Why vote for me?

1. BELIEVES IN DETROITERS
Detroit should be run by Detroiters. The process Detroiters will have to guide their government will be the cornerstone of my role as mayor. I will be setting up the framework to hear and respond to people’s complaints, concerns, suggestions and compliments. Yes, I know you can’t believe this, but if I were mayor, there would be the need for that for the good people who work at the city. I would have a way to be contacted through the internet, a phone number that is posted everywhere, an efficient and speedy system to respond to concerns and I will be a familiar face in the community. There will be a city staff person assigned to each area of the city and there will be small neighborhood centers or spaces that are used as centers that already exist for the community.

2. PROCESS ORIENTED, BUDGET MINDED, AND ALL ABOUT PEOPLE DOING THEIR JOBS
Its hard to tell what we have and what we owe because of the cloud of corruption that lingers over the city. How I would love to shake that out with a team of accountants and auditors, clean it up and make the city’s finances available throughout the year in a simple and accessible way to taxpayers. I would like to take government transparency to a new level. It is necessary to look at the city’s assets and find ways to bring in revenue. I am a front porch community lady – I learned how to budget from having nothing. 

I love to look at processes, pick them apart and restructure them to be more efficient and cost-saving. Do I mean that in people losing their jobs? No. I mean that in saving jobs through a smart use of resources. I like to pick at a financial report and ask for random receipts to make sure everything is exact. While other people would find this daunting, I find this a fascinating puzzle that I will solve for my neighbors and for all the good people of this city. 

I also believe people need to do their jobs. If you don’t want to do your job and do it well, you probably don’t want to have me as your boss. People who work for the city have endured a lot and have good ideas of how things should run. I will give them the opportunity to improve the quality of service to Detroiters.

3. COMMUNITY ACTIVIST
I have been a longtime community activist. I work every single day to better the lives of Detroit’s children. I have spent hundreds of evenings at meetings in my neighborhood. I know how Detroit community works, both the good and the bad. I understand Detroiters because I am one.

4. FOCUSES ON INDIVIDUAL DETROITER’S FUTURES
I am a different kind of leader for Detroit. I am open minded to new ideas that will help the individuals of this city get opportunities. People have been cheated in the past and deserve to be happy and satisfied with a life they choose, not just the life they end up with because government leaders have taken without regard for the people they serve. 

5. COMMUNITY LADY, NOT POLITICIAN
I am not a politician. I am a community lady. This is one community lady who has HAD IT. I have watched children grow up in broken systems that are not that hard to fix if people are ethical, creative, and use common sense. I do not want to be elected for a political career. I do not have one, nor do I want one, nor do I even believe in career politicians. I understand how politics work, especially Detroit politics. Detroit has one of the strongest community networks on earth. When something gets on the news, it is already old - and that was before the internet. I love this about Detroit and it is one of the foundations of a strong and wonderful Detroit of the future. 

6. EDUCATED TO LEAD DETROIT
My education is an asset to the city. I was trained in Detroit as an organizer and peace-maker in my studies of labor unions and justice. I received a bachelor’s degree in Labor Studies and a master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Wayne State University in Detroit. My thoughts about politics are full of ideals that are tempered with long hours of community meetings in Detroit and practical application through the non-profit I run. The most essential education I got was at those community meetings from other local community leaders. My skills of knowing what works best and what people understand “community” to mean in Detroit comes from those years. Watching elected officials come and go and their interactions with us taught me how to act and how not to act.  

7. STRONG LEADER
While I often work with groups of children, get their input every single day (the 5 year olds are having an issue with our reward sticker collection and we need to upgrade), I would relish the chance to use these same skills for the city. Please don’t underestimate the leadership skills of a woman who has worked in the world of children and community. I know how to analyze a budget, get things across clearly, make decisions based on community input and solid research, and pull people from many walks of life and many cultures together. I have a deep understanding and appreciation for African American culture and understand all of the cultures that are in our area. 

8. LIFELONG RESIDENT
I was born and raised in Detroit. I have gone around the world and chosen Detroit as my home. Why? My neighborhood is just home to me. I feel most comfortable around Detroiters, plain talking and kind. Most people here will always help you, that is not something that you can get just anywhere.
I took the bus (back when there was one to downtown from my eastside neighborhood) and a half broken-down car to college. I paid for it myself and still have a student loan. I pay a mortgage and am charged insanely high taxes/insurance on a house. I look out my front window at an arsoned house. There are 2 burnt out streetlights on my street and across the main street are blocks of empty land and piles of garbage. However, on my street we watch out for each other and everyone knows each other. I volunteer at the local elementary school a lot and like it there. I run a non-profit, The Front Porch, and am astonished at some of the things we have been able to do with mostly volunteers on a shoe-string budget to help Detroit children succeed. 

9. UNDERSTANDS THAT DETROIT NEEDS SUCCESSES 
I know that in Detroit, because of racism, the longtime unchecked corruption of government, and the bleak environment that hangs over Detroiters that there has become a culture of failure. Its time to lift Detroit up out of this mindset and toward one of success. I realize this will not happen overnight, but I have the strength and the knowledge of Detroiters to work with the good people of this city and as quickly as possible help them reach this goal. I have a will of steel and am certain it is possible. First I will return Detroit to some level of normalcy through fair public safety, stable finances, and getting rid of the piles of garbage. Then it is about listening, about assisting groups and individuals in Detroit to succeed and watch us grow. I know this because I do it with children and their parents all the time against all odds. Since Detroiters have suffered unbearable hardships, if given the resources and opportunity to succeed we will do so in a way that other people could only imagine.


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