Sheffield snags Duggan endorsement for Detroit mayoral election

Detroit mayoral candidate Mary Sheffield secured a major campaign endorsement Aug. 20 from the city’s current top leader — Mayor Mike Duggan.

The Detroit City Council president accepted the third-term mayor’s endorsement outside of a home on Detroit’s northwest side in what she described as a “pivotal moment” in the mayoral race. Sheffield has led the mayoral race from a fundraising standpoint, securing big donations from corporate leaders and political action committees. She will face off against Triumph Church Pastor Solomon Kinloch for the mayoral seat in the Nov. 4 general election.

“I am humbled to receive the support of our current mayor,” Sheffield said. “His belief and his confidence in me to continue the progress and the momentum of our city … that we all have worked so hard for is not only protected, but is accelerated and reaches more people and reaches more neighborhoods.

“Mike Duggan and myself have not always agreed on everything…but what I think is most important is that when we disagree, we always came back to what mattered most, and that is our shared vision for the betterment of our residents in the city of Detroit.”

Managing the city was far different when the two stepped into office in 2014.

“From the challenges of bankruptcy, to the hard work of rebuilding city services, restoring our neighborhoods and attracting new investment, we have worked collaboratively through some of Detroit’s toughest and most defining moments. It was through the hard work, tough decisions and shared commitment to the people of this city that we’ve been able to restore stability and begin writing a new chapter for the history of our city,” Sheffield said.

Duggan is leaving office after 12 years to run for Michigan governor as an independent. His endorsement comes at a crucial moment for the mayor, who is leaning on support across the state while confronting the Democratic party — which he identified with and supported for years — by jumping ship in a self-proclaimed attempt to bridge the partisan divide. However, Duggan has been met with opposition groups attempting to smear him by searching for emailed records, including vulgarities, along with personal expenses on the city’s dime. Despite the switch-up, he has amassed more than $3 million in his latest campaign finance report.

“Here’s what I knew from the beginning, the most qualified person, the best prepared to be the next mayor, was Mary Sheffield,” Duggan said.

Duggan said that from the time Sheffield came on the city council, her first thing was to push for more home repairs. He made the statement as he, Sheffield and others stood outside a home, which received a home repair grant, on the city’s west side. “We’ve now done more than 2,000 roofs.”

Geraldine Noble, the owner of the home where the endorsement was announced and that received the home repair grant, said that as a senior citizen living on a fixed income, she would not have been able to fix her roof without the program, which she learned about through Sheffield.  

“Here we are again. She came down the block, she introduced herself again … we’re going to support her with everything we know to do,” Noble said.

Duggan said the city has come a long way since he took office. He said he worked with 600 block club presidents and 9,000 city employees, including the City Council.

“I left a job I loved at the Detroit Medical Center and I spent the last 12 years believing this city could be rebuilt,” Duggan said. “From the time I announced I wasn’t running, people kept saying, ‘Who are you supporting?’”

Duggan told reporters after the announcement that he supported Sheffield since the day she launched her campaign. He described her campaign as one that runs on unity, a platform he’s also taken up on his gubernatorial bid. He pointed out that she’s attended dozens of forums, but also looked back on her career.

“In 2016, I wanted to bring the (Detroit) Pistons back down here from Auburn Hills to Detroit, where they belong,” Duggan said.

The “us versus them” politics plagued the city, he said, sparking residents to urge leaders against lending opportunities to wealthy business executives who may not share similar interests. However, bringing the team to downtown fueled more events and jobs, he added.

“It was a little controversial, and a relatively new councilmember, Mary Sheffield, came to my office and said, ‘I like this business deal, but we need to have a  benefit to the neighborhoods if I’m going to support this.’ And I said to her, ‘Well, we’re in the Downtown Development Authority, and under the state act, you can’t take the property taxes out of downtown. She says, ‘No, but you can take the income taxes…do you know that when visiting NBA players come to play in Detroit, they have to pay income tax on their salary?’” Duggan said.

The mayor was aware, but when Sheffield highlighted it would be more than $1 million annually, she and Duggan worked on a different proposal to take the new income taxes to create a neighborhood beautification fund to restore the communities. Sheffield said it brought millions of dollars in grants back into neighborhoods.

“I said, ‘That’s a brilliant idea.’ We changed the proposal because of Mary Sheffield,” Duggan said, adding that she took a lot of grief after stories circulated that it would pull money from schools, which Sheffield clarified — and changed the minds of residents — in a big community meeting that it would not be the case, and those income taxes would fund neighborhoods.

Duggan went on to highlight even more of Sheffield’s previous moves, such as sponsoring an ordinance that requires housing developers seeking city aid to put aside 20% as affordable housing units.

“Mary Sheffield’s affordable housing ordinance set the groundwork for the last six years. The city of Detroit built $1.5 billion, 6,000 units of affordable housing…because of the leadership of the council president,” Duggan said.

He also credited Sheffield — and former City Council President Brenda Jones — for professionally run council meetings after years of meetings that often drew a ruckus. Duggan also raised something new for the city.

“The last time a sitting council member was elected mayor of the city of Detroit was 1947. Eugene Van Antwerp, 75 years ago. Because for the last 75 years, as the city struggled and they had to decide on a new mayor, nobody wanted someone from the city. For 75 years, they wanted change from the outside,” Duggan said.  

The City Council president has touted her past work on passing legislation for inclusionary housing, property tax reform, home repair grant funding, neighborhood improvement funding and right to counsel, which provides free lawyers to low-income residents facing eviction.

“Together, we’ve also worked to tackle the housing crisis, creating the city’s first-ever inclusionary housing policy and housing trust fund, which has created thousands of affordable housing units for Detroiters, ensuring no one is left behind as the city grows,” Sheffield said.

In response to the Duggan endorsement, Kinloch issued a statement of his own: “Mayor Mike Duggan doesn’t get the right to decide his successor. The voters in Detroit will determine the next Mayor in November. We don’t have coronations. A mayoral endorsement won’t stop the violence in our streets. It won’t ensure a better education or create more opportunities for our children. After 12 years on the Detroit City Council — and 4 more as Council President — if you haven’t fixed it by now, you’re not going to. Detroit doesn’t need recycled ideas or the same politics that have left too many neighborhoods behind. Detroit needs fresh leadership, with the courage to do what career politicians couldn’t.

“This campaign is about voters who want to see investment in neighborhoods, not just Downtown. They want a mayor who will make housing affordable for everyone, a leader who will attack poverty, and someone with a proven record of taking direct action to uplift our communities. We will win this election in the streets — door to door and block by block — to ensure that no one is left out of Detroit’s continued growth.”

Dana Afana is the Detroit city hall reporter for the Free Press. Contact: dafana@freepress.com. Follow her: @DanaAfana.