Detroit won't be able to solve its problems overnight. Every reasonable person knows that. But new mayor Mike Duggan is asking Detroiters to give him six months to create some real improvements.
Detroit Free Press: “I say to you one thing: Just give us six months. Give us six months to prove that we can turn things around. Just push the pause button and don’t leave that house yet. …Give us six months before you walk away from the value of that house. Give us six months and let us prove to you what we can do.”
Duggan said there will not be an overnight cure for Detroit’s longstanding troubles with poor city services and blight, but he pledged quick action to jump start streetlight repairs, rapid improvement in the city’s substandard bus service – with a new Detroit Department of Transportation director named by week’s end – and better-coordinated blight removal to speed up tearing down of vacant, deteriorated homes and businesses.
Duggan, who was sworn in by U.S. Circuit Judge Damon Keith during an inauguration ceremony Tuesday, also defended newly-elected City Council President Brenda Jones and said he remains opposed to the emergency manager's oversight of Detroit's finances.
