Newly elected by the residents of Detroit, Council President-elect Charles Pugh and the city's other new leaders are making the media rounds this morning, vowing to bring a new sense of cooperation to city government.
Pugh, talking to the Free Press today about his win, said he envisions a new approach to city government in Detroit.
“It sends a message Detroiters have been thirsty and hungry for new leadership for a long time,” he said this morning. “Usually you might get one new person, maybe two. But it is hard beating an incumbent. And it is different to have more than half of the city council be new people. I don’t know that that’s ever happened before.”
Pugh, taking the council reins of a city saddled with debt, said his intends to tackle the budget first -- which may include layoffs. But he’ll steer clear of city employees doing a job comparable to the private sector. He also said he intends to avoid layoffs in the Detroit Police Department, instead focusing on putting administrative officers back on the street and citizens in office spots.
“There has to be sacred cows in the budget,” Pugh said. “They say everything should be on the table in this kind of crisis when you’re trying to avoid receivership. But our safety is the most important thing. We cannot be making more cuts to the police department. We need to make sure the mayor under the people want to see more officers on the street.”
One stop Pugh intends to make is to the Board of Elections for paperwork certifying he’ll be paid $85,000 a year for the new spot – cash to pay his mortgage.
“That’s officially provable income, and the mortgage company was kind enough to postpone the sheriff’s sale,” he said. “Now that the election has happened, I’m on much more solid footing negotiating.”
He said he also now has help from a lawyer adept at handling foreclosures and the Wayne County Mortgage Foreclosure Prevention Program, a county-funded program open to all residents.
“This was something that was frustrating and embarrassing for me as an individual,” he said. “However because it was exposed, very astute people adept at dealing with this have stepped forward to help me.”
Mayor Dave Bing, on WWJ-AM (950) this morning, said he'll also focus on the budget, which means reviewing each city department's efficiency and effectiveness. "The financial situation the city is in still my primary focus," Bing said this morning, adding that law enforcement and education also take top spots.
He said he won't advocate privatizing services already handled well by city employees.
"But we have to be competitive," he said.
Bing also said he also believes Time Magazine's ongoing analysis of Detroit - including one in this month's issue -- fails to look at the city's future promise.
"The spotlight has been on us for a long time from a negative standpoint," he said. "The article looks at our past more than our future."
On WWJ-AM (950), Gary Brown, elected to Detroit City Council's No. 2 spot, said he's looking forward to working with Bing, who will now serve a full four-year term.
"I think we haven’t had a city council and a mayor that have worked together in a long time, and I’m looking forward to collaborating with him," Brown said.
M.C.L comment: I'm hearing people taking shots at the election of Charles Pugh here's the problem I have with these people, I'm willingly to wager a lot of these people who say this or that about Charles Pugh are the same ones that helped get Ronald Reagan, George H.W. John Engler ,George and Barbara Bush special need son George into high office. If Charles Pugh sucks he will suffer when he's up for re-election.. I guess my problem with some in the suburbs is that some want to run what's going down in Detroit and at the same time those in the suburbs wouldn't want me to have a say in their city or county political affairs. Fair is fair if you want say in Detroit I should have say in Warren, Roseville, Eastpointe, Rochester Hills because I spent time there.
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