Detroit mayoral debate at the 2025 Mackinac Policy Conference.
Detroit mayoral debate at the 2025 Mackinac Policy Conference. Credit: Detroit Regional Chamber

Detroit mayoral candidates debated who should run the city next in front of Michigan’s executive class on the final day of the Mackinac Policy Conference. 

The participants gathered in the “civility tent” on the lawn outside Mackinac Island’s historic Grand Hotel on Thursday, the final day of the conference. Detroit Regional Chamber CEO Sandy Baruah opened the event with an appeal for a friendly discussion. Mayoral hopefuls largely kept things above the belt, but the debate featured a few clashes and awkward moments. 

City Council President Mary Sheffield at times found herself at odds with former council president and nonprofit CEO Saunteel Jenkins, while Council Member Fred Durhal III and Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. traded a few jabs. Former Police Chief James Craig largely avoided direct attacks from his opponents.

Kinloch argued that the city’s leaders have failed to solve long-running problems, necessitating a political outsider like himself to take the helm. 

“It doesn’t matter how experienced you are if your experiences don’t change the experiences of the people in this city,” said Kinloch, touting services provided to members of his congregation. 

“When government didn’t show up and do their part, Solomon Kinloch and Triumph Church stood up.”

Durhal said Kinloch needs “on the job training” and that residents are tired of rhetoric that’s not based on a concrete plan, contrasted with Durhal’s “proven track record.” 

“We can’t put someone in (the mayor’s office) who is a rookie and undo all of the progress we have made,” Durhal said. After the event, Kinloch said Detroit will reject toxic political attacks when it comes time to vote in the Aug. 5 primary. 

“There will be a price that’s paid for that at the polls,” Kinloch said. “I’m a trusted influencer, community leader and when you disrespect that you’re disrespecting more than 100,000 people in the city of Detroit who have benefited from me serving.” 

Sheffield criticized Jenkins for resigning her council seat in 2014 as the city exited bankruptcy, while Jenkins suggested that Sheffield has overstated her accomplishment in passing balanced budgets since it’s a legal obligation.

Durhal proposed creating a blight tax as well as a land speculator tax to raise revenue. He claimed Sheffield’s plan to raise new revenue by creating taxes on downtown entertainment wouldn’t generate enough money to make a significant impact. But Sheffield said Durhal wouldn’t know that, since her proposal has yet to be studied by the Citizens Research Council of Michigan.

Sheffield is exploring multiple options to raise new revenue, including a half-penny sales tax used in Columbus and other parts of the country. Any new taxes would need to be approved by the Michigan Legislature, which Sheffield said is a challenge she’s ready to take on.

“I thought it was again disingenuous to allude to numbers where we haven’t even gotten that far,” Sheffield said. “The report is being commissioned now. It’s going to come back and quantify how much various options would generate for Detroit. We have to try.”

Sheffield said it was also “disingenuous” to suggest she was responsible for former Detroit Riverfront Conservancy Chief Financial Officer William Smith embezzling more than $40 million from the organization. Craig said Sheffield should have kept better watch, since she is a member of the conservancy board, but she said Smith lied to board members and previously denied having an oversight role. But Craig countered that “it’s not a superficial role.”

“When you have someone who altered documents and forged papers and made it look as if sheets were balanced … all of us were thrown off by that situation,” Sheffield told reporters after the debate. “I’m literally appointed to that board as a member of the council. All of those documents were public record, they were online and they were given to the board. What I can take from that overall experience, that we all have gleaned from it, is the importance of oversight.”

Candidates largely agreed Thursday on other issues, praising Mayor Mike Duggan’s performance, uniting around the need to address poverty, support business growth, build a talent pipeline for skilled trades jobs, cut property taxes and keep a steady eye on the city’s financial health. Questions probed candidates about their perspectives on the role of the businesses, tax policy, education and the city’s finances. 

Sheffield, Kinloch and Jenkins drew some of the loudest reactions from the crowd. Much of the content of the debate was familiar to observers of recent mayoral forums. 

The Thursday debate comes a week after a raucous forum hosted by Michigan Enjoyer and the No BS News Hour that shook the confidence of some conference attendees. Thursday’s debate was moderated by BridgeDetroit Executive Advisor Stephen Henderson and Detroit News Editorial Page Editor Nolan Finley. 

Sheffield said Duggan’s work as mayor couldn’t have been done without the City Council, arguing that she’s had a hand in Detroit’s revitalization. Sheffield said she’s worked alongside Duggan to build a foundation for the future, but more needs to be done to raise incomes and build affordable housing. 

She said the state’s I-375 reconfiguration project has her very concerned and called for more “real conversations” to take place before it moves forward. Sheffield said businesses near the highway are worried they would be “devastated” by construction and more clarity is needed on who would access 30 acres of new real estate created near Lafayette Park. 

Kinloch said with the I-375 project and others the city needs to “stop inviting constituents to the table after we come up with a plan,” and include them instead on the front end while the plans are being created.

He also proposed a “homelessness strike force” to address chronic poverty and a chief education officer to collaborate with Detroit schools. He plans to continue preaching at Triumph Church on Sundays but said he would be a “full-time mayor.” 

“I don’t run the church alone, there’s an executive team in place to run day to day (operations),” Kinloch said. 

Jenkins would create a chief growth officer to grow businesses and keep the city’s population growing. She also proposed extending tax abatements that are expiring in the next few years, warning that the city will begin losing businesses and jobs otherwise. 

Craig said he would leverage his relationship with the Trump administration to bring funding to the city after federal pandemic relief dollars run out next year. 

“It’s not about me, it’s not about the president, it’s about the residents of the city of Detroit,” he said.

Craig also named education as a top issue, saying that the city can’t move forward “unless we fix the schools.” 

Attorney Todd Perkins wasn’t invited to debate, but he attended the Mackinac Island conference to campaign. He wasn’t impressed with the debate performance of his opponents. 

“I expected more details, specifics,” Perkins said. “Instead of these 40,000-foot views, let’s get on the ground level. How are you going to do all these nice shiny things?” 

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Malachi Barrett is a mission-oriented reporter working to liberate information for Detroiters. Barrett previously worked for MLive covering local news and statewide politics in Muskegon, Kalamazoo,...