As Detroit prepares to select its next mayor, a citizens coalition is making sure whoever wins has good people ready to help run the city. 

The Detroit City Appointments Project is a collaborative effort by local organizations to scout 100 qualified candidates for positions that are appointed or nominated by the mayor. Positions affect virtually every aspect of life in Detroit, including directors and deputies of all city departments, the chief of police, president of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and members of various boards and commissions. 

The work is not affiliated with any candidate and is meant to provide the next mayor, whoever they are, a head start on filling key positions. Organizers have pledged not to endorse a candidate. The project is fiscally sponsored by 482Forward, which received a $200,000 grant from the Ford Foundation.

Job postings outline the general responsibilities of various positions and possible salary ranges. 482Forward Board Member Maurice Weeks said the group is seeking candidates who are committed to the public good of the city and have a strong connection to Detroit. 

“For me, success would look like getting a handful of people from our list into the city government,” Weeks said. “This is not the last time we’re doing this. In between mayoral election years, we want some connection between folks who are appointed and other city employees.” 

Anyone can nominate potential candidates or apply themselves through the project’s website. Candidates are also being recruited by tapping the professional network of partner organizations — including the Eastside Community Network, Detroit Action, Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation, Brightmoor Alliance and others — and proprietary recruiting software.

Tackling major challenges

The departure of Mayor Mike Duggan after his term expires this year comes as the city faces major challenges to continue population growth, reduce violence, improve education outcomes and revitalize neighborhoods. Weeks said the general assumption is Duggan’s departure will precede a wave of retirements and transitions to the private sector among high level city employees. 

“I just feel like with the level of instability in the world and having a person who’s been the mayor for more than a decade leaving, if you’re a seasoned city employee you are probably seeing the writing on the wall that says it’s time to get out of here,” Weeks said. 

However, Weeks said the project has also seen interest from members of the millennial generation who are eager to take on more responsibility in government work. 

Whether Duggan’s successor can carry out their vision for the city’s future, and whether that agenda aligns with the best interests of residents, will partly depend on the people selected to help carry it out.

The mayor is credited with expanding executive power and reshaping city departments since he took office in 2014. Mayoral candidates have suggested creating new offices of their own. 

Council President Mary Sheffield has proposed offices of gun violence prevention, small businesses, housing rights and home ownership and revamping the youth services department. 

Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. is planning to create a chief educational officer, while former City Council president and nonprofit CEO Saunteel Jenkins proposed hiring a chief growth officer to focus on boosting the city’s population. 

Weeks said the appointments project aims to ensure representative government goes beyond Election Day, ensuring city staff reflect the voices of residents instead of being an extension of the mayor. People working behind the scenes can be incredibly influential in bringing issues to the mayor’s attention, preparing the budget, carrying out planning processes and creating true engagement with residents. 

Anthony Adams, who served as deputy mayor under former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, said there’s no shortage of talented people in the city. But he cautioned against creating new departments since it always carries a financial cost. Adams argues it’s more efficient to integrate and modernize existing departments. 

Former Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. said the next mayor should also be careful about finding efficiencies, saying a federal effort led by billionaire Elon Musk has dramatically harmed the government’s ability to serve Americans. 

“Maybe some of those departments you look at reconsolidating, maybe you look at merging certain things and eliminating certain positions that are unnecessary,” Cockrel said. “It would be a disaster for a new mayor to come in and say, ‘we’re just going to do across-the-board cuts.’ We’ve seen the ripple effect on everything when you come in with a chainsaw.” 

Forming a plan

Mayoral candidates have offered some glimpses of their approach to selecting department leaders in interviews and educational forums.

Sheffield said she would keep Police Chief Todd Bettison in place, though her campaign manager Chris Scott said it would be “presumptuous” for her to be having conversations with current department heads. 

“We’re not going to jump the gun when it comes to making assessments and promises,” Scott said. “We have a race that we have got to win first.” 

Former Police Chief James Craig, who also served as deputy mayor under Duggan, has said he prioritizes merit over personal connections when deciding who to hire. Craig said appointments matter, arguing that mayoral appointees on the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy failed to prevent former Chief Financial Officer William A. Smith from embezzling over $40 million from the organization. 

Adams is supporting Kinloch Jr.’s campaign and isn’t connected to the appointments project. He said candidates need to think hard about how they’re assembling their team and keeping good staff in place. 

“A lot of people with talent have not been included in the process because they’re not politically connected,” Adams said in a May interview. “There will be a transition period. Obviously, you can’t come in and just throw everything out the window. That would be foolish because you’ve got systems in place. You need to better understand how those things operate.” 

Adams said Detroit is essentially a “high-level social service and economic development entity.” The mayor needs people with experience running those systems but also should bring in people who will carry out the mandate of voters who put them in office.

Duggan formed a transition team in the days between winning the 2013 election and being sworn in to recruit talent for his executive staff. He received $275,000 from then-Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, who worked alongside the team before the position ended and restored full powers to city leaders. 

Initial appointments included a mix of seasoned administrators and younger rising professionals. Throughout his terms in office, Duggan recruited staff from around the country and elevated members of his political campaigns to high-level positions. 

Duggan has since faced some scrutiny for hiring city leaders who don’t live in Detroit. A 2024 Detroit Free Press investigation found 45% of Duggan administration officials didn’t list a Detroit address on disclosure forms. 

“I think you’ve got to live in the city,” Adams said. “People (working) at a high level are professionals, but if you live here it makes things easier.”