Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan speaks
during the 2019 State of the
City Address on Tuesday, March
5, 2019 at East English Village
Preparatory Academy in Detroit.
(Photo by Montez Miller/Tell Us
Detroit)
Expanding
employment,
public
safety
top's
Mayor
Duggan’s
SOTC
address
By
Karen
Hudson
Samuels
Tell Us
Detroit
DETROIT
- In his
sixth
State of
the City
address
at East
English
Village
Preparatory
Academy,
Detroit
Mayor
Mike
Duggan
delivered
an
upbeat
assessment
of a
city
that is
attracting
business,
rebuilding
neighborhoods
and
investing
more in
public
safety.
The
recent
announcement
by Fiat
Chrysler
Automobiles
to
resurrect
the
idled
Mack
Avenue
Engine
will
bring
6,500
jobs to
the
area,
part of
FCA’s
$4.5
plan to
expand
manufacturing
in
southeast
Michigan.
The
Mayor
said the
in the
city’s
pitch to
FCA "We
decided
to go
after
the
motherlode
of
middle-class
jobs,"
The
groundwork
for a
plant,
with
5,000
jobs in
Detroit,
will be
finalized
when a
Memorandum
of
Understanding
is
submitted
in the
next 60
days,
A
workforce
pipeline
prepared
for new
manufacturing
jobs
will be
supported
by
Detroit’s
Promise
program
and the
announcement
this
week by
the
Michigan
Carpenters
and
Millwrights
Joint
Apprenticeship
and
Training
Fund to
build a
$30
million
training
facility
on
Detroit's
west
side.
Duggan
said the
city's
Detroit
Promise
program
will
expand
this
year to
provide
skilled
trades
certification
at
community
colleges,
the
program
offers
free
two-and
four-year
degrees
to
Detroit’s
high
school
graduates.
Cyber
Security,
Pharmacy
Technician,
and
Emergency
Med Tech
are
among
the
technical
certifications.
The
Mayor
said "We
want to
be a
city
that’s
committed
to
creating
job
opportunities
for
everyone."
Duggan
said he
plans to
request
an
additional
$4.5 in
job
training
in the
annual
budget
that
goes
before
the
Detroit
City
Council
this
week.
Keeping
the city
safe was
a
priority
for
Duggan
who
announced
plans to
submit a
$10
million
dollar
budget
increase
in
public
safety
with a
recommendation
to add
70
Detroit
police
officers
next
year. In
2018
Detroit
ranked
third in
the
nation
for
homicides
among
cities
with a
population
over
250,000.
Fighting
crime
with
technology
is also
part of
Mayor’s
public
safety
plan. A
crime-fighting
camera
system
will be
added to
the
Project
Green
Light
system
to catch
video of
perpetuators
in the
act. By
the end
of 2020
the
Mayor
said the
network
will
have
1,000
cameras
able to
track
“any
shooter
or
carjacker
across
the
city.”
Project
Green
Light
was
launched
three
years
ago.
Today
some 500
business
owners
participate
in the
program
by
purchasing
g
surveillance
cameras
mounted
outside
their
location
that
feeds
video to
police
headquarters.
Duggan
also
addressed
the
flipside
of
crime,
that of
people
returning
to the
community
with
criminal
records
saying
they
“have
been
marginalized
for
years.”
The
Mayor
said the
city
will
hire two
attorneys
to help
expunge
criminal
records.
Duggan
cited
the
example
of
Sakthi
Automotive
which
has
offered
UAW auto
jobs to
some 200
returning
Detroiters
as
evidence
the
strategy
works.
On
the
subject
of
neighborhoods,
the
Mayor
admitted
the
demolition
of
blighted
properties
has been
faulty
but
pledged
a goal
to
demolish,
board up
and
occupy
every
blighted
property
the end
of 2019.
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