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The
First
100 Days
a
Success
for
Detroit’s
Mayor
and City
Council
By Karen
Hudson
Samuels/Tell
Us
Detroit
DETROIT,
MI (Tell
Us Det)
- A new
spirit
of
cooperation
has
emerged
between
the
executive
and
legislative
branches
of
Detroit’s
government
during
the
first
100 days
of their
terms.
Mayor
Mike
Duggan
and City
Council
President
Brenda
Jones
shared
their
experiences
before a
forum
hosted
by the
Booker
T.
Washington
Business
Association
Wednesday
that was
attended
by over
200
BTWBA
members,
business
owners
and
community
leaders
at the
St Regis
Hotel.
Having
city
leadership
work
hand-in-hand
together
said
Council
President
Jones
has been
a
highlight
of the
first
100
days.
“We
can’t
have a
better
Detroit
if you
don’t
see the
top two
people
working
together.”
Jones
noted
there
had not
been
much
communication
between
the two
offices
during
her last
eight
years in
office.
A
“different
tone” of
communication
is how
Mayor
Duggan
characterized
the
relationship
with
council,
even
after
hours.
To drive
home the
point
Duggan
shared
the
amusing
story of
how
Brenda
Jones
called
him one
night
demanding
that
something
must be
done
with the
bus
system.
“I asked
her why
she was
calling
at 9PM”
said
Duggan.
She told
me had
seen
someone
waiting
for the
Linwood
bus and
decided
to given
them a
ride
home.
The
Mayor
got the
message
and on
more
serious
note
talked
later
about
the
city’s
need for
225
buses to
ensure
better
service,
but said
they are
moving
in that
direction
having
by
increased
to 175
the
number
of buses
on city
streets.
A
landmark
success
cited by
the
Mayor
has been
the
ability
to bring
together
nine
different
agencies
to work
on the
city’s
challenge
of
abandoned
homes.
While
demolition
is one
solution,
Duggan
said
often
homes
are
destroyed
that
could be
rehabbed.
On
Monday
of this
week the
Mayor
unveiled
a new
auction
website,
www.buildingdetroit.org
where
prospective
buyers
can bid
on
vacant
city
owned
homes.
Duggan
said
90,000
visitors
have
gone to
the site
and
thousands
more
have
registered
to
participate
in the
online
auction.
The
first
homes
available
are in
the East
Village
neighborhood.
The
auction
website
if part
of
Duggan’s
Neighborhood
Rebuilding
Program
which
last
week
posted
notices
on 79
vacant
homes in
Marygrove.
If the
homes
are
seized
they
will
added to
the
website
for
future
auctions.
The
Booker
T.
Washington
Business
Association
forum on
the
“First
100
Days”
was
their
12th
annual
program
on the
“Keys to
Business
Success”.
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