Two incumbents, a former councilwoman and the fire department’s community relations chief are in the running for two at-large seats on Detroit City Council. 

Incumbents  Mary Waters and Coleman Young II came out on top in the August primary, with Waters earning 32.96% of the votes, while Young garnered 32.2%. Janee’ Ayers came in third with 13.8% of the votes and James Harris got 7.3%. 

The at-large council members represent all residents, as opposed to the other members who each represent the city’s seven districts. More than a decade after bankruptcy, Detroit’s population has grown in recent years, up to 645,705 residents, after years of decline. Still, more than a third of Detroit residents are living below poverty and the median household income is about $39,209, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures. 

As voters head to the polls to elect a new mayor after more than 10 years and cast their ballot for council members, both new and returning, Detroiters say crime or safety, neighborhood conditions, employment, housing and transportation are among their top challenges, one recent survey found. 

The Free Press and BridgeDetroit interviewed all of the candidates appearing on the ballot for at-large during the summer, ahead of the primary election. 

Detroit residents Lucious Conway and Earl O’Neal Jr. have filed declarations to run as write-in candidates, according to the city’s elections office.

Here’s what to know about the top votegetters:
 

Who is running

Janee’ Ayers

Former Council Member Janee’ Ayers, who lost her seat in 2021, said she has spent the last few years “doing the work without the title,” she said. She has taught, consulted and worked for the city’s parks and recreation department — back where she started 26 years ago. 

“I am running again because the work that we started is not finished,” Ayers, 43, said in late June. 

Ayers’ exit from office came amid a  federal public corruption investigation into several officials, related to the towing industry. That case closed in January. 

“Was it fair? No. Was it judged in the court of public opinion? Absolutely. But am I upset about it? Absolutely not,” she said. “Because they had a job to do and they did their job; and through their job and the due process, everything that I’ve said from the beginning — I haven’t done anything — has been proven to be true.” 

The experience has taught her what it means to have the true spirit of Detroit, she said. 

“I know what it means to be counted out. I know what it means to be drug through the mud. I know what it means to swing and keep fighting,” she said. 

Ayers feels as though the timing of the investigation cost her the 2021 election, but it also “cost the people representation,” she said. She didn’t come to the decision to run again lightly, she added, but the closing of the case and interactions with community members prompted her to return to public service. 

“I know exactly what our constituents are looking for in a leader. And, more importantly, what it is that they’re looking for in their neighborhoods, because I stay with boots on the ground, knowing what it is that people are looking for,” she said. 

She cited fiscal responsibility, public safety and neighborhood growth as pressing issues for Detroit and Detroiters. Ayers currently lives in the Minock Park neighborhood.

Ayers reported raising $8,735 during the most recent campaign finance reporting period, the majority of which came from the Unite Here TIP Campaign Committee. She spent $1,891 and had $14,319.20 left on hand. 

James Harris 

James Harris, community relations chief for the Detroit Fire Department, said he’s not a politician, he’s a public servant.

“I’m not trying to make a career out of being a politician. I want to get elected to serve the people,” Harris, 54, said in early July. 

Harris said not all Detroiters have experienced the resurgence seen in areas like Corktown, downtown and Midtown, and he wants to see similar development and small business growth in other neighborhoods. He said he’d create programming similar to the Motor City Makeover, Detroit’s annual citywide volunteer cleanup and beautification initiative that takes place each May, bringing together thousands of volunteers to clean and beautify neighborhoods, parks and playgrounds, and around businesses, schools, and places of worship.

“I want our neighborhoods to look good. I want our trees to be cut. I want our grass to be trimmed. I want everybody to feel the rebirth of Detroit,” he said. 

Safety is No. 1 on his list. He emphasized the importance of educating the public on fire safety and pulling over to the right for first responders. He said he’d work with Community Violence Intervention groups to prevent crime. He said he’d also like to hire more firefighters to go out and educate the public on hands-only CPR, for instance. 

Detroiters, both new and longtime residents, and regardless of their income, want to be safe, he said. 

“When you go to work in the morning, when you leave out of your house, you want to be safe. You want to make sure your streetlights are on if you got to go to work in the dark so you can see where you’re going. You want to make sure when you dial 911, not only is the fire department coming, the EMS is coming, but the police are coming,” he said.

Harris, who has been with the Detroit Fire Department for nearly 28 years, said he lives in District 1, north of Rosedale Park.

According to the most recent campaign statements, Harris brought in $2,210 during the latest reporting period, he spent $2,531, and had $9,475 remaining. 

Mary Waters 

Mary Waters, an incumbent, said there’s still a tremendous need for housing, employment and public safety improvements. 

“Housing is a top challenge and I know that firsthand. I’m talking about true affordable housing. … We have people that make less than $30,000 a year,” Waters, 70, said in late June. 

She supports income-based housing, she said, and cited the Fast Track PILOT ordinance, offering property tax cuts to developers based on rent prices, as a way to bolster development in neighborhoods. 

Waters said she’s a seasoned leader and touted her track record as a council member, including a one-stop-shop and a call center for housing needs and a $203 million housing plan. She spearheaded the creation of a tenants rights’ commission to represent and advocate for residential renters.

If reelected, Waters said she’d advocate at the state and federal level for stronger renter protections, money for down payment assistance programs and home repairs for aging infrastructure.

“If I wasn’t doing my job, I can understand why other people would want to take it. But I do my job, otherwise I would not be there and I believe that Detroiters know that,” said Waters, who lives in Lafayette Park.  

Last year, Waters also ran for Michigan’s 13th Congressional District seat, losing the primary election to incumbent U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Detroit. Waters previously served three terms in the state House, from 2001 to 2006, as a Democrat. 

In 2010, Waters pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for filing a fraudulent tax return and admitted to accepting a $6,000 watch. She was sentenced to one year of probation. 

In a written response, Waters said the plea occurred 15 years ago and said the IRS “eventually said I owed no taxes on the watch.” 

“All this is mind-boggling given that the people of Detroit elected me to Detroit City Council,” she said in a text message in late July.

She cited her “perfect attendance” in the state House, including her role as floor leader, and her journey from Alabama to being a University of Michigan graduate and surviving breast cancer.

Waters raised $6,000 during the most recent reporting period, spent $1,366, and had $27,777 remaining.

Coleman Young II 

If reelected, Coleman Young II said he wants to implement a guaranteed income pilot program, providing $500 to 125 people, based on their income, for up to 24 months. 

That idea — and the funding for it — still is in the works, the incumbent council member said. He also listed off a number of other issues he’d like to tackle.  

“I want to create more jobs. I want to lower taxes. I want to make sure that buses show up on time. I want to invest in public safety. And I want to make sure that we have a better, more responsive city for the citizens of Detroit because they deserve it,” Young, 42, said in early July. 

The top challenges confronting Detroiters are housing, public transit, public safety and jobs, Young said. 

He wants more mixed-use and multifamily housing, as opposed to single-family housing. What would that look like? Condos, apartment buildings, tiny homes and 3D-printed houses, Young said. 

“We also need to expand our community policing program,” he said. 

He wants to revive police mini-stations, an initiative his father, the late Mayor Coleman Young, started. The idea is to place officers in certain neighborhoods and inside senior buildings. It’s a pitch he made in his 2017 bid for Detroit mayor, which he lost. Young previously served in the state Senate and House as a Democrat. He lives in the Islandview neighborhood. 

Young reported raising $1,100 during the most recent reporting period. He had spent $18,511 and had $35,007 remaining. 

Voices from the city

In 2009, voters decided to switch to district-level representation which took effect in 2014 after a 2012 charter revision. That meant two citywide seats — a shift from nearly a century of the at-large system. Detroiters have had mixed feelings about the change, saying it’s been easier to have a specific person to contact but also struggling to get a response from members. 

Jay Meeks, president of the Marygrove Community Association, said both incumbents are visible in their own way – Young because of his long career in government and past mayoral run and Waters, whose focus has been on bringing accountability to the land bank. Meeks said he’s less informed about Young’s accomplishments and the policies the council person advocates for. He’s undecided on who he’s planning to vote for in the general election.

“Besides just representing the whole city, what’s unique about the at-large position? Maybe that can be explored or considered, maybe there are more at-large seats created than just the two,” Meeks said. 

Stacy Varner, board president of the nonprofit People for Palmer Park, said she’d like to see the at-large council members “take ownership of all of the areas as if it was their personal background.” 

There are many needs, but members should listen to the community and help other council members, Varner said. And though there are nuances to each district, there are similarities across the whole city. 

“Those at-large positions are valuable because they do have a lens that sees the biggest picture across the city. They can compare and say, ‘well, if this is working over here, it could possibly work over here,'” she said.