Mayor Mary Sheffield promised voters she would make big moves in her first 100 days. And while some Detroiters are cautiously optimistic about the flurry of action so far, they say there’s more work to do.
In the past three months, Sheffield has been keenly focused on the key issues she highlighted on the campaign trail, as well as during her inauguration: housing, youth, seniors and neighborhoods. She has named new department heads for health and homelessness, directors to lead her cabinet and pulled together teams tasked with tackling neighborhood safety, boosting youth education and feeding seniors.
Her first policy announcement as mayor was bringing a popular cash aid program for moms and babies called Rx Kids to Detroit, which has so far distributed about $2.3 million and enrolled more than 1,400 families.
Sheffield also has issued at least four executive orders, all while developing a $3 billion budget for the 2027 fiscal year that begins July 1, which she signed off on Wednesday, April 8.
The mayor and other city leaders have acknowledged that the new budget, while balanced, is more conservative than last year’s and represents the fiscal reality of declining corporate tax revenues, less state revenue sharing and dwindling federal dollars from a Republican administration that has clamped down significantly on aid to Democratically led cities like Detroit.
All factors that will require the Sheffield administration to get creative when it comes to the budget, and to look for ways to tap or create new, sustainable revenue streams. The mayor promised to hire a Chief Growth Officer, who would be responsible for identifying ways to diversify the city’s revenue base, while also growing the population. But that hire has yet to be made.
She did, however, during her first State of City address last month, announce the Move Detroit initiative to grow the city’s population. She also promised to establish task forces dedicated to small business affairs, home repairs and education, and a regional transit working group.
It’s unclear when those task forces will form, though spokesman John Roach said Sheffield has hired staffers within her office to lead discussions on those initiatives. The mayor, deputy mayor and her chief of staff declined to comment on Thursday, April 9.
Here are some other highlights from Sheffield’s first 100 days:
Illuminating underlit blocks
Broken streetlights plagued the city during Detroit’s 2013 bankruptcy. Former Mayor Mike Duggan prioritized turning on 65,000 streetlights — which he did. But many mid-block lights within residential areas remained unlit, prompting concerns from residents worried about safety.
In March, Sheffield gathered in front of a resident’s home in the Regent Park neighborhood to sign another executive order, directing the Public Lighting Authority (PLA) to install at least 3,000 new mid-block lights on residential streets through a $1 million budget allocation.
Sheffield said she constantly heard from residents, while serving on the city council, regarding concerns over dark areas on their block.
“Detroiters deserve to feel safe walking in their own neighborhood and this partnership with the PLA will help deliver that,” Sheffield said in a news release.
That day, longtime resident Cynthia Loggins said the street light restoration gives her a sense of security in her neighborhood.
“I’m excited, happy, I feel like I want to cry because I felt like we were being ignored and that they just didn’t care, but this is definitely great,” Loggins said.
New social services department
Sheffield highlighted housing — including homeownership, property tax reform and home repair — as a pillar of her campaign. She pitched creating an office of homeownership and housing rights in her first 100 days.
In January, the mayor announced a new department focused on social services: the Human, Homeless and Family Services Department (HHFS) aims to bridge the gap between people and resources and serve as a one-stop shop for vulnerable residents, Sheffield’s chief of staff David Bowser told Detroit City Council members during the department’s budget hearing on March 27.
Sheffield announced earlier this year that longtime nonprofit executive and attorney Benita Miller will lead the department. HHFS will be overseen by Luke Shaefer, the city’s first chief executive of Health, Human Services and Poverty Solutions. The new department has a budget of roughly $39.6 million.
The Detroit City Council added a $500,000 one-time allocation for the Life and Legacy program which helps Detroiters with estate planning.
Shama Mounzer, chief programs officer for the Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency, welcomed the creation of the new department.
“The need for a more coordinated, resident-centered system has been clear for some time, especially as demand continues to outpace available resources across housing, energy, water and basic needs. At Wayne Metro, we see this every day; thousands of households are still waiting for support,” Mounzer, who sat on Sheffield’s Health, Human Services, Homelessness and Poverty Solutions transition committee, said in a statement.
“Families shouldn’t have to navigate multiple systems, or choose between essentials like keeping the lights on, paying for water, or putting food on the table.”
Bringing together services to prevent homelessness and stabilize families under one department “could close gaps, reduce duplication and improve how residents access support,” she said, adding that success hinges on “sustained investment” and strong coordination between partners.
1,000 new homes in 4 years
Sheffield says she wants to build 1,000 new single-family homes in her first four years as mayor, as Detroiters struggle to afford quality housing and make repairs.
In March, she launched a plan to speed up permitting for repairs — reducing the wait times from up to 30 days, down to the same day − and to quicken the building of new housing by offering preapproved home designs to cut through red tape so developers can construct hundreds more new single-family homes.
By the end of the year, the Buildings, Safety Engineering, and Environmental Department (BSEED) is expected to offer preapproved home designs so lot owners don’t have to hire their own architect and can shorten the construction timeline.
Breck Crandell, director of design for the Detroit-based architecture firm Three Squared Inc., told the Free Press in March that the plan is a good start, but questions remain on how it’ll get implemented effectively.
Development of a lot is a complicated process requiring a tailored approach for each site, he said.
Still, he said, the announcement was a “great calling card” for architects, developers and builders to collaborate and focus on the type of housing Detroit needs.
“Smaller developments are what’s really going to start infilling Detroit,” said Crandell, who also is the co-founder of the sustainable design firm Houm. “So, if we can fast-track some of these projects, then that makes me very hopeful for a future where Detroit no longer forgot how to build houses and we’re back on track to developing thousands of houses every year, because that’s the housing crisis that we actually need to address.”
Chase Cantrell, executive director of Building Community Value, a real estate development nonprofit, had questions around where funding would come from — beyond the city — for larger scale developments and addressing high property tax rates.
Construction and labor costs are up, too; not just in Detroit, but across the country, he said.
“It’s a moonshot. It’s an audacious goal and it’s going to require the city to … innovate and really change the way that we build in our ecosystem,” said Cantrell, who’s on Sheffield’s Housing Development and Planning transition committee.
Doubling down on affordable housing
Sheffield’s third executive order steers more financial contributions towards affordable housing. The move directs 100% of proceeds from the sales of city-owned commercial properties toward the Affordable Housing Development and Preservation Trust Fund, which provides gap financing, low-interest loans and grants to developers to help maintain affordable units.
The order goes into effect July 1.
As a City Council member, Sheffield spearheaded Detroit’s inclusionary housing ordinance, which currently requires 40% of the proceeds to be deposited into the trust fund.
So far, the trust fund has aided numerous developments to the tune of $10,372,423 worth of investments, city records show. Among them are: LaJoya Gardens, The Residences at St. Matthews, Martin Gardens, The Hive, Hubbard Farms, Brush/Watson – Beaubien building, Brush/Watson – Brush building, Buersmeyer Manor, 900 Tuscola and Orchestra Tower.
Meeting needs of seniors and reducing taxes
Sheffield created an Office of Senior Affairs with new senior advocates to “ensure our seniors’ needs are met,” she said during the State of the City address.
The office has $1.2 million for the 2027 fiscal year, including a one-time amount of $750,000 for a senior food access program. One of the main duties of this office is to improve compliance of senior buildings, Bryan Peckinpaugh, director of the Department of Neighborhoods, told council members during a budget hearing for the Mayor’s Office on March 27.
Sheffield also promised in her State of the City speech that she would work to lower property taxes to ease the burden on homeowners. However, reform would require state legislation. The mayor said she already has reached out to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, state House speaker Matt Hall and state Senate majority leader Winnie Brinks with the hopes of building bipartisan momentum to make it happen.
The mayor said that in order to be competitive with other major cities, it would require a 30%-60% reduction in property taxes. She added that her administration is in the early stages of researching ways to generate revenue that would offset a reduction and minimize negative impacts on Detroiters.
Living wages for city employees
Sheffield signed an executive order in early March to establish a living wage — how much a full-time worker needs to earn to cover basic needs where they live — for all full-time city of Detroit employees on July 1, bringing compensation up to $21.45 an hour, or $44,616 a year.
An estimated 900 city of Detroit employees are expected to see a wage boost this summer.
City officials at the time said the move would boost morale for positions with high turnover and, overall, improve the quality of life for employees who may work multiple jobs. The city has allocated $7.9 million for this wage hike, which will come from its General Fund.
Sheffield said she wants other employers in the city to follow suit. During her State of the City address, she urged corporate leaders to pay workers a living wage as well.
What Detroiters have to say: ‘I am rooting for her’
Jay Meeks, president of the Marygrove Community Association in District 2, said he’s trying to keep up with all the new announcements, programs and policies, and has questions around funding.
“How are these initiatives being paid for and are they sustainable?” he said.
Though Meeks did notice that the tone and tenor of the District 2 Charter-mandated meeting this week was different from previous meetings he has attended. He said there was a level of familiarity, which he attributed to Sheffield’s time on the city council.
“The connection with community is there, and she’s done the work,” Meeks said.
Still, he said, he’d like to see the administration engage more with neighborhood organizations in his district.
He said he wants to see Sheffield succeed.
“Her success this first year and the remaining three years is the success of all of us. And so I am rooting for her because I’m rooting for us as Detroiters,” Meeks said.
Northwest Detroit resident Clifford Johnson is hoping for success, too. He said crime has been down in his neighborhood, but he said he and his neighbors have long been plagued by the abandoned Cooley High School. He wants to see the city find a new use for the space.
“Cooley High School is still a nest for something that’s not right. We’ve got to do something about that. It was boarded up, they tore the boards off. They’re in there constantly throwing raves in there. They’re still destroying the school,” Johnson said. “I think they need to do something with it instead of just letting it be a harbor for people.”
He added that more police patrols could help mitigate nuisances and provide more safety.
“We don’t see the police come down the street except once a month,” Johnson said. “They need to patrol the neighborhoods more and need to give out blight tickets. Cooley is a dumping ground…we pay taxes, we deserve for it to be better.”
The Detroit Public Schools Community District philanthropic arm announced earlier this year that it would invest $15 million in the redevelopment of the school to build a sports complex, which would include a track, multi-sport field, lighting, seating and support facilities for students and youth teams.
While he’s still learning more about Sheffield’s initiatives and plans, Johnson said he wants to see more on home repair grants and programs that would help people qualify for them. He also praised Sheffield’s latest announcement of cracking down on landlords to make maintenance repairs.
Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: dafana@freepress.com. Follow her: @DanaAfana.
Reach reporter Nushrat Rahman at nrahman@freepress.com.
