There are few kind words that this publication can express when it comes to thinking about the dominant political class who currently run Metro Detroit.
Yet, as it stands today, not many people you'd encounter on the street would think that this city is dominated by the same type of political machine that existed during the "bad ol' days" of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century.
For those of you who genuinely believe that our local politicians are in their current positions because they simply "earned it" by running in and winning elections, Black Label Detroit is formulating this report to tell you it's time to wake up, smell the manure and finally dispel that catastrophically ill-informed illusion. In fact, this publication would go so far as to tell you that, when the machine is finally analyzed, our readership will see that the scope and scale of our current political machine may rival the reach of a Political Syndicate like Tammany hall.
For the sake of distinguishing our local machine (and giving it a catchy name, because, we can), from this point on, our machine will be referred to as: The Motor City Syndicate. The word "syndicate" is appropriate verbiage because there are many different petty factions among our local elite, and yet, when faced with the potential loss of their political power, they all pursue the same goal of self-preservation and maintaining the undying loyalty of the "business community". The reach of the Motor City Syndicate is broad, vast, and noticeable once you look for the right clues.
But first, a little local history lesson is in order to understand who exactly makes up the Motor City Syndicate:
Okay, so picture yourself in Detroit in 1983, it's now sixteen years after an explosive uprising helped push hundreds of thousands of people into the suburbs, and now, America's so called "Model City" is the murder capital and in rapid decay. This year would mark the beginning of Mayor Coleman Young's third term as the city's mayor. Young, despite campaigning as a radical before his first election victory, is now entirely beholden to the auto industry. And Young's own faction of the Motor City Syndicate, seeing that reconciliation with the Whiter suburbs as political suicide, focuses on distributing what little federal aid that the city receives to distribute cushy positions to his loyalists.
What also happens during this year is that the position of Wayne County Executive (for those outside of the region, Detroit is situated within Wayne County) is established in order to "right the ship" of the county's failing finances as the city of Detroit dives deeper and deeper into debt. While the powers that be elevated William Lucas, a Republican, to the inaugural position, they at least had sense enough to elevate a Black man to the position to represent a place with a very large constituency of Black voters. Republicans would only occupy this office for one term however. After Lucas came and went, the undisputed creator of the shadowy Motor City Syndicate would be a man named Edward H. McNamara (McNamara's time in office is so shadowy in fact, that no biography of his administration would ever be created despite becoming the longest serving county executive in the post's history, as well as despite one of the terminals within one of the larger airports in the country being named after him). By the time that McNamara would run for, and won the office, he was already solidified and identifiable as the Mayor of Livonia, which gave him the clout he needed to win.
During his time in office, he would meticulously groom the "new generation" of the Motor City Syndicate to take the reigns after he was gone, which happened in 2002 when two of his protégés, one being Jennifer Grandholm, would become the governor of Michigan, and Kwame Kilpatrick, the son of one of his advisors, Bernard Kilpatrick, became Mayor of Detroit. And, an individual some would consider to have been his "right hand man" and longtime county political figure Mike Duggan, bailed out of elected office to run the once not for profit Detroit Medical Center into the ground via privatization. It was only when the city fell into the tumults of bankruptcy that Duggan set his eyes on what he considered the ultimate political prize, becoming the city's next mayor.
Duggan's masterstroke of political wheeling and dealing during Detroit's perilous journey through chapter 9 was without a doubt appearing as an "outsider" despite being nothing of the sort. This was helped by a candidate named Tom Barrow who successfully got Duggan's name removed from the primary ballot because he was not a resident of the city at the time. Combined with the personal wealth he collected from selling the Detroit Medical Center, this situation enabled Duggan to paint his detractors as "backwards" and "in the way of progress". A tactic which landed him a first place showing in the primary, Duggan would be catapulted into office after beating then sheriff Benny Napoleon.
This is a good stopping point to address some potential criticisms of this report:
"Where does Mary Sheffield fit into here exactly? She's not anything like them though, this suggestion is just mud slinging and purity testing"
Sheffield comes into the picture because she, much like Duggan, is a figure who has been in government one way or another for a long time despite her age being significantly younger than most career politicians. She got her start in government by being a program specialist for the
Wayne County Sheriff's Office under Napoleon and used her time in that role to leverage a seat on Detroit's city council.
Benny Napoleon would go on to endorse Duggan in the 2017 Mayoral race, and Mike Duggan would go on to earn the endorsements of every single one of his Mayoral rivals in every single one of his elections barring the 2021 race.
It was during her early years on council that Sheffield would position herself as a socially conscious progressive who was a regular "no" vote to the new Mayor's priorities,
she spoke out against the placement of the Emergency Manager and his authoritarian powers. She then championed initiatives such as a package of legislation she dubbed "
The People's Bills" and supported
reforming the city's charter (a municipal constitution) to add many incremental reforms to the city's austere institutions which was opposed by both Governor Whitmer and Mike Duggan (who both suggested that the proposal would land the city back into bankruptcy). Even though her vision for a better Detroit was bold, only bits and pieces of her proposals were realized into government policy.
This would mark a turn in her positions in government.
There were already signs that Sheffield would bend the knee to Metro Detroit's financially powerful political class such as, when push came to shove,
she voted to approve $35 million in municipal bonds to "bring the Pistons downtown" because of promises for supposed "multiplier effects" on the neighborhood and for the city's budget.
Now, we have to talk about Mary Sheffield's candidacy for mayor:
The final nail in the coffin for the possibility of a radical to get into the mayor's office has come with Sheffield's intention of running for the top spot after Mike Duggan began his long shot bid to become governor. To those who propose that coming to this conclusion is "dramatic" or, "off-base", this publication would like for all of you skeptical readers/listeners to
read this article. In it, you'll find that Sheffield has made a complete 180° turn on what some of her former positions were, especially with her relishing in the fact that the city has "[provided] balanced budgets and improved our bond ratings" (all of which was mandated by the judge that oversaw Detroit's bankruptcy case) when only five years ago she was suggesting that the city's constrained spending was a show of uncalled for austerity.
Then, there's the fact that Sheffield is taking a page out of Mike Duggan's book when it comes to her campaign's relationship with the press. Black Label Detroit has obtained audio of Sheffield's Q&A with the press at her campaign launch party on the 10th of December, and, this publication can assure anyone skeptical of these assertions that it really is as bad as this author makes it out to be.
In the audio, Sheffield can be heard only answered questions from a pre-prepared list of seemingly "approved publications" which one of her aides called out for her to respond to instead of fielding as many questions as possible from Detroit's budding independent outlets. Even then, her responses to softball questions from fellow members of the press left a bad taste in this author's mouth. Here's a breakdown of some of them:
"How will you vote on the Renaissance Center tax breaks?"
"I'm not going to get into the specifics because nothing has come
before council, I do think that we have an opportunity to save
the iconic landmark in our city while supporting jobs and
economic growth"
(this is a classic way of answering "hard questions" by politicians, especially for things that they actually support. They'll deny having any knowledge of certain issues because they aren't "shown anything" while passively talking up proposals based on vague sentiments)
"What would be your priorities if elected mayor?"
"Structural property tax reform, affordable housing,
and neighborhood investment"
(All of these proposals for policy aren't any different from Duggan's initiatives that are being implemented as of writing this report. This isn't saying that any of those proposals are bad, however, it needs to be said that Sheffield herself sees a hypothetical mayorship as "business as usual")
"If elected, how do you intend to separate your legacy from Duggan's?"
"My work is my work, Mayor Duggan has been supportive
of me and my work, but we don't agree on everything"
(Presented without comment)
"Sister, may I have some votes?"
The relationship between genuine Radicals and aspiring Reformers has never been more fraught with tensions than the moment that we find ourselves in right now. There's very few places that are signifiers of the broken "social contract" than here in Metro Detroit,. The city, with it's flashy new developments and ground breakings are essentially propped up by the tax dollars of the poorer sections of Detroit, and now, the suburbs are struggling with failing infrastructure, the loss of major venues and a diminished image as malls close and die off and property taxes rise.
These issues call for a Radical to rise and meet the various challenges that this region faces in it's future. However, as we see with figures such as Sheffield, the powers that be would rather put their support behind austerity-minded reformers (and it must be emphasized that
the local elites are throwing their weight behind her) since they know that their assets will remain safe and sound under the stewardship of a Reformer. In turn, Reformers, being influenced by the donor class, see this state of affairs almost as their "divine right" and they shun the calls of Radicals to utilize their power within government to bring about genuine change.
This situation, strikes this author as being a manifestation of the internet meme
"Brother, may I have some oats?", which is a short story featuring two sentient pigs on a farm. The whole premise behind the meme is that one pig is trying his best to save his brother from being slaughtered by repeatedly asking said brother to share his oats with him, and, no matter how much the first pig speaks from personal experience and shares his knowledge of what the "tall skinny ones" have done with other pigs in "the shed of no return", the second pig continues to hog all of the oats for himself since he sees the farmers giving him so much oats to eat as an altruistic show of them taking a liking to the second pig which he exults them as his "tall skinny gods".
This closing bit of dialogue paints a perfect picture for this analogy:
"I am sorry for you, brother. Your eyes cannot take the blinding light of the truth, and you scurry back to your cave. I shall take care of your spawn once they consume you, brother, as they have consumed your lover, our father, our mother, and many more"
Just as it's been established that the owners of the farm have consumed many other pigs before they sought to consume pig number 2, countless well intentioned Reformers have been swallowed up by the powers that be inside and outside of government, only for a newer, more naive one to come along and restart the process. Which, Radicals have often fruitlessly attempted to show how power is actually wielded by forces outside of their control.
Just a bit of food for thought.
Conclusion: Reading the Tea Leaves
Despite leading the pack in funds and a crucial endorsement by Mike Duggan, Sheffield will come up short in the August primary and her name won't appear on the final ballot. Seeing that she had been outflanked on both the Left and other establishment Dugganites, Sheffield will stay in the race by launching a long-shot write in campaign for the November ballot, which, will be met with a mixed reaction among the voters. Not wanting to shed any support to any other potential candidates, Sheffield will produce a list of criteria that, if she sees it in another candidate for mayor, she'll drop out and endorse them instead. Since the field will be small (with no other write-in candidates contesting the race) she won't drop out, and, because of vote splitting between Radical candidates, she'll find herself elected with a small mandate. What happens after, will be anyone's guess.
It's a long time until election season for Detroit, here's to hoping that Black Label Detroit continues to be clairvoyant about the city's future as it has been so far.
Links and Sources:
1. Wikipedia contributors. (2024, November 10). Tammany Hall. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tammany_Hall
2. Wikipedia contributors. (2024b, November 29). William Lucas (Michigan politician). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lucas_(Michigan_politician)
3. Wikipedia contributors. (2022, November 27). Edward H. McNamara. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_H._McNamara
4. Jay Greene. (2014, January 9). DMC turnaround under Duggan sets stage for sale. Crain's Detroit Business. https://archive.ph/bnpQ8
5. Khalil AlHaja. kalhajal@mlive.com & Khalil Alhajal, kalhajal@mlive.com. (2013, June 19). Mike Duggan ends campaign for Detroit mayor after damaging court decisions. Mlive. https://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/2013/06/mike_duggan_ends_campaign_for.html
6. Kirk Pinho. (2013, July 7) 54 names, 9 chairs: A look at Detroit City Council candidates by district. Crain's Detroit Business. https://archive.ph/6xnl8#selection-1675.8-1675.81
7. Joe Guillen, Detroit Free Press. (2017, February 4). Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announces re-election bid. Detroit Free Press. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2017/02/04/detroit-mayor-duggan-election/97484982/
8. Brett Callwood. (2013, November 12). Mary Sheffield, District No. 5. Detroit Metro Times https://www.metrotimes.com/news/mary-sheffield-district-no-5-2145715
9. Mary Sheffield, Detroit Free Press. (2019, April 9). Mary Sheffield: Detroit’s balanced budget has a moral deficit. Detroit Free Press. https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2019/04/09/detroit-budget-duggan-sheffield/3410218002/
10. Nushrat Rahman, Detroit Free Press. (2020, July 30). Bill of Rights for Detroiters could be first change to city charter in 8 years. Detroit Free Press. https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/2020/07/29/detroit-bill-of-rights-city-council/5531860002/
11. Bryce Huffman. (2017, June 20) Detroit City Council approves $34.5 million in bonds for Detroit Pistons to move into new arena. Michigan Public NPR. https://www.michiganpublic.org/news/2017-06-20/detroit-city-council-approves-34-5-million-in-bonds-for-detroit-pistons-to-move-into-new-arena
12. Nancy Derringer. (2021, July 20) Detroit City Council candidate guide: A three-way race in District 1 primary. Deadline Detroit. https://www.deadlinedetroit.com/articles/28377/detroit_city_council_candidate_guide_a_three-way_race_in_district_1_primary
13. Jonathan Oostang. (2017, November 15) Pro-Duggan super PAC biggest spender in Michigan. Detroit News. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/15/duggan-super-pac-spending/107711252/
14. Malachi Barrett. (2024, December 14) Mary Sheffield kicks off campaign for Detroit mayor. Bridge Detroit. https://www.bridgedetroit.com/mary-sheffield-kicks-off-run-to-be-detroits-next-mayor/
15. M.L.Elrick. (2024, February 11) If money talks, Mary Sheffield is serious about wanting to become Mayor. Detroit Free Press. https://archive.ph/Mg40Y
16. burialgoods. (2024, July 31). brother may I have some oats [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7FIiYsVy3U
17. Author unknown. Black Label Media Detroit. (n.d.). Detroit’s Next Mayor has Already Been Chosen. https://blacklabeldetroit.blogspot.com/2024/12/detroits-next-mayor-has-already-been.html
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