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Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Detroit mayoral candidates tackle lingering issues, plans for city's future
Five of Detroit's mayoral candidates debated each other Thursday evening at the Mackinac Policy Conference, taking questions about ways to improve the city, and being challenged over their previous roles. Moderators Stephen Henderson of Bridge Detroit and Nolan Finley of The Detroit News questioned candidates on ways they expect to lure in more businesses while managing tax credits, maintain a balanced budget and whether their past experiences transfer to the duties of the city's top position. The debate included former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, Triumph Church Pastor Solomon Kinloch Jr., Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield, Councilmember Fred Durhal III and former City Council President Saunteel Jenkins. Todd Perkins, Joel Haashiim, Jonathan Barlow and DaNetta Simpson are also running but were not a part of the debate. Mayor Mike Duggan held a panel discussion of his own at the conference aimed at propping himself up for his 2026 gubernatorial bid, and moderators asked candidates to delve into whether he did the city right by his policies. In the debate, mayoral candidates had chances for rebuttals, which often resulted in defending themselves or their platforms. Craig and Sheffield sparred over the theft of $44 million from the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy's former CFO, William Smith, as the former police chief aimed his argument at Sheffield, who sits on the board. "I'm not saying the board did anything wrong, but I think it warrants a closer examination to find out what went wrong, because we're talking about fiscal leadership and fiscal responsibility. Something's lacking there," Craig said. Sheffield clapped back, noting she is not part of the audit or finance committees, and called his argument "disingenuous." "All of the documents were altered. The public documents that were put online and submitted to the board at public meetings were all altered. No one knew what was going on," Sheffield said. "In that situation, we now know, and for me as a leader, the importance of oversight and more control as it relates to fiscal management." Here is how candidates tackled the debate: Candidates addressed what they believed the business community's role in the city is and explained how they would manage things like using tax incentives to attract businesses. Tax incentives have been a contentious subject for residents but several developers relied on them to build major projects. Jenkins said she would partner with businesses, noting 'over half of the tax abatements will have expired' by 2030, which would require searching for ways to extend them. 'Otherwise, we'll start to lose businesses. We'll start to lose jobs, and the role of business is twofold. It's creating jobs. It's an economic driver,' Jenkins said. Durhal said the city is facing an 'abatement cliff' and expects to restructure it. 'We can utilize, as we spread out the length of that abatement, an opportunity to opt in and generate revenue earlier for our city by allowing developers, as well as those who have built there, to pay a little bit early, and that'll add more money and revenue to our general fund here,' Durhal said. Kinloch expects to convene various business and community leaders to ensure they are aware the mayor is receptive to business in the city. 'The mayoral office does not just cast vision, it also communicates that vision, and it also convenes a table. In order to bring stakeholders together, we have to make sure that businesses are not the only stakeholders at the table, that we are calling together neighborhood leaders. We're calling together the philanthropic community because we want to ensure that residents feel as much a part of the community as anyone else,' Kinloch said. Craig mainly focused on growing the middle class by building out small businesses. 'We have to focus on growing our middle class. I talk a lot about growing small businesses, but that doesn't take away from continuing to grow big businesses. We have got to raise revenues in this city,' Craig said. 'One of the things I have heard as chief and deputy mayor over time is many neighborhoods feel left out, the businesses feel left out. As police chief, I leveraged working very closely with small businesses,' Craig said, referring to Project Green Light, an initiative that places cameras at businesses to prevent crime. Sheffield said during her tenure on council, she tried bridging the gap between people and businesses, and credited public-private partnerships for contributing to the city's growth. 'When it comes to tax abatements, my number one issue is addressing the core of why we have to abate in the first place, and that is because we pay some of the highest property taxes in the country,' Sheffield said. 'My goal, day one, which we're laying the foundation now, is to ensure that we're addressing real structural property tax reform so that we do not have to continue to abate our way out of the issues that we have in Detroit." Candidates highlighted the Duggan administration's record of attracting businesses and manufacturers after the city came out of bankruptcy, laying groundwork for the next mayor, restoring basic city services, reducing crime, maintaining a fiscal foundation and overall rebuilding confidence for investors. But several highlighted the need to invest more in neighborhoods. 'We need to make sure that there is a commercial corridor in each of the seven districts. We have to ensure that our planning is intentional and that it is inclusive, and when we are having discussions about tax abatements, discussions about affordable housing, we have a real plan in place that is driving development and affordable housing and public transit in a way that is building our neighborhoods, and we also have to include schools,' Jenkins said. Durhal and Sheffield pointed out that Duggan's successes also stemmed from working alongside City Council. Durhal hit hard on the continuing need to change the city's high property taxes. 'What nobody's talking about when we talk about comprehensive property tax reform, all of those ropes lead through Lansing … so when we take our plans to Lansing, we're going to lower property taxes, we're going to work on preemption to give our city the ability to have the determination of our future. And I think we can have a better job of delivering from Lansing to continue Detroit's growth. You're going to need that experienced leadership to continue that growth." Kinloch credited Duggan but also pointed out that the city needs to tackle homelessness and poverty, and bring equitable jobs to help residents 'not only just survive, but thrive.' Craig critiqued the 'red tape bureaucracy,' indicating it holds back business owners from opening up their establishments due to dozens of steps they have to face, which Duggan addressed last week. Sheffield stressed that boosting the middle class and raising the income levels of Detroiters, who face a median income below the statewide average, is important to creating a pipeline of future jobs. 'Without a doubt, we have to ensure that more investment comes back into our neighborhoods and that we're activating our commercial corridors. I'm very excited for my administration to be way more hands-on as it relates to the education of our youth,' Sheffield said. Moderators questioned candidates about leaving their roles, leaning toward a political party — despite the mayoral post being nonpartisan — running a religious institution while potentially balancing public office and proving their abilities. Jenkins served on City Council amid Detroit's bankruptcy but resigned early to pursue an executive role with The Heat and Warmth Fund. She added that her last day on council was when officials announced Detroit was exiting bankruptcy. 'We had a plan in place that would not be changed for the next 10 years, no matter who was on council. So I did something that's actually very similar to what our current mayor did. I left my elected position and went to serve as CEO of a multi-million dollar organization that was serving some of the most vulnerable citizens across the state of Michigan.' Sheffield has been an advocate involved with numerous politically progressive individuals, though concerns about a deeply conservative White House do not deter the council president. 'I know how to find common ground,' Sheffield said. 'I come from a legacy of fighters. It is really about bringing resources back to Detroit, improving the quality of life for Detroiters.' Craig has publicly declared himself conservative and flexed his relationship with the White House but pointed out that he is 'a Detroiter first' and expects to draw out more federal money, if elected. Kinloch expects to run his church simultaneously with his role as mayor, if elected. He promises to serve as a full-time mayor and go to church on Sundays, preach, and leave the day-to-day responsibilities to an executive team at the church. Durhal addressed his past leadership experiences in Lansing as an assistant Democratic leader of the House, and his experience chairing City Council committees, as proof he can manage more than what his resume shows. 'You've got to have relationships up there. Folks talk about working across the aisle. We've got a proven track record of doing it,' Durhal said. The city maintained a balanced budget since bankruptcy and has since received more than $800 million in federal money. Officials are in the process of transferring any remaining federal money that must be spent by next year, along with retaining employees. Boosting revenue will require some creativity from the next mayor. 'We have to diversify our revenue streams,' Sheffield said, suggesting ideas such as an entertainment tax, but noting the city needs a 'phenomenal' chief financial officer to maintain fiscal discipline. Durhal said that an amusement tax would not generate enough, though it's projected to raise about $10 million a year. 'That's not enough funding to move this city forward,' Durhal said. Jenkins added that adopting a balanced budget, which Durhal and Sheffield touted, does not make one a good fiscal leader. Although she credited city officials throughout the years for maintaining a balanced budget, simply because it is their duty. Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: dafana@ Follow her: @DanaAfana This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit mayoral candidates debate at Mackinac Policy Conference
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
More than half of Black women surveyed in metro Detroit reported experiencing evictions
A survey of Black women in metro Detroit during the years since the COVID-19 pandemic found more than half of respondents reported experiencing an eviction in their lifetime. A research paper published May 14 by native Detroiter Shawnita Sealy-Jefferson sheds new light on the scale of evictions among Black women. As Sealy-Jefferson, a social epidemiologist, was researching the impact of evictions, mass incarceration, stress and tax foreclosures on preterm births among Black women, she was frustrated: she knew Black mothers were more likely to be evicted from their homes than other groups but there was no data to illustrate the scope of the problem — and what it does to them. She decided to do something about it. In September 2020, Sealy-Jefferson embarked on a five-year project, studying the link between evictions among Black women and health outcomes. She surveyed 1,428 Black women from Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties, conducted focus groups with about 90 participants and interviewed 55 Black women who experienced an illegal eviction. Now, the numbers and stories are in and, as she puts it: "I grossly underestimated the horror." More: Detroit Public Library to host free estate planning workshops at local branches Here are some key takeaways from the survey: More than half of the participants said they'd been evicted. Of those evictions, nearly half were reportedly illegal, meaning they happened outside the courts. Participants self-reported evictions. A quarter of participants said they were evicted during childhood. Forty percent reported facing housing discrimination (participants were asked if they had ever been discriminated against or treated unfairly when they were trying to buy or rent) Childhood and court-ordered and illegal eviction during adulthood were associated with a 12% to 17% "higher risk of poor self-rated health," which is how participants rated their own physical health. Meanwhile, childhood eviction and experiencing illegal eviction in adulthood was linked with a 34% to 37% "higher risk of worse relative self-rated health," which is participants' physical health compared with most people their age. A reporter with the Free Press and BridgeDetroit spoke with Sealy-Jefferson, the study's lead author and an associate professor of social epidemiology at the Ohio State University College of Public Health. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. QUESTION: Can you tell me why you conducted this study and why you decided to pursue the topic? ANSWER: The housing crisis has been a problem for decades, so this is not only our problem, but this was our mother's problem, and likewise, it's going to be our daughter's problem if we don't do something about it. … I convened a group of Black women leaders — local, national and international leaders — on this community advisory board, and I also organized Black women from my community to share their stories for action. We need the data, because without the data, we can't have solutions. We can't have conversations about solutions to a problem that doesn't exist. And this definitely exists. I know a lot of people who have been evicted. Most Black women know people who have been evicted, it's very common, but the link between having this experience and health at the population level is something that hasn't been documented. You posed two questions in your research: What is the magnitude and severity of residential evictions among reproductive age Black women from metro Detroit and are evictions associated with poor health. What did you find? We found that eviction is extremely common. Court ordered evictions are common and illegal evictions are equally common, among reproductive age Black women. We're able to document empirically that having these eviction experiences across the lifetime — so during childhood and during adulthood — is associated with worse self-rated health among Black women, and that hasn't been shown before, and this suggests that these eviction experiences may account for some of the other inequities that we see at the population level, in terms of health of Black mothers, Black families and Black communities. Was there a finding that surprised you, and, if so, why? This study is not limited to low-income Black women. It's not limited to renters. It's not limited to just city of Detroit residents. … I knew it was high, but it sort of took my breath away that 25% experienced an eviction during childhood, 60% had high ACES (adverse childhood experiences, such as abuse, losing a parent or bullying). What do you hope comes of this study? What solutions would you like to see address some of the issues that you identified? We really have to have very clear understanding about root cause intervention. This housing crisis is not going to be fixed with individual-level solutions, because the problem is a structural problem, so we need structural solutions. We need society-level solutions to the problem, because it's not about individual behavior. The conversation has to include reparations — federal government funded reparations for the descendants of African chattel slavery, like that is part of the root cause solution. We also need enforcement of the existing housing laws that protect tenants, because landlords are violating people's civil and human rights in broad daylight, and there's no consequences for them because nobody's checking. … We need policy change. We need enforcement of the existing policies. We need intervention studies. We need more research. … We need our elected officials to pay attention to this data and work with community on what solutions to these problems are. What's next? This is the first study. We have a lot of data, we have a lot of numbers and we have a lot of stories that we really are going to be, in the coming months, disseminating. … I will continue to work with the community advisory board and the community, the participants and the interested parties in the community to decide, what do we do with this data? What is next? What's the most pressing question that we can answer with this data that will help you to advocate for yourself, that'll help you to understand what's happening in your community? What are the short and long term impacts of evictions? Without the human right to stable, safe and affordable housing, it really jeopardizes your ability to do all of the things that you need to do in order to have a good life, a good healthy life and a productive life. It's very rare that you'd be able to do all of the things you need to do if you don't have the basic foundation, which is stable, safe and affordable housing. Contact Nushrat Rahman: nrahman@ Follow her on X: @NushratR. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Survey sheds light on evictions among Black women in metro Detroit
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Could no-strings-attached 'cash prescriptions' slash poverty among Michigan's youngest?
In the Upper Peninsula, Jackie Tasker-Wilson has to drive downstate several times a month to see her doctors for her high-risk pregnancy — trips that set her and her partner back a couple hundred dollars each appointment. That's money she can't spend on rent, food or necessities for the baby. Kayla Wychopen, also in the U.P., recently gave birth and is living in transitional housing with her boyfriend. She said she constantly worries about finding a permanent place to live and affording food and all of the things her baby will need. A fast-growing program, Rx Kids, might help them both and hundreds of other families in the state. Rx Kids, which grew out of Flint, is designed to tackle infant poverty by providing so-called "cash prescriptions" — $1,500 mid-pregnancy and then $500 a month up to a year of the baby's life. Earlier this year, the program, led by Flint pediatrician Dr. Mona Hanna, expanded to Kalamazoo and parts of the Upper Peninsula. Pontiac and cities in Wayne County are slated to get their own versions in the next few months. Ypsilanti could get its own program, too, if the city can raise enough money. Rx Kids is among dozens of programs across the country experimenting with providing direct cash payments to people with the greatest need. As millions of dollars flow directly to families in the state, Michigan could be poised to help answer the question of whether cash in hand does indeed make a dent on child poverty. In recent months, a reporter with the Free Press and BridgeDetroit talked to pregnant women about the program, as well as maternal health nurses in the U.P., and state legislators in the regions where the program is expanding. Pregnant women, from the U.P. to Kalamazoo, seem to think Rx Kids will make a difference, saying they'd use the money on diapers, formula, wipes and to save. Nurses who visit pregnant women say extra cash each month can relieve financial stress for families worried about paying for essentials like rent, transportation and food. Bipartisan lawmakers in Michigan saw early promise in the program and said they're watching for a range of outcomes that would spell success, from increased birth rates and school enrollment to improvements in child development and health. "Every hour, every day that a baby is born into and grows up in poverty is a failure on all of us. It is a failure on society, because we can do better," Hanna, director of Rx Kids and associate dean of public health at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, said during the announcement of Rx Kids in Pontiac. She leads Rx Kids with Luke Shaefer, head of the University of Michigan's Poverty Solutions initiative. In the northernmost part of the state, where tourism drives the economy, there are lulls in employment during the offseason, making income less certain. Housing and heating can be tough to afford as residents already struggle with transportation and access to health care, county health department leaders and maternal health nurses told the Free Press. "A lot of families are living paycheck to paycheck, and there's no cushion. So if an emergency arises, they are really hurting. They are really looking for support," said Karen Senkus, health officer for the Chippewa County Health Department. Now, they may have that extra help. Families with newborns or babies on the way in five U.P. counties — Chippewa, Luce, Mackinac, Alger and Schoolcraft — can apply for the Rx Kids program. Moms can get $1,500 mid-pregnancy and then $500 for the first six months of their baby's life. Rx Kids has given $288,500 to 180 families so far, as of April 22. It would be a big help for 24-year-old Tasker-Wilson, who said she struggles to save. Each month, she and her boyfriend have about $400 a month remaining after all their expenses, from bills to paying off debt and other costs, she said. It has been expensive preparing for the new baby. She has had trouble finding work while pregnant. Tasker-Wilson has applied for child care, restaurant and housekeeping jobs, only to get rejected. Employers told her they don't want her to work for only a few months, only to quit, or they don't offer maternity leave, she said. "We're basically still on one income. It's definitely difficult," she said in late March. Her boyfriend works as a driller. In Chippewa County, where Tasker-Wilson lives, more than a quarter of children under 5 years old live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. That's higher than the 19% of kids under 5 years old living in poverty across the state, but available data at the county or city level can be limited, so estimates are not as precise. Nearly half of households in the county fell below the United Way's ALICE threshold in 2022. The ALICE measure (which stands for asset limited, income constrained, employed) considers households earning above the federal poverty level but still struggling to afford the basics. Nurses the Free Press followed in the U.P. say families are struggling with the basics — housing, health care, work, child care and transportation. Nurse Monica Eriksen, who works for the LMAS (Luce, Mackinac, Alger and Schoolcraft) District Health Department, said she sees poverty every day, childhood or otherwise. It looks like not having enough money to change diapers or neglecting medical needs because of a scarcity mindset. In February, Eriksen visited Marie Woosck in front of her home, remote and tucked away in snowy Munising. Woosck's high-risk pregnancy had been an emotional roller coaster, the 22-year-old said at the time. Part of what worried her was the distance to her hospital — about an hour away. "Up here, it's a big struggle for us pregnant women to find the right care we need," Woosck said. Eriksen, who is also Woosck's doula, ended up driving her to the hospital at midnight in early March, a few days before her scheduled C-section. Woosck was worried about having her baby in the car because it would have been risky for her to have a vaginal birth. "I was terrified," she said about the long drive to the hospital while in labor. Over in Sault Ste. Marie in early February, Christy Curtis, a nurse with the Chippewa County Health Department, checked in on Wychopen and spoke to her about subsidized housing and how her pregnancy had been going. Curtis tries to work with moms as early in their pregnancy as possible because later they may not have time to access housing and food resources, she said. Women struggle to work after giving birth and find child care. There are long wait lists for subsidized housing and rent costs have gone up. "You've got these families that are barely making it," Curtis said. Before giving birth to her baby girl in late April, Wychopen, who is living in transitional housing, wanted her own home before her daughter was expected to arrive. "I don't really want to raise a baby in a room," Wychopen, 26, said. It would be a big relief, expectant moms said, to have the extra money to spend on utilities, child care, formula, diapers and wipes. "There's a lot of poverty up here that people just don't see," said Republican state Sen. John Damoose, who represents part of the U.P. and the northern Lower Peninsula. Downstate in Kalamazoo, Kiara Wenman applied for the Kalamazoo Rx Kids program because living and food costs have skyrocketed lately for her and her partner. The 22-year-old, a Starbucks supervisor, said she lives comfortably but not enough to save or cover a sudden financial shock — that's where the cash would make a difference. She said she'd spend half to save to buy a home, and the rest on groceries or needs for her baby boy, due in late April. "Whether there's a car issue, whether there's (an) insurance claim, anything that could possibly happen, I feel like that would give us a setback. But with the program, I feel like that would keep us still on track when emergencies happen," Wenman said in March. By the end of the month, she received a $1,500 deposit, which she tucked away in her savings. In the city of Kalamazoo, where about a third of kids under 5 years old live in poverty, expectant moms can get $1,500 mid-pregnancy and then $500 the first 12 months of their infant's life. Fifty-three percent of households in the city also fell below the ALICE threshold. The Kalamazoo program has, as of April 22, distributed $528,500 and enrolled 324 families. Poverty and infant deaths are linked, said Jameca Patrick-Singleton, executive director of Cradle Kalamazoo and vice president of community health for the YWCA Kalamazoo. In Kalamazoo County, Black babies are significantly more likely to die than white babies. "When you're talking about a program like Rx Kids, it helps to address some of those social determinants of health. Why? Because you're talking about no-strings-attached funding, and so people are able to use money for transportation, for food, for rent, whatever they need, in that moment that they need. It'll help families to combat some of that poverty, it'll help moms, particularly Black moms," Patrick-Singleton said. A common theme among infants who die in Kalamazoo County is economic instability, said Dr. Aaron Davies, chief of quality for the Bronson Medical Group. "People who are doubling up, who are sharing couches, trying to figure out how to meet their basic needs around housing, that leads to unsafe sleep situations where infants are being put down on couches and other places where we know they're at a higher risk of having unsafe sleep-related death," Davies said. Families who can't afford housing or are living out on the streets, cars and hotels, are co-sleeping because they don't have a choice, Patrick-Singleton said. Quality, affordable housing is a "desperate need" in the community, she added. Kalamazoo County needs 8,000 new units by 2030 to meet future demand, according to updated estimates from the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, which, in 2022, published a sweeping housing plan for the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners. What's more, there are roughly 13,600 renters and homeowner households who spend more than half of their income on housing expenses, 2023 American Community Survey figures compiled by the Kalamazoo-based research institute show. "We've seen babies die because of homelessness," Patrick-Singleton said. More than a year after launching in Flint, Rx Kids has stretched across the state, to rural and urban pockets, in its bid to rid Michigan of infant poverty, garnering tens of millions of dollars in public and private dollars as well as interest from lawmakers to propel its mission. In total, the program has raised more than $100 million. Backers include the Flint-based Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, among others. Meanwhile, over in Flint where the program first began, moms told the Free Press they used their money for rent and baby food — and it ultimately left them less stressed. Alexus Towner, who received $500 a month from April 2024 to March 2025, used her Rx Kids money for the apartment she rented after experiencing housing insecurity, when she lived in a shelter and, before that, with her mom. The birth of her youngest child by C-section was extremely difficult, she recalled. After giving birth, Towner, 27, of Mount Morris, a city just north of Flint, said she had a lot on her plate. Her daughter, who has autism, had to repeat kindergarten. Towner didn't have transportation. The Rx Kids program, which she applied to while living in Flint, gave her "so much more room to breathe," she said. The majority of her monthly cash payments went to rent — the rest on her kids' food, household products and other essentials. Shalamar Reed was about seven months pregnant when she got into the Rx Kids program in Flint. She had been diagnosed with preeclampsia, a serious medical condition associated with high blood pressure. Reed, who was put on bed rest in her first trimester, applied to the program because she had to quit her job as a direct care worker, she said. With the $1,500 lump sum, she purchased her daughter's essentials: crib, car seat and stroller. She uses the $500 a month to buy formula, diapers and wipes. The 36-year-old Flint mom sees Rx Kids as extra help, giving her a boost when she may not have enough. "When I run out of something, I'm not stressed," she said in January. This article was produced as part of a series for the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism's 2024 Data Fellowship. Contact Nushrat Rahman: nrahman@ Follow her on X: @NushratR. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rx Kids expands in Michigan aiming to cut infant poverty
