Detroit elects first white Mayor in 40 years

[FJO]

According to Einstein, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expect different result.

Congratulations, citizens of Detroit, you just proved Einstein was correct.

Skin color notwithstanding.

 

[tigerbob]

According to Einstein, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expect different result.

Congratulations, citizens of Detroit, you just proved Einstein was correct.

Skin color notwithstanding.

Quoting an intellectual out of context does not make an observation intelligent.

 

[Katzndogz]

The last 40 years of failure will now be the fault of the white guy.

 

[tigerbob]

The last 40 years of failure will now be the fault of the white guy.

LOL - there are still a number of crazies in the city who I have no doubt will look for any opportunity to pass the blame. Fortunately, the majority of the Detroit electorate seems to have taken a pragmatic view for the first time in many years. Let's hope it's not a blip.

 

[blackhawk]

So they elected a white Democrat instead of a black one the billion dollar question is will Duggan's policies be any different than those that got Detroit into the hole they are now in?

 

[tigerbob]

So they elected a white Democrat instead of a black one the billion dollar question is will Duggan's policies be any different than those that got Detroit into the hole they are now in?

And there's no easy answer to that. We'll just have to wait and see. He's got a tough few years ahead of him.

 

[auditor0007]

Not that anyone here in Detroit is surprised, but the city last night elected its first white Mayor in decades.



OK, so he won't have any power for now because of Kevyn Orr, but he is likely to have influence. And sometime in the next couple weeks we will know whether the Chapter 9 filing is considered legal or not, which will help.

But, this is the right decision for the city. Whether you agree with his politics or not (which for most people here will depend of whether they are blue or red and will have little to do with Duggan's policies, which they won't know) Duggan is by far the better man for the job.

I don't agree with all his policies but the city did need a Mayor who is savvy enough to know he needed to work with people like Orr and Snyder rather than against them. Benny Napoleon's campaign was one rooted firmly in the politics of a Detroit that voters yesterday rejected. Good for them.

This will be interesting to watch over the next year. The comments on this board (which are 95% not worth the energy it took to type them) will be predictable, but if people look past the pathetic left vs right dogma there will be a story worth following.

The other part of the jigsaw worth thinking about is whether the new city council (elected using wards for the first time rather than 100% at-large) will have sufficient people on it who are genuinely thoughtful politicians rather than just grandstanding rabble-rousers. If restructuring is going to work, a pragmatic city council will be critical. I haven't seen who has won all the districts yet, so the jury is still out on that one.

Nancy Kaffer: For Detroit's new City Council, dysfunction is not an option | Detroit Free Press | freep.com

An awful lot of stars need to align. Duggan is just one piece, but he's the right piece (considering the alternative).

Sounds like Detroit took a step in the right direction. Funny thing is that Toledo took a step in the wrong direction by electing a white mayor over the incumbent black mayor. Both ran as independents, although Mike Bell, the outgoing mayor, is more of a Republican than the newly elected D. Michael Collins.

When Bell took office nearly four years ago, the city was facing a $48 million deficit. Within four years, Bell got the city to a surplus while hiring on more police officers and fire fighters and not raising taxes. In doing so, he pissed off the unions, so they backed Collins heavily with money and votes. My prediction is that Collins will be indebted to them so much that four years from now Toledo will be facing a huge deficit again. Bell also had a good working relationship with Governor Kasich.

That's interesting. Here in Detroit Duggan was by far the more popular candidate with the business community, and Napoleon got all the union backing. Duggan led a very impressive turnaround as CEO at Detroit Medical Center while Napoleon, if we're going to be honest, had very little positive he could point to in terms of fiscal management success.

What Napoleon did do was point to his service record (as a cop) and the fact that he is a lifelong Detroiter. Essentially, these appeals to the heart ended up carrying less weight with the electorate that proven operational management expertise.

This really is something of an historic decision for Detroit, and seeing so many dismiss it as "just another Dimocrap" goes a long way towards highlighting how far this board has fallen in quality terms over the last 6 years. There have always been posters who follow one party or another, but at least in the past they had reasoned opinions. Now they just have pointless soundbites. Great shame, but the board mirrors the country - the two sides grow further apart, making more noise but saying infinitely less.

Interesting points about Toledo - thanks.

Funny, Collins and Napolean sound like twins. Collins is an ex-cop, and former head of the police union, and a lifelong Toledoan. Funny how two electorates voted completely opposite of each other. I have to admit, most of the time I think voters are pretty uninformed. I moved from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party, but in the Toledo Mayor's race, I was pulling for the more conservative candidate because he had been successful and did what he said he was going to do.

 

[auditor0007]

really, it is time to forget the color of his skin.

And he is a democrat. that is what you have to guide you.

City politics is a whole different ballgame than statewide or national politics. Running a city is about making sure there are adequate city services and that things get done. I'm not sure you could give me the name of one truly conservative mayor of any large city.

Rudy Giuliani. Cleaned up NY, reduced crime, balanced the budget.

Bloomberg. no big gulp sodas, be nice to the criminals, spend, spend, spend.

Bloomberg did fine job. It's the reason he served three terms.

 

[auditor0007]

So they elected a white Democrat instead of a black one the billion dollar question is will Duggan's policies be any different than those that got Detroit into the hole they are now in?

And there's no easy answer to that. We'll just have to wait and see. He's got a tough few years ahead of him.

Bing had a vision of what needed to be done. Getting it done was a whole different ballgame. Detroit's biggest problem is that nobody has the money to level half the city, which is what needs to be done, even if it's one section at a time. Besides not having the money to do it, there are some people who refuse to move to make it possible to happen. You can't level an entire community when people are still living in it.

 

[Tank]

Is this blacks saying save us white man?

 

[Politico]

Who the hell would want that job?

I'd take it in a heartbeat.

Me too if I could help turn it around. People just don't know how amazing Detroit is; well ok was.

Yeah the initial statement was silly. We would be in a loooong line of folks who would gladly take any job at this point. Not as long as the one waiting to be cops. But it would be long.

 

[Darkwind]

City politics is a whole different ballgame than statewide or national politics. Running a city is about making sure there are adequate city services and that things get done. I'm not sure you could give me the name of one truly conservative mayor of any large city.

Rudy Giuliani. Cleaned up NY, reduced crime, balanced the budget.

Bloomberg. no big gulp sodas, be nice to the criminals, spend, spend, spend.

Bloomberg did fine job. It's the reason he served three terms.

Giuliani did a bang up job, whereas Doomberg had to violate law to get a third term and has sent the city backwards.

But hey, its NYC and they just voted themselves a bona fide communist into the Mayors office. It would be interesting to see just how bad it gets there, but I really don't care as I have no plans of ever returning to that city.

I will continue to encourage other cities to campaign on moving the major corporations out of NYC to better cities with reasonable city management and tax policy.