat Tuesday evening, Young’s rallying cry voiced during the opening moments of the first and only debate between the two competitors fell on deaf ears from one end of the city to the other as voters gave Duggan a margin of victory easily large enough to cause Young and his campaign to hopefully re-examine the shortcomings of their hollow election strategy. What should have been Young’s primary objective during the debate — and throughout his campaign —
was to convince those voters on the fence that he was the better choice who could deliver where Mayor Duggan has failed, that he could better represent this city and stand up for its people than the incumbent. He needed to show that he better understood the needs of Detroiters. Instead, we got “the Motherland.” Meanwhile, Duggan, as should have been anticipated by Young and his people, went to work on his opponent with a laundry list of what his administration has managed to accomplish during his first term in office. This was essentially the same strategy that he employed throughout the campaign, arguing that you just can’t argue with results. To begin one’s term of office in the midst of the largest municipal bankruptcy in history is slightly more than a minor bump in the road. It’s a mountain. That, combined with everything else Detroit has been dealing with since seemingly forever, adds up to one massive job description that would have defied the best efforts of anyone brave enough — or crazy enough – to sign up for the task. Duggan signed on and the progress has been visible. Now nearing the end of that first term, it’s hard to make a credible argument that Detroit is no better than it was four years ago. That simply isn’t true. And although some of Duggan’s accomplishments may have been built on what was begun by his predecessors, that’s no crime nor does it negate the part he played in getting things done. Getting the street lights turned back on was a big deal, even if it wasn’t as big and sexy as District Detroit and all the other development occurring in and around downtown. The appearance of new and improved neighborhood parks like Gordon Park at 12th and Clairmount, known for the past half century as the location where the ’67 Rebel
lion began, is something that makes a noticeable difference in a community. The recent announcement of the $125 million investment to be made in the city’s neighborhoods, not to mention the recent rollout by Planning and Development Director Maurice Cox of the city’s targeted neighborhood redevelopment strategy, is a hopeful glimpse of some better days ahead for the majority of Detroiters who do not live downtown and who have been waiting far too long for much-needed attention. None of this is to suggest that the mayor deserves a pass on his missteps simply because he took on a big job. The persistent cloud still hanging over his administration due to the ongoing investigation surrounding how contracts were awarded in Duggan’s highly touted home demolition program is no small matter. The feds don’t get involved in minor discrepancies. Young pounced on this issue more than once during the debate, and it is something that cannot be swept under the rug. Similarly, Young also pointed to the recent report singling out Detroit as the most violent city in the nation, saying that whatever Duggan is doing to lower the crime rate is not working. This is a major weak spot and Duggan’s response was not as strong as it needed to be during the deabate. Moving forward into his second term, in addition to his noticeably ramped-up focus on the neighborhoods, he will need to close the door on the issue of violent crime as well if he wants to deliver on his promise of a better, more unified Detroit. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, Duggan worked hard to make Detroit better, and he has surrounded himself with a team of similarly committed and highly qualified individuals who have stayed on task toward the goal of building a better city. Detroiters echoed that sentiment loud and clear at the ballot box.
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