This is the second in a series on mayoral candidates during a typical campaign day. To read about Tom Barrow, click here.
It wasn't the typical Saturday morning at the Holla At Cha' Girl beauty salon on Detroit's northwest side.
Mayoral race front-runner Benny Napoleon was scheduled to arrive at the salon sometime around 9 a.m.. It was a Napoleon stronghold: Many of the workers and customers wore "Benny for Mayor" T-shirts, and buzzed with anticipation.
Napoleon was late, so talk inside the salon centered around Detroit politics, meaning the discussion focused mainly on Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh, who has disappeared after a woman said, vaguely, Pugh had an improper relationship with her teen-aged son, whom Pugh mentored.
"Have they found him yet?" a customer asked.
"Well, someone knows where he's at," said salon owner Mickey Michelle.
The levels of frustration and disappointment in Detroit's elected leaders, at least judging by the sentiments of those in the salon, are at an all-time high. The city is on the cusp of an unprecedented municipal bankruptcy, and while downtown and Midtown might be enjoying a resurgence, most of Detroit's neighborhoods are fighting for survival. Meanwhile, the city's politics are being stifled, they say, by not only a perceived power grab from Lansing, but also by incompetence and cowardice from city council and the mayor's office.
Napoleon, the Wayne County sheriff and former Detroit police chief, is seen by those in the salon as the city's best hope, but the magnitude of the challenges ahead make even some of his most ardent supporters feel at least a bit skeptical as to how much he can actually do to solve the city's problems.
Top Priority: Safety
When he finally arrived for the day's first campaign stop, Napoleon made a point of shaking everyone’s hand and talking for a moment with each person before speaking to the entire room.
Napoleon emphasized his background in law enforcement to his audience, mostly young and middle-aged Detroit mothers and daughters.
"The problem right now is that people just don't feel safe anymore," Napoleon said. "When people don't feel safe, they don't want to live here, they don't want to set up businesses here."
He detailed a plan he calls the “One Square Mile Initiative,” which would place one Detroit police officer in each one of the city's 138 square miles of land. That officer would be responsible for being the first response to any crime in that square mile, in addition to making sure houses are maintained, graffiti is removed and lawns are mowed.
"As a Detroiter, if we just cut the grass, I'd feel good," Napoleon said. "Grass should never be waist high."
He said he wants to be mayor, despite the city's vast problems and the mayor's decrease in power since the implementation of an emergency manager, because he loves the city and is optimistic about its future.
"This city is about to blow up like you can't even imagine," Napoleon said, predicting Detroit's population will increase by the 2020 census, though many experts doubt that will happen.
"You've just got to convince people that it's safe to move here. . . . We can't have a city where people just stay because they can't go anywhere else," he said.
Napoleon promised to invest as much as possible into education and after-school programs to help keep younger people off the street and away from gangs and crime.
"We cannot leave our children to the system," he said. "We've got to make sure our kids are educated so they grow up, stay in the city and bring new life to it."
Napoleon played up his relationship with the new Detroit police chief, James Craig, whom he has known since high school.
"If you give him a chance, you've got a good police chief in the city," Napoleon said. "That's for sure."
Napoleon called the placement by Gov. Rick Snyder of the emergency manager "illegal" and downplayed the city's financial woes, though most observers believe Detroit is on the verge of bankruptcy.
"We're in a state of fiscal urgency, not a financial emergency," he said.
However, Napoleon said he would work respectfully with Kevyn Orr, the emergency manager, saying he, as mayor, would still set the city's agenda while Orr would deal solely with Detroit's finances.
That view of the mayor’s duties seems not to square with the reality under Orr, who has a legal mandate to run all aspects of city government, and whose presence clearly relegates Mayor Dave Bing to an auxiliary role.
Napoleon said he hopes to collaborate with leaders throughout the state and nation to help Detroit reverse course, even promising to take his case all the way to President Barack Obama, whom he met before an election rally last year.
So far, Obama has shown little interest in Detroit’s plight. This week, White House spokesman Jay Carney said: “I am not aware of any plans or proposals that the president has, but we’re certainly aware of the circumstances.”
Feds Should 'Help Detroit Out'
Napoleon said: "I know that we're on the president's radar screen. I know that we have an advocate in Washington if we've got a solid plan. If you can send billions of dollars around the world, you can help Detroit out."
After about 45 minutes at the salon, Napoleon, along with the three staff members, headed to private campaign meetings. Napoleon next appeared publicly at his campaign office for a rally and lunch in the afternoon for volunteers and staff.
The office, located in a strip mall on E. Jefferson Avenue just east of the Renaissance Center, was packed with volunteers from throughout the city, a mix of experienced campaigners and first-timers.
Volunteer Dexter Gatson was waiting eagerly for Napoleon to speak. Gatson, who briefly met Napoleon in 1997, works in radiology and wants to join the police force in order to have a greater impact on the community. That sense of public service drew him to the campaign.
"So many people that I've met have nothing but good things to say about him," Gatson said. "He's done so much."
Napoleon worked his way up to the microphone at one end of the large office, shaking hands with virtually everyone there.
Anticipating Next Labor Showdown
Another supporter, former Wayne County Commissioner Keith Williams, said Napoleon is the right man for the job because he is focused on "kids, jobs and the spirit of the city."
Said Williams: "It's exciting because he is running the most progressive campaign in city history."
When Napoleon reached microphone to give a short speech, he played up his Democratic bona fides and union connections.
"We are going to win because we're the right people running for the right reason at the right time," Napoleon said.
He positioned himself and his campaign as the first line of attack against assaults on labor from state Republicans heading into the 2014 elections.
"There is no such thing as right-to-work," Napoleon said to thunderous applause. "They might have won the battle on that one, but we'll win that war."
Napoleon expressed optimism about the city's future.
"Investing in Detroit is like buying Microsoft stock when it was a penny," he said. "We're only going to grow from here. . . . We're tougher than anybody gives us credit for."
Tough Talk
He made himself out to be the "tough" mayor for a tough city.
"If you're just going to get mad at me, that won't affect me at all," Napoleon said, laughing. "I'm going to be a fighter for the entire city: downtown, Midtown, Corktown, sure. But I'm talking about your neighborhoods, too."
Throughout the day, Napoleon largely avoided speaking about Mike Duggan re-entering the race and the federal investigation into a contract his office gave to a company owned by a campaign contributor, a probe revealed recently in The Detroit News.
"I have always cooperated with every investigation," Napoleon said when asked following the rally. "We'll continue to do so. It hasn't impacted me at all."
Throughout the day, Napoleon was determined to cast himself as the tough leader the city needs, as the one who could break through the long-running stalemate in city politics and could make life better for the typical Detroiter, despite whatever enormous obstacles are in his way.
"I promise you this: Work starts the moment I'm elected."
