Key takeaways from Mackinac Policy Conference’s Detroit mayoral debate

MACKINAC ISLAND – On the final night of the Mackinac Policy Conference, five candidates gathered in the Grand Hotel’s Tea Garden to make their case on why they should be Detroit’s next mayor. 

The five-person panel included former Detroit Police Chief James Craig, Detroit City Council member Fred Durhal III, former nonprofit CEO Saunteel Jenkins, Triumph Church Pastor Rev. Solomon Kinloch, Jr. and current Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield. Candidates fielded questions about the city’s tax incentives, their plans to support business and education, address violent crime and poverty and ensure sustainable funding in the city’s budget. 

Although the panel did not represent the full range of candidates seeking election as the city’s mayor, the group was selected by the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Political Action Committee due to time constraints. Attorney Todd Perkins, businessman Joel Haashiim, entrepreneur Jonathan Barlow and two-time mayoral candidate Danetta Simpson are also competing for Detroit’s executive office, with the primary election scheduled for August 5. The two candidates with the highest vote total will advance to the general election on Nov. 4. 

With a wide field of candidates each seeking to make the final ballot, here are the highlights from each participant.

Saunteel Jenkins

Opening the debate, Jenkins noted that many of the city’s tax abatement programs would begin expiring in 2027, with over half set to expire by 2030. Jenkins said she would retool these programs at the risk of losing businesses and jobs within Detroit.

As Mayor Mike Duggan – who opted against seeking reelection to pursue an independent bid for governor – worked to rebuild confidence in the city, bringing in investments and jobs, the same needed to happen in the city’s neighborhoods, Jenkins said, calling for a commercial corridor in each of the city’s seven districts.

“We have to ensure that our planning is intentional and that it is inclusive,” Jenkins said. “And when we are having discussions about tax abatements, discussions about affordable housing, we have a real plan in place that is driving development and affordable housing and public transit in a way that is building our neighborhoods.”

If elected, Jenkins said she would craft a strategic plan to help shape economic development in each district, working with communities to decide how they want their commercial districts to look. There is also a need for additional office space for startups that can’t afford space downtown, she said.

Neighborhood planning efforts should include schools, in order to ensure students have access to high quality options for education, Jenkins said.

Additionally, as the city moves forward without $826 million in federal revenue it received through the American Rescue Plan Act, and payments under the city’s “Grand Bargain” coming to an end, the city needed to find ways to grow its businesses and its population, Jenkins said. She noted that she sees a role for a chief growth officer in her administration, if elected. 

Fred Durhal III

Throughout the debate, Durhal pointed to his prior experience as a member of the Michigan Legislature, promising to coordinate with lawmakers on property tax reform and a willingness to go to bat for additional resources for education within the city.

He repeatedly noted, however, that solutions come with a price tag, quoting his grandmother in saying there’s “no romance without finance.”

Aside from pressing the city to utilize its current resources and maintaining discipline in the budget process, Durhal proposed a tax on blighted properties and a speculative tax on land sitting under development as potential new sources of revenue.

He also pitched a corridor improvement authority for the city, focused on creating walkable neighborhoods where residents have access to groceries and other amenities, which could catalyze small business in the process.

Solomon Kinloch

Kinloch remained focused on Detroit’s neighborhoods and their residents throughout the debate, and said he would work to bring the neighborhoods to the table on issues like tax policy. Kinloch said that the next mayor needed to be open to doing something new to address homelessness, poverty and job creation.

He also argued the city’s budget could use input from people whose priorities are aligned with the community. 

On the push to bring business back to residential areas of the city, Kinloch said Detroit should leverage its corporate, philanthropic and community partnerships to create an apprenticeship program to funnel Detroiters into high paying jobs. The city should also work with private-industry grocers to mentor entrepreneurship opportunities, Kinloch said. He also called for an end to food deserts within the city’s neighborhoods. 

“People shouldn’t have to eat out of a liquor store or a gas station,” Kinloch said.

Addressing education, Kinloch said his administration would bring in a chief educational officer to coordinate with the Detroit Public Schools superintendent and school board to ensure that the city is providing supplemental resources to ensure students arrive at school healthy and whole. 

James Craig

As his fellow candidates offered pitches to address poverty and support businesses in the city, Craig said there needs to be a focus on growing the middle class.

“I talked a lot about growing small businesses. That doesn’t take away from continuing to grow big businesses,” Craig said. “We have got to raise revenues in the city. … We have to collaborate.”

That means having a business-friendly city, Craig said.

“And one of the things that I’ve heard as chief and deputy mayor over time is that in many of the neighborhoods, they feel left out,” he said. “They feel left out, the businesses feel left out.”

Craig argued there’s too much red tape for businesses coming into the city, and that efforts to make the city more friendly to business would help stabilize property taxes and keep them lower. He further emphasized the importance of continuing to bring in new business, and that tax dollars pay for vital services like police, fire departments and infrastructure. 

On policing, Craig promised to pick up where he left off in building trust through neighborhood policing, and noted that homicides had fallen to the lowest level since the 1960s during his tenure as police chief.

However, Craig criticized gun buyback programs within the city, saying “I have never in my 44 years in policing seen a criminal turn in a gun.”

“They don’t work. It’s all political talk,” he said. 

While other candidates pledged to work across the aisle to win support for the city from lawmakers in Lansing, Craig pointed to his existing relationship with President Donald Trump, who praised Craig for his response to Black Lives Matter protests in the Summer of 2020. 

Protestors later filed federal lawsuits arguing the Detroit Police Department used unconstitutional and excessive force and prevented them from exercising their First Amendment rights. The city agreed to a $1 million settlement in 2022.

“It’s not about me, it’s not about the president, it’s about the city of Detroit,” he said.

Mary Sheffield

As her opponents offered solutions to address the expiring tax abatement program, Sheffield said her focus would be on addressing poverty and the high property tax rate, which lead to the need for these programs to begin with. Sheffield promised “real structural property tax reform,” instead. 

The city also needs to continue to build its middle class, Sheffield said, noting that while Detroit’s median income sits around $38,000, the median for the state is around $70,000.

“Without a doubt, we have to ensure that more investment comes back into our neighborhoods, and that we’re activating our commercial corridors,” Sheffield said. “I’m very excited for my administration to be way more hands on as it relates to the education of our youth.”

Schools and the workforce are also targets for support, Sheffield said. 

“We have to invest more in education and the workforce, creating a pipeline that is ready for the jobs that are coming for today and of tomorrow,” she said.

Sheffield also called for a holistic approach in addressing crime which includes community policing alongside programs and efforts to deal with the root causes of violence. She said that could be done by providing support for mental health, jobs and education. If elected, Sheffield said she would retain Todd Bettison as police chief.

Detroit is also in need of a new funding approach for programs that would have previously been funded by the federal government. Sheffield said she would consider floating a local sales option tax, a tax on admission to sporting events, concerts and other types of entertainment or a half-a-penny tax.

“If cost savings could be achieved within various departments, I think we should look at that, but more importantly, it’s going to be about bringing more revenue into the city of Detroit to fund various programs,” Sheffield said, who later promised to aggressively pursue federal funding alongside state and local partners.