Detroit thread. Post Kwame, Monica, and $1 houses here.

[Syt]

http://www.retronaut.com/2013/08/psychedelic-postcards-grande-ballroom-detroit/

[Savonarola]

Mike Duggan, Benny Napoleon head for November showdown for Detroit mayor amid flood of write-ins

By Matt Helms, Joe Guillen and Marlon A. Walker

Detroit Free Press Staff Writers


In an uphill battle fought partly in court and partly in the neighborhoods of Detroit, former Detroit Medical Center CEO Mike Duggan heads for a showdown in November with Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon as both seasoned political figures vie to become the next mayor of Detroit.

"There was one message tonight: Detroiters wanted change," said Duggan to about 1,000 supporters who cheered him Tuesday night at the Antheneum Hotel in Greektown.

"My opponent went out and aired negative ads," Duggan said. "Then, out of the city's 500,000 registered voters, they found Mike Dugeon."

With 100% of the precincts reporting, Napoleon had 28,352 votes or 30% of the total votes cast, to 50,328 votes or 53% for write-in candidates, with Duggan presumably garnering the vast majority of those. Duggan said about 97% of write-ins were correctly spelled for Duggan. The Mike Dugeon he referenced is a 31-year old barber who was added as a write-in candidate one day before the deadline.

"Looks like we're gonna end up with 52 percent of the vote," Duggan said at around 11:10 p.m.. "Six weeks ago, I was out of this campaign. I thought it was over. But the volunteers inspired me."

Meanwhile, Napoleon's campaign was watching early returns at the Teamsters Michigan Conference hall on Trumbull.

Napoleon told supporters the race was only at halftime, and he wasn't about to give up on the city.

"This was never supposed to be easy," he said to cheers. "The stakes are way too high for this to be easy. ... They have outspent me 4-1, but I'm here. There have been attempts to break our spirit, to suppress our vote, an emergency manager, bankruptcy, evidence that it was the plan all along, reduced to 'dumb and lazy,' but our spirit cannot, will not and must not be broken."

Political analyst Eric Foster called the results "very bad" for Napoleon and a big shock to his supporters who thought he was the front-runner.

"The strategy this go-round didn't work," Foster said. "They're going to have to go back and retool everything. It's going to have to be broader than an issue of race."

Duggan is white and moved from Livonia to Detroit last year. Napoleon is black and has lived in Detroit all of his life. Both men have political experience as elected officials and both have law degrees.

Napoleon's campaign can still win in November, Foster said. "It's doable. But it will be difficult."

Napoleon spokesman Jamaine Dickens echoed the sheriff's remarks.

"You win the primary by being No. 1or No. 2, so tonight is a victory," Dickens said. "I think it's sobering for some people who thought this would be easy. But the stakes are too high for it to be easy. And that means that folks get the opportunity now to take a look at both candidates and really participate in a dialogue about the city of Detroit. Things now get very clear."

The two emerged out of a field of 16. The next closest vote getter was former Detroit corporation counsel Krystal Crittendon with 6% of the vote. Those knocked out of the general election garnered about 16% of the vote Tuesday, which should have Duggan and Napoleon courting their support in November.

A final vote count of write-in ballots isn't expected until Wednesday, and official results could take days.

Early Wednesday morning, election workers were still at it at the election office on West Grand Boulevard.

Daniel Baxter, director of elections for the city of Detroit, said his night was made easier by the majority of voters going to the polls with the correct spelling for their chosen candidate.

"It didn't add the complexities that many thought (spelling gaffes) would," Baxter said. "It's pretty clear what Detroiters wanted to do in terms of voting."

There were few variations of the lead write-in candidate's name, said Baxter.

"Mike Duggan," "Mik Duggan" and just" "Duggan'' accounted for 97% of the write-in votes as of 1 a.m. today.

The last time a write-in candidate almost won the city's mayorship was in 1925 when Charles Bowles ran. He lost the general election after several of the write-in votes he received were disqualified. He won election four years later.

Political consultant Skip Mongo, a Napoleon supporter, said at Napoleon's gathering Tuesday night that he had been watching election results at the city's Election Commission and saw precincts where Duggan was carrying 50% or more of the votes, from "wealthy areas to the hood."

Mongo took the early returns as a wake-up call for Napoleon's campaign.

"They've got to beat the pavement. They've got to turn over rocks. They've got to energize people," Mongo said. "Right now that charge is Napoleon's."

Mongo noted that it's a primary election, and that projected turnout of 17% means most voters in the city stayed home Tuesday.

"This is not a mandate for Duggan," Mongo said. Still, if Napoleon and Duggan came in "dead even, that would be a wake up call. If Benny only won by 2%-3%, that's a wake-up call."

Duggan wasted little time Tuesday giving a glimpse of what he will be talking about on the campaign trail in the next few months.

Duggan said Belle Isle, the Detroit Institute of Arts and rec centers are critical to the city's future. "They have to be protected," he said.

"We're going to go see Gov. Snyder ... and it will be time to thank Mr. Orr for his services and send him back to Washngton D.C.," Duggan said.

Duggan received some criticism during the campaign when text messages from one of Gov. Rick Snyder's advisers revealed that Duggan was consulted and offered advice in the selection of Kevyn Orr as the state-appointed emergency manager. Duggan also sat on the board of the Education Achievement Authority, a state school district that was created from the approval of the emergency manager law.

Though activity seemed slow throughout the day, predictions of a record-low voter turnout for Detroit's primary election for its next mayor and City Council didn't bear out Tuesday, according to election officials.

Duggan appeared to be putting to rest the conventional wisdom that write-in candidates have no chance in Detroit, with voters at polling spots across the city saying they were writing him in. His message that his experience in turning around financial troubled entities in Wayne County, the suburban bus system and the once nearly bankrupt Medical Center appeared to resonate with residents of a city that has filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

"This is the response I've been getting all day," Duggan said after thanking supporters on the city's northwest side Tuesday. "People have been wonderful, and we'll find out at 8 p.m. how it turns out."

Detroit Elections Director Daniel Baxter said that voter turnout, customarily low in primary elections statewide, had broken the 13% threshold by 5:30 p.m. There were concerns that turnout could set a record low given concerns about voter apathy as Detroit wades through a historic bankruptcy petition with the city under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager.

Baxter said he expected voter turnout to hit 17% by the day's end, with vote tallies for candidates on the ballot completed by 11 p.m. Tuesday. While those results were expected to give an overall count of how many people wrote in candidates, Baxter said it would take an additional two hours — or until about 1 a.m. today — for elections workers to count by hand each write-in vote and tally variations of spellings of candidates including Duggan.

While candidates were preparing for late-evening soirées, Dugeon was home watching television. The late-entry write-in candidate said he voted Tuesday afternoon, then returned home to relax.

There's no party planned for the Dugeon campaign, but that doesn't mean Dugeon won't be out and about, he said.

"I might go to Mike Duggan's party" at the hotel, Dugeon said. "Walk through there, have a couple drinks. Just hang out."

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind for the 31-year-old barber. He's been off work more than a week after the press became too much of a distraction and hasn't been staying at his northwest Detroit home for the same reason. Friday morning, he was robbed and carjacked.

While his candidacy began somewhat as a joke, he said he started taking the matter more seriously when people he'd never met before started reaching out to show their support.

"I couldn't let them down," he said.

Political analyst Eric Foster, who's done work for mayoral candidate state Rep. Fred Durhal Jr., said he heard from several poll inspectors on the city's west side that there were a significant number of spoiled ballots from voters who improperly wrote in candidates for mayor and other city offices. But Baxter reported no major voting delays, although there were complaints that voting machines had jammed at an east-side precinct where there were few signs to direct voters to new polling locations.

"It's been a pretty smooth day," Baxter said.

Smooth is not how the campaign had gone before Tuesday.

Duggan was booted off the ballot after competitor Tom Barrow challenged whether Duggan had lived in the city — having moved there from suburban Livonia — for a full year the day he turned in campaign signatures to run.

Two courts sided with Barrow, forcing Duggan to run as a write-in at the urging of downtown business leaders who were among the biggest donors to his $1.2-million campaign war chest.

Napoleon raised about half that much but gathered far more major endorsements from unions, clergy and election slates citywide, and polls showed he was a virtual shoo-in for one of two top spots to make it to the Nov. 5 general election.

Dickens, Napoleon's campaign spokesman, said Napoleon purposefully wanted a low-key election event Tuesday night, because winning the primary only meant he had another election to win this fall.

Napoleon would celebrate a victory Tuesday night but not rest there, Dickens said.

"For us this is the beginning of the campaign," Dickens said. "We're getting focused and reloading."

Former top city attorney Krystal Crittendon's opposition to emergency manager Kevyn Orr drew the support of Paul Kempinski, an east-sider who works for the city's recreation department and said he appreciated her message about restoring trust and cleaning up contracting for city services.

"The thing is, what we really need is honest in the mayor's office," Kampinski said after voting at East English Village Academy on the city's east side. "There's a whole lot of grief in this city, and it's all being done behind closed doors. Detroit can solve its problems when it knows what the problems are."

Heading to Henry Ford High School on the campaign trail, Crittendon said she was "having a really great time, but I'm most excited by the fact that a large number of Detroiters are rallying behind my cry to get Kevyn Orr out of the city."

Referring to comments Orr made in the Wall Street Journal calling the city of years past "dumb, lazy, happy and rich," Crittendon said Orr "has proven to us that he is someone who has disdain for us residents of this city. If the governor won't remove him, I will fire him."

But it was that stance that turned off Detroiter Ezekiel Burns, a postal worker from the city's east side who wrote in Duggan's name.

"Krystal Crittendon insulted my integrity — you try to fire the emergency manager and it's only going to cost us more money," Burns said after voting at Clark Elementary. "Tom Barrow keeps trying to bring race into it. Benny Napoleon, what has he done?"

Debra Bray, a retail manager from the east side, said that she voted for Duggan.

"I think he'll be the best candidate, and I think he'll bring more jobs and business to Detroit," she said. "He's going to go by the book. He'll get the streetlights working again, and he'll get more police officers on the street."

But the issue of public safety in a city that's among the nation's most violent led many voters to choose Napoleon, the longtime lawman.

"He has had leadership roles as police officer, as well as Wayne County sheriff," said James Wright, 69. "Detroit needs someone like Napoleon."

Ruth Brown, 45, said Napoleon is the right candidate for the job.

"Benny Napoleon is a native Detroiter and he has more of a connection with Detroit than the other candidates," Brown said.

Detroit mayoral candidate Lisa Howze, a certified public accountant and former state representative, arrived shortly after 7 a.m. to cast her ballot — she was the fourth voter at her precinct — at Greater St. Paul Baptist Church on Gratiot.

"I think people are looking for solutions. They want answers," she said. "I always say that the City of Detroit can not get better until life is better for the people who live here and so that means safe, clean streets, the ability to have access to jobs and opportunity as well as strong neighborhoods anchored by strong schools."

Howze's message attracted the vote of Carole Stramler, a professor at Wayne State University.

"Why not have a female mayor?" she said. "If we're going to rebuild, why not rebuild from scratch?"

Voters said their vote felt less important because elected officials have little authority under the emergency manager.

"I feel like ultimately, all the decisions for the city are going to be made by the emergency manager and the governor," said Aaquila Shepard, 32, who voted at the North Rosedale Park Community House.

Shepard said the emergency manager's presence dampened her excitement for the new process of electing council members by district.

"I like the idea of having a council person who lives in your district to represent you," she said.

Leon Bradford, 65, agreed the emergency manager's authority loomed over the election. Bradford, who also voted at the North Rosedale Park Community House, said he felt like his voting rights have been taken away.

"I don't see where the council can do a whole lot," he said. "What can a council member do? They can't oppose the guy."

This was a strange election, even by Detroit standards.  Duggan is an unlikely front-runner since he's a white man and a carpet-bagger.  He had his name removed from the ballot because he didn't meet the residency requirement.  He ran a write-in campaign and, at the last minute a Mike Dugeon entered as a write in candidate; so the people who voted for "Mike D" or the like had their votes disqualified.  (The News had a list of the write-ins by name; someone voted for "The White Man Mike Duggan.")

Fortunately the budget crisis deniers lost. Mike Duggan and Benny Napoleon are both decent choices.

[The Brain]

Benny Napoleon? You don't have to be an actual person?

[Darth Wagtaros]

Benny Napoleon? You don't have to be an actual person?

Not in Detroit.

[Malthus]

Benny Napoleon? You don't have to be an actual person?

Not in Detroit.

That applies to voters, not candidates. 

[KRonn]

Heh, very strange election indeed. 

[Savonarola]

This sounds promising, but the police department has been reformed before and nothing much changed:

Detroit— Police Chief James Craig said Thursday he plans to overhaul the police department to fix several problems he's uncovered since assuming command July 1.

Among the changes: A complete restructuring of what Craig said is a top-heavy organization, which includes significantly reducing the much-criticized Executive Protection Unit for the mayor and City Council; an initiative targeting carjackings; and ensuring the department monitors their expenses.

In one instance, Craig said he found the department was paying for vehicles with expired leases that had blown engines and were not operational.

"I wish I could make this up," Craig said during his bi-weekly press conference at Police Headquarters. "You might detect a little frustration in my voice."

Craig said a large part of the problem is with the department's command staff, which he said has been content with the "Status quo. No sense of urgency. No accountability. Those are the kind of things that I'm committed to change.

"The men and women who wear this uniform are hardworking and committed ... but I've been somewhat critical of those who have held executive level positions," Craig said.

"You will see in the coming weeks a new organizational structure that will look nothing like what you saw. I have every intention of flattening the organization. One of the criticisms of the police department is that we're top-heavy, and I, along with the consultants, agree we are top heavy. We're taking a very critical look at who sits at the executive levels of this organization."

The Manhattan Institute and Bratton Group signed a contract June to suggest ways to improve the department at a cost of $621,578. The three-month contract, which runs from July to October, calls for the consultants to be in Detroit until October, aiding with several initiatives, including restructuring the command staff, and an effort to prevent street crime through aggressive traffic enforcement.

Other issues Craig addressed during his wide-ranging, hour-long press conference included:

■Reducing the number of bodyguards assigned to the mayor and City Council. There are 22 members assigned to guard Mayor Dave Bing, but Craig said that will change immediately.

"Effective Monday, we're reducing that number to one supervisor and five police officers," he said. "That's a significant reduction. The officers ... are being reassigned to operational assignments.
"In my judgment, every officer counts. We're talking about a time of fiscal crisis. This is not just about the mayor's EPU; this is about the larger picture."

The number of guards assigned to City Council will drop from five to 3, with one supervisor and two officers, Craig said.

■Using civilians as dispatchers instead of officers who will return to patrol duty.

"For as long as I've known, dispatchers have been sworn officers," Craig said. "We're moving to civilianize that function."

"My message to the command staff is, take a look at your commands, start identifying police officers that are working in clerical positions and make a decision," he said. "Because there will come a time when I will make a decision for them, very soon, and we'll start pushing those officers into the field."

■Bringing back the Tactical Services Section that was disbanded under former chief Chester Chester Logan, which will, in part, put an emphasis on suppressing gang activity.

"We're looking at several platoons of officers involved in TSS," Craig said. "One platoon will consist of (Special Response Team) officers. Their mission will be directed to hot spots, where we're seeing spikes in violent crime.

"We are looking at bringing back, as part of that effort, a Gang Intelligence Unit. We're not certain there will be uniformed officers in a Gang Squad configuration, but we will have a gang intelligence function that will be married to our TSS officers, who will be deployed. If we have an active street gang that's involved in carjacking, then the mission of TSS for a period of time will be to disrupt that gang. Gang function will exist; just not in a gang squad format."

■Hiring more officers. Craig said the department is losing through retirement and attrition about 20 to 25 officers per month. He said there are about 20 trainees in the Police Academy now, but wants to hire 60 more. "We're in a big push to hire," he said. "We have the funding for it. It's city funding. It was already earmarked."

■Bringing detectives back to the precincts, a policy which was abandoned by former Chief Ralph Godbee, who moved them into a centralized location.

"I think there's a lot of value in that," Craig said. "We talk about community policing partnerships; it's important that community members know they can reach out and touch a detective.

"We will maintain a centralized investigative function for more serious crimes like homicides and sexual assaults ... but in terms of generalized investigations like home invasions not involving, say, serial home invasions, will probably be at the precinct level," Craig said.

■Craig also said two officers from the Northeast District have been suspended without pay after they allegedly fired about 20 shots at a dog, killing it.

"The incident occurred on July 21; two officers assigned to the NE district received a radio run of a vicious dog who was chasing children in the area of Nevada and Shields," Craig said. "Supervisors conducted video review, and it revealed the actions of the officers.

"The preliminary investigation revealed several departmental policy violations, and possible criminal behavior. Based on the review of that video and impending investigation, the officers have been suspended without pay as a result of their actions, and a complete investigation of this matter is being conducted by our Force Investigation Division."

Upon completion of that investigation, the matter will be forwarded to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office for review, Craig said.

■The two alleged robbers posing as Detroit police officers have been arrested, Craig said. Those men are different from the two sergeants — one from Detroit, the other from St. Clair Shores — who sources say took back $500 and a cell phone from men who'd robbed the daughter of the St. Clair Shores sergeant. That case is still under investigation, Craig said.

"On July 29 and Aug. 4, suspects had identified themselves as police officers, stopped victims who all were on foot, and subsequently frisked and robbed the victims of their cash and personal property," Craig said. "The victims in both instances described the perpetrators as having wore badges and bullet-proof vests, and a vehicle description was provided.

"(On Aug. 4), Northeast District Special Operations (officers) were on patrol in the area of 7 Mile and Van Dyke, and they observed the wanted vehicle. They conducted a stop of the vehicle and arrested two suspects. The officers recovered badges, bulletproof vests and two firearms."

Warrant requests were submitted to Wayne County Prosecutors. One arrestee is currently on parole for weapons and home invasion-related offense, Craig said.



From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130808/METRO01/308080119#ixzz2bPjptDMD

Bad cops, bad cops, what you gonna do?  What you gonna do when they come for you?

I'm surprised they still had so many police officers assigned to the mayor.  From what I had read I assumed that was a patronage program for Kwame Kilpatrick's high school buddies.

[Barrister]

Why would you have any cops assigned to protect the mayor? 

[CountDeMoney]

Why would you have any cops assigned to protect the mayor? 

Because people don't always like their mayors.

[Savonarola]

Why would you have any cops assigned to protect the mayor? 

For the same reason Subways in Detroit have to have bullet proof glass between you and the sandwich artist.

Detroit is a dangerous place.  It really doesn't need the publicity that would come from, say, having the mayor get car jacked.

[Admiral Yi]

For the same reason Subways in Detroit have to have bullet proof glass between you and the sandwich artist.

  That's nuts.

[Tonitrus]

Why would you have any cops assigned to protect the mayor? 

Why would you have any cops assigned to protect the President/Prime Minister/Grand Potentate?

[Savonarola]

For the same reason Subways in Detroit have to have bullet proof glass between you and the sandwich artist.

  That's nuts.

It's Detroit.  You have to shout your toppings at the sandwich maker. 

I have a friend who grew up in Detroit and then went to college at The Catholic University of America in Washington DC.  It was only well after college that he learned that there were post offices and banks without bullet proof glass between at the teller windows.

[Admiral Yi]

There must be other fast food joints that operate in Motown.  How do they handle crime?

[Savonarola]

There must be other fast food joints that operate in Motown.  How do they handle crime?

I think the concern with Subway in particular is that they usually have a small staff, especially at late hours and they don't have a seating area.  Other restaurants will usually have larger staffs and customers around, so they don't go to such extreme measures.