City Council At-Large Candidates Go “Speed Dating” With Undecided Voters

Detroit residents got a taste of who’s running to represent the entire city on Detroit City Council Thursday night during a “speed dating” candidate forum hosted by Citizen Detroit and POGO.

It was a full room of mostly seniors at the IBEW Local 58 Thursday include Janee Ayers, James Harris, Gary Hunter, Valerie Parker. Incumbents Mary Waters and Coleman Young II also participated.

Shakira Lynn Hawkins and Levan Adams, who are also on the ballot as at-large candidates, were not in attendance.

Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey and former councilwoman Shiela Cockrel, who is behind Citizen Detroit, kicked things off stressing the importance of voting and civic engagement.

Candidates were then given seven minutes to make their pitch and answer questions about cost of living, neighborhoods and infrastructure. The forum also incorporated engagement activities where attendees would size up candidate speech and evaluate what they learned from their seven minute interviews with each candidate. There were fun activities too, like a round of Detroit trivia, which included questions like ‘What does Detroit mean in French?’ (The strait) and ‘What was Big Sean’s first studio album?’ (Finally Famous, 2010)

“We want you to find three people that you know don’t vote and give them our card with a QR code for our candidate videos and make a choice,” Cockrel said. “If you don’t like your choices, pick one, whether tweedledee or tweedledum. Get one, because if you don’t vote, somebody is voting for you.”

Cockrel said she wants to hold a similar type of event after the primary ahead of the Nov. 4 general election.

James Harris, a Detroit fire chief, introduced himself as a public servant, not a politician. His fiery message resonated with some of the attendees who listened to Harris talk about his career at the Detroit Fire Department.

“I look forward to him joining on, I’ll be voting for him,” said attendee Jesse Cockrel.

Another attendee, Joann Davis told Michigan Chronicle she felt like Harris’ background and outreach to his community was a big positive. She also mentioned Harris’ focus on boosting skilled trades.

At another table, Genesis Kent and her partner, Jon Kent, an urban farmer who lives in District 4, asked Harris about how he would support community land trusts and environmental racism.

Another attendee at the same table asked Harris whether he would support instituting residency requirements for police and fire fighters.

“Absolutely,” Harris said. “When I started, we had to live in the city. Then it changes and you could see the difference.”

A gong was rung after the seven minutes ended and candidates moved to other tables to meet with residents.

Parker, a self-described youth advocate vying for one of the two at-large seats, made some at one of the tables cringe when she stated her desire to “Make Detroit Great Again.”

Waters, who is seeking reelection, saw familiar faces at several tables. She pointed to the city housing initiatives she has supported and sponsored at city council. She’s a former member of Detroit Federation of Teachers and told one table her experience as an educator has helped inform her work as a politician.

Hunter, a longtime photographer running for a seat on council, told attendees he wants to turn vacant housing into homes.

“90% of the homes being built in Detroit right now are apartments,” Hunter said. “Seven permits were pulled last year to build single family homes.”

Young touted his nearly 20 year experience as a legislator, saying he’s got 17 laws and $1 billion appropriated.

“Like my father before me, I’m Coleman Alexander Young, and I bring home the bacon.”

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