The Happy Warrior - Hour Detroit Magazine
ike Duggan is perhaps the most improbable mayor in Detroit’s long history — and possibly the most important. “I’m not an introspective type of person,” he told me. Other mayors over the years have sketched out visions when I’ve asked them where they saw Detroit being in a decade. They’re living [near] abandoned houses, they’re worried about crime. “We’re really focused on what we are doing next week, what we are doing next month, what we’re going to be doing in the next year. By the end of June, the lights were finally fully functioning in virtually all Detroit neighborhoods. That would have seemed a dream a few years ago, when most streets were menacingly dark and other mayors had said the task of getting the lights back on was technologically overwhelming. But Duggan did it. The fact that he is Detroit’s 75th mayor may be the most improbable story of all. Like many local baby boomers, he’s from Detroit (born on July 15, 1958). But he lived most of his adult life in suburban Livonia. Three years ago, he moved back to Detroit for one reason: to run for mayor. Detroiters hadn’t come close to electing a white mayor in four decades, let alone one who only moved in to run for the office. Duggan had a reputation as a man who got things done — especially after his team turned around the finances and drastically improved services at the Detroit Medical Center when he was its CEO (2004-12). He has also won notice as deputy Wayne... Source: www.hourdetroit.com
