Mayor
Duggan
taps
Detroiter,
former
UAW
official
to lead
Department
of
Neighborhoods
• Jimmy
Settles
replaces
Charlie
Beckham,
who
recently
announced
his
September
1
retirement
•
Former
UAW-Ford
Vice
President
has long
history
of
supporting
and
bringing
investment
into
Detroit’s
neighborhoods
DETROIT
- James
U.
“Jimmy”
Settles
Jr., a
life-long
Detroit
resident
who
started
working
at a
Ford
iron
foundry
in 1968
and
worked
his way
up to
vice
president
of
UAW-Ford
over a
50-year
career,
has been
named
the City
of
Detroit’s
new
group
executive
for
neighborhoods,
Mayor
Mike
Duggan
announced
today.
Settles
is no
stranger
to
Detroiters,
for whom
he has
committed
significant
amounts
of
community
support
over the
years,
from
building
new
ballparks
to
providing
athletic
and
musical
opportunities
and
mentoring
to young
people
to
helping
the
families
of
wounded
military
veterans
and
feeding
homeless
people.
Settles,
68, will
take
over the
position
from
Charlie
Beckham,
who
recently
announced
his
retirement
after
serving
six
mayors
over
four
decades
in
Detroit.
Beckham’s
last day
is Sept.
1.
“Jimmy’s
passion
for
making
things
better
for
working
people
and the
residents
and
children
of
Detroit
is
well-known,
and that
makes
him an
ideal
leader
for a
department
focused
on
improving
the
daily
lives of
Detroiters,”
Mayor
Duggan
said.
“I’m
thrilled
to
welcome
someone
of his
caliber
to my
administration.”
Settles
said he
embraces
the
challenge
of
working
for the
city and
its
residents
after a
long
career
in union
activism.
“I
look
forward
to
contributing
to the
resurgence
of the
city,
doing
whatever
I can to
help out
so the
city can
continue
to
flourish,”
Settles
said.
Following
in his
father’s
footsteps,
Settles
began
working
at
Ford’s
Dearborn
Iron
Foundry
in 1968
as a
graduate
of the
city’s
Northwestern
High
School.
At the
urging
of
co-workers,
he ran
for a
UAW
leadership
position
in 1970
and rose
through
the
union’s
ranks
over the
years,
ultimately
being
elected
vice
president
in 2006
and
re-elected
twice.
He had
served
on the
union’s
International
Executive
Board
since
June
2002,
when he
was
elected
director
of UAW
Region
1A.
Settles
has been
a
fighter
for
worker
rights
and
civil
rights,
and his
work
ethic
became
legendary,
including
in
support
of
schoolchildren
in
Detroit.
Community
projects
Settles
helped
lead
include:
• A
$1.8
million
makeover
of a
baseball
field in
Detroit’s
Woodbridge
neighborhood.
The
ballpark’s
improvements,
including
new
pitching
and
batting
cages,
bleachers
and
scoreboard
spearheaded
by the
UAW and
Ford
Motor
Co., was
renamed
William
Clay
Ford
Field.
•
Building
improvements
at
Detroit
College
Prep at
Northwestern
High
School,
including
renovation
of the
gym and
pool.
• The
“Boxes
of Love”
program
through
UAW-Ford
to
provide
hundreds
of boxes
of food
for
families
in need
during
the
holiday
season.
• An
$850,000
donation
to the
Sts.
Peter
and Paul
Warming
Center
in
downtown
Detroit.
The
facility
was
later
renamed
the Pope
Francis
Center,
proving
a
broader
array of
services
to
homeless
people.
As
group
executive
of
neighborhoods,
Settles
will be
responsible
for
administering
the
city’s
Department
of
Neighborhoods,
created
in 2014.
Each of
the
city’s
seven
City
Council
districts
has a
district
manager
and
deputy
district
manager
who act
as
residents’
direct
contacts
and
liaisons
to city
departments
to
address
blight
problems
and
other
significant
community
issues.
Settles
and his
wife of
26
years,
Karen,
live on
the
city’s
lower
east
side in
District
5. He
has
three
children
and
three
stepsons.
Settles
is a
life
member
of the
NAACP
and
serves
on its
national
board of
directors.
Over the
years he
has
served
on the
boards
of Blue
Cross
Blue
Shield
of
Michigan,
the
Wayne
County
Airport
Authority,
Detroit/Wayne
County
Stadium
Authority,
the
Trade
Union
Leadership
Council,
the
Coalition
of Black
Trade
Unionists,
Henry
Ford
Community
College
Employment
and
Training
Development
Center,
the
Detroit
Public
Schools
Compact
Association
and the
North
Rosedale
Park
Civic
Association.
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