Free read, March 3-7: Duggan's tax cuts, Big Sean's mayor's race shoutout, new RenCen plan
Here's what was happening this week
Howdy, folks!
Another week of Detroit one million scoops — we were first to report on James Craig’s rumored mayoral run and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist’s expected bid for governor.
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There’s more than a month left for potential candidates to file. The current field of likely candidates includes:
Detroit City Council President Mary Sheffield; Triumph Church pastor Solomon Kinloch Jr.; City Councilman Fred Durhal III; Nonprofit leader Saunteel Jenkins; Former police chief James Craig: Attorney Todd Perkins; Activist Rogelio Landin; Businessmen Jonathan Barlow and Joel Haashiim.
Thank you to everyone who joined our subscriber meetup last week, virtually and in-person, where we discussed Origins of the Urban Crisis at the Detroit Public Library.
I gained some key insight from college students and recent graduates who feel like networking and building community in college post-pandemic just isn’t the same.
You’ll read more from that discussion later.
This week was a lot. Between President Donald Trump’s State of the Union, the reaction (good and bad) to the Democratic response, including Texas Rep. Al Green’s defiant interruption and Sen. Elissa Slotkin’s appeal to the middle, tariff news and another new Detroit mayoral candidate, here’s what else I was paying attention to:
Duggan wants tax cuts for Detroit residents
Mayor Mike Duggan last week proposed a property tax cut during his $3 billion budget proposal for the city’s next fiscal year (July 1 through June 30, 2026).
Duggan wants to cut the city’s debt millage from 7 to 4 mills. Last year, the debt millage dropped from 8 to 7 mills.
Duggan was confident the city was in good shape financially, with more than $550 million in reserves, saying his proposed budget comes “with cushions against what may come.”
“Our revenues are running very strong,” Duggan told council last Friday. “We are actually running $70 million ahead of projection in the existing fiscal years — a huge difference from days past where councils would adopt a an artificial budget and then miss the revenues.”
The city is over $22 million in income tax collections, $30 million in gaming collections, $7 million in property tax collections, Duggan said. Detroit is also $2 million under in expenditures. For the 11th straight year, Detroit will finish this fiscal year with a surplus.
Duggan thanked council for taking the heat on economic development deals his administration says are necessary for growing revenues.
“We are in this situation because the courage of council,” he said. “In many ways, you bear the grief of this more than I do, but it is because this council has recognized that the choke point in this city's development has been our property taxes. When we have 86 mills and the suburbs have half of that, almost nobody is going to build their business in the city, and pay twice as much in taxes, which meant the only way we could recruit these companies was to give them discounts.”
Read more from Dana Afana: Mayor Mike Duggan delivers $3B Detroit budget with tax cuts, DDOT boost, homeless outreach
Buttigieg discussing potential Michigan Senate bid
Former transportation secretary and new Michigan resident Pete Buttigieg can’t decide whether he wants to run for the state’s open Senate seat, Politico reports.
He met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer last week to talk about it.
“The former Transportation secretary is still undecided about a Senate run in his adopted home state, according to five people familiar with the situation. But the meeting with Schumer was a sign of how seriously he is considering it,” writes Politico’s Nicholas Wu and Adam Wren.
Buttigieg, 43, previously served as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, before running for president in 2020. Since his White House run, Buttigieg has postured himself on cable networks and social media as a leading voice for the next generation of Democrats, willing to debate and defend Democratic values against detractors on nontraditional mediums.
State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak and U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Oakland County, are also taking steps toward potential runs for the seat left open by Democratic U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, Politico reports.
Green Dot Stables owner buying Kiesling
A popular Milwaukee Junction cocktail bar and lounge is being acquired by the hospitality group which owns Green Dot Stables and Yellow Light Coffee & Donuts.
The hospitality group sent out a statement to local media this week after confirming the news to me three weeks ago.
It’s unclear whether Kiesling will undergo noticeable changes. I was told by a restaurant worker with direct knowledge of the situation several bartenders weren’t on board with the direction under new ownership.
Jacques Driscoll, the owner of InLaws Hospitality, confirmed two bartenders left amid the change in ownership, but said customers shouldn’t expect major changes.
“It’s our favorite bar… The only change people should expect is opening on Sundays.”
Big Sean gives Sheffield shoutout on new verse
Rapper Big Sean is wading into the mayor’s race on Icewear Vezzo and Skilla Baby’s new song, “Worth Something,” from Vezzo’s latest project released Friday.
“Might just run for mayor for real, put that on Mary Sheffield,” Big Sean declares at the 1:39 mark in the song.
Sheffield’s office has teamed up with Big Sean’s Sean Anderson Foundation since before she was council president to host concerts and youth programming as part of the annual Annual Detroit’s On Now (D.O.N.) Weekend.
Could we see more celebrities sound off on the mayor’s race?
UAW sides with Trump on tariffs
The United Auto Workers (UAW) union said Tuesday it supports President Trump’s tariffs, calling it an “aggressive” action to alter past trade agreements with neighboring countries.
“We look forward to working with the White House to shape the auto tariffs in April to benefit the working class,” the UAW said in a statement.
“For 40 years, we’ve seen the devastating effects of so-called “free trade” on the working class. Corporations have been driving a non-stop race to the bottom by killing good blue-collar jobs in America to go exploit some poor worker in another country by paying poverty wages. Tariffs are a powerful tool in the toolbox for undoing the injustice of anti-worker trade deals. We are glad to see an American president take aggressive action on ending the free trade disaster that has dropped like a bomb on the working class.”
The union acknowledged the criticism from Democrats and economists warning the tariffs will disrupt the economy. Local governments, including Detroit’s, are actively bracing for the potential impacts of Trump’s tariffs.
“But if corporate America chooses to price-gouge the American consumer or attack the American worker because they don’t want to pay their fair share, corporate America bears the blame for that decision,” the union said.
UAW president Shawn Fain last month went viral for slamming Democrats for not representing workers. His alliance with Trump on the proposed tariffs is happening despite his vocal opposition to most of the president’s agenda.
The union’s statement in support of the tariffs included criticism of NAFTA, saying they look forward to working with Trump to end the “free-trade disaster.”
They called for American companies to reinvest in America, and “stop cheating the American worker, the American consumer, and the American taxpayer.”
North American-built vehicles are exempt from Tump's 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico if they were following U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement rules enacted during Trump's first term.
"We are going to give a one-month exemption on any autos coming through USMCA... so they are not at a disadvantage," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday. "Reciprocal tariffs will still go into effect April 2."
Trump offered the 30-day pause on USMCA-compliant vehicles in return for increasing production in the U.S. during a call Tuesday with General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Ford CEO Jim Farley, Ford executive chair Bill Ford Jr. and Stellantis chairman John Elkann, Reuters reported.
Carborn monoxide poisoning killed Detroit children, medical examiner report
The Wayne County medical examiner’s report determined the cause of death of Tateona Williams’ two children was carbon monoxide poisoning.
News reports initially stated her children died of hypothermia, but in a news interview with Channel 4 last month Williams said she believed it was impossible her children froze to death.
“We will continue investigating the facts and circumstances of the case and submit our findings to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office,” Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison said in a statement provided to me Thursday. The case remains under investigation.
Charges against Williams, 29, are still possible, once the investigation is completed and the prosecutor’s office reviews the information. Williams, who was homeless, is currently staying in a home provided by the city.
Five children were reportedly sleeping in the same van parked inside a Greektown parking structure when Williams, the children’s mother, noticed her 9-year-old son, Darnell Currie, Jr., was not breathing. While at the hospital, the children’s grandmother reported A’Millah Currie, Williams’ 2-year-old daughter, was also unconscious.
The manner of death for both children is accident, the medical examiner reported.
New Renaissance Center plan could cost taxpayers $100M less than projected
GM and Bedrock leaders held a panel Thursday at Eastern Market to discuss their plan to redevelop the Renaissance Center to make the site a Navy Pier, Willis (Sears) Tower-esque attraction.
Jared Fleisher, vice president of government affairs for Dan Gilbert's Rock, and David Massaron, vice president of infrastructure and corporate citizenship at General Motors Co., spoke about the potential changes Thursday at the Downtown Detroit Partnership’s spring forum at Eastern Market.
The initial pitch was $350 million in subsidies from the state and Downtown Development Authority to tear down two of the riverfront facing towers and improve the area’s public amenities and riverfront connection.
Fleisher told reporters after the event the true value of the brownfield tax incentive would be $150-175 million, Crain’s reported. The planners also compared a proposed observation deck to that of Chicago’s Willis Tower.
Republican House Speaker Matt Hall joined grassroots critics in Detroit in voicing opposition to the use of public tax capture for the redevelopment when the plan was initially announced.
It’s unclear to this point (Friday, March 7, 4:43pm) if the lowered public subsidy figure is enough to change Hall’s mind. I’ll update you when I hear back from his spokesperson.
This week, city council members rejected a proposal from District 2 council member Angela Whitfield Calloway to designate the RenCen as a historic site. Every other council member voted against her, saying doing so would have made the proposed redevelopment impossible.