Like most of you, we will be absolutely thrilled when this election is over. But we should all be fully aware that it’s not over yet. And until it’s over, none of us can afford to ease up on the gas. This is shaping up to be the most significant presidential election of modern times, and when you stir in the local issues that are at stake right here in Detroit and the surrounding region, there is zero excuse not to make it to the polls and vote if you have not already done so.
Nationally, despite all the recent sound and fury surrounding Hillary Clinton’s emails, hacked or otherwise, the choice is still as clear as it ever was to anyone paying attention. Donald Trump is not Mitt Romney nor is he John McCain, the two most recent Republican candidates for the presidency who lost (definitively) to President Barack Obama. Both Romney and McCain were legitimate choices, even if they were clearly the wrong choices. Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to the nation. Not only is Hillary Clinton not a threat to the nation, she is easily the most qualified candidate to seek the presidency in more than half a century. And if there’s anything this country needs right now, it’s qualified leadership.
It’s a choice between madness and reason. Simple as that.
Locally, Detroiters will be weighing in on three extremely important issues; choosing seven representatives to advocate for the education of their children as members of the Detroit School Board, whether or not to approve a millage to fund a much-needed regional mass transportation system, and which version of a proposed Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) will be best for Detroiters, Proposal A of Proposal B.
We at the Chronicle have made our choices in no uncertain terms because to us the choices before us are clear. Still, this is an instance when we don’t mind repeating ourselves. Ultimately, however you decide to vote is up to you. But just as important as voting is making informed choices based on solid information. Whatever choices you make, never let it be said that we didn’t do our best to make our case for the decisions we made. If we didn’t convince you, hopefully we at least made you think and/or gave you some additional motivation to get to the polls.
So, for the final time before Election Day, here’s where we stand:
Hillary Clinton for President
Of course we’re endorsing Hillary Clinton for president. It’s the only sane thing to do.
As for those fence-straddling holdouts who continued to nurture a flickering flame of hope that Trump would somehow evolve from knuckle-dragging Neanderthal to Enlightened 21st Century Man within the space of a few months, all three presidential debates served as an overflowing bucket of cold water to pour on that match.
Abandon all hope ye who foolishly continue to believe that Trump can make anything great, let alone the United States of America.
To read full endorsement, click here.
Vote YES on Proposal B
It’s hard to argue with the basic concept of a community benefits agreement which, at its essence, means that you, as a neighborhood resident, should be entitled to some significant say-so over any major developments scheduled to take place in your own back yard. More specifically, you as a low-to moderate income neighborhood resident should be entitled to some say-so, because rich people rarely have to worry about unwelcome developments popping up in their neck of the woods without any community input. It simply isn’t done.
So the question to be considered, when weighing the merits of Proposal A vs. Proposal B, is not whether having a community benefits ordinance is a good idea. It is a very good idea. But the very important question is which community benefits proposal – Proposal A or Proposal B – represents the kind of community benefits ordinance that will help Detroit, and which ordinance will do the opposite.
The Michigan Chronicle believes strongly, and in no uncertain terms, that Proposal B is the way to go. Proposal A, though well-intentioned, would cause significant problems that, if implemented, will practically bring development in Detroit to a screeching halt while killing hundreds of jobs in the process. Not because developers will refuse to invest in any project requiring neighborhood input, but because Proposal A is a confusing and very poorly-worded document seeking to address an issue that requires extreme clarity and precision.
To read full endorsement, click here.
Vote YES on the RTA millage ballot proposal
The Michigan Chronicle supports the $2.9 billion Regional Transportation millage because there is really no other choice. Southeastern Michigan desperately needs a radical upgrade to its public transportation system if we are to have any hope of sustaining Detroit’s comeback beyond this initial hopeful burst and into the foreseeable future. This isn’t just about transporting white suburbanites to the game and back; this is about transporting Detroiters to where the jobs are, both inside the city as well as beyond 8 Mile Road. This is about making good on the promise to make Detroit a modern city that works for all of its residents. Not just the newly arrived with well-paying jobs already in hand, or the young, single artistic urbanites for whom Detroit serves as inspiration, but for those of us who have been here through the worst of times as well as what appears to be a comeback, even if an uneven one.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the difference between the development of a functional regional transportation system and allowing this opportunity to fade away is the difference between survival and counting down the days until we slip right backwards into the economic desperation we thought we had left behind.
To read full endorsement, click here.
*State Board of Education
Ish Ahmed
John Austin
*Trustee of Michigan State University
Dianne Byrum
Diann Woodard
*Wayne State University Board of Governors
Yvette McElroy Anderson
Mark Gaffney
*These three endorsements are in addition to the original Chronicle list of endorsements published on October 26.
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