Too many familiar faces surround the Detroiter who'll raise his right hand Wednesday to take the mayoral oath of office, in Nolan Finley's view.
Mike "Duggan so far is building a team that looks like a set of retread tires," writes the editorial page editor, dubbing him "Boss Mike."
This is hardly the bright, fresh talent Duggan boasted he could attract. . . .
With the exception of Lewand, who is plenty capable, their chief attribute appears to be that they’re loyal to Duggan. Machine politicians value loyalty above all else. They also crave total control, which is why George Jackson, head of the quasi-independent Detroit Economic Growth Corp., is left holding an empty bag.
Nolan Finley worried that Mike Duggan, above, "would fall back to the cronyism that marked the Ed McNamara administration."
Finley opens with a just-as-we-feared reminder, citing concerns expressed when The News endorsed Duggan in August's primary and November's election:
We worried he would fall back to the cronyism that marked the Ed McNamara administration when Duggan was the late county executive’s right-hand man.
With the wounds still fresh from Kwame Kilpatrick’s friends and family plan, we were concerned about the image Duggan would send in surrounding himself with the old pals who followed him from the county to the Detroit Medical Center.
His first round of appointments suggest our concerns were well-placed.
These appointments fit what the opinion columnist sees as a pattern:
- Ike McKinnon, deputy mayor: The "former Detroit police chief is being recycled."
- Tom Lewand Sr., development director: Duggan and the appointee worked for McNamara nearly 30 years ago." Lewand has been Duggan’s personal attorney and was an outside counsel for the DMC when the mayor-elect ran the hospital system."
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Butch Hollowell, law department head: Duggan and he "played a major role in former Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s election."
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Chuck Raimi, law department deputy: He "worked with Duggan at the DMC and for Lewand’s law firm."
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Charlie Beckham, neighborhoods liaison: He'll "be serving his sixth administration."
Related coverage:
Duggan Names First Executives In New Administration, Dec. 19
