A Free Press editorial board member delivers a bluntly frank impression of many Detroit City Council aspirants as he "and my colleagues set about the sometimes-discouraging business of interviewing candidates who seek this newspaper’s endorsement for November’s general election."
After six paragraphs of brace-yourself throat clearing about he how tries of "look consciously for the glass that’s half-full," Brian Dickerson cuts to it:
I’ve been underwhelmed, even more than in past City Council elections, by the low caliber and deplorable preparation of many candidates. . . .
Too few have done the homework they ought to have completed before filing their affidavits of candidacy, much less staking their claim to the voters’ endorsement.
That sharp slap follows interviews with more than a dozen council contenders, which opened with a make-or-break question:
In each instance, I’ve begun by asking whether the candidate has read emergency manager Kevyn Orr’s summary of Detroit’s financial condition or Detroit Future City, a strategic blueprint for the city’s economic redevelopment. . . .
Both are foundational documents, required reading for anyone who wishes to participate in, much less preside over, an intelligent discussion of Detroit’s near- or long-term options for recovery and redemption. Yet only two of the candidates I’d spoken with as of last Friday . . . had bothered to look at either Orr’s report or the Detroit Future City blueprint.
The good answers came from Councilman James Tate, running in the new District 1, and Vince Keenan, who didn't survive the Aug. 6 primary in District 6.
The Free Press columnist urges voters not to "imagine that honesty and good intentions are sufficient qualifications for public office," adding:
Love is not enough to redeem a city that has been hobbled as much by incompetence as by corruption. . . .The city is desperate for a new generation of leaders who can tolerate not just the hot lights of the arena, but the drudgery of preparing for a successful fight.
