Beckham,
Detroit's
go to
guy for
six city
mayors,
to
retire
DETROIT
-
Charlie
Beckham,
who
served
as Mayor
Mike
Duggan’s
group
executive
of
neighborhoods
in a
career
that
spanned
40 years
serving
six
mayors
of the
city, is
retiring.
Beckham,
71, will
serve
his last
day on
Sept. 1.
He had
previously
retired
as the
city’s
chief
administrative
officer
in 2010
but was
convinced
by
Duggan
to come
back
into
public
service
as the
head of
the
city’s
new
Department
of
Neighborhoods
because
he’s a
coalition-builder
with
deep
experience
in city
government
who had
built
trust
with
community
organizations
over the
years.
“Over
the
course
of more
than 40
years,
Charlie
has
helped
six
different
mayors
shape
Detroit
and its
future,”
Mayor
Duggan
said.
“His
impact
is
undeniable.
For me,
he has
been an
invaluable
adviser
and
leader,
spearheading
our
neighborhood
work and
ensuring
that
everyone's
voices
are
heard
and
included.
While he
won’t be
working
with us
directly,
even in
his
retirement,
he will
continue
to be a
strong
voice
and
leader
in the
Detroit
community.
We wish
him all
the
best.”
Beckham
has
served
in every
Detroit
mayoral
administration
since
Coleman
A.
Young,
the
city’s
longest-serving
mayor.
“It’s
been a
good
run,
serving
Detroit
through
six
mayors,”
Beckham
said.
“Those
mayors
have
given me
the
opportunity
to serve
the
citizens
of
Detroit
over
five
decades,
and I’ve
been
honored
to do
that.”
Beckham’s
positions
included
commissioner
of the
Public
Lighting
Department;
deputy
director
and
director
of the
Detroit
Water
and
Sewerage
Department,
and the
first
director
of the
city’s
General
Services
Department
after
that
department
was
created
in 2006
to
consolidate
aspects
of the
city
services
including
management
of its
vehicle
fleet
and
parks
maintenance.
He also
served
in
positions
including
chief
operating
officer
and
group
executive
of
operations.
Beckham
served
as
campaign
manager
for Dave
Bing as
he ran
to fill
the seat
vacated
by Kwame
Kilpatrick;
Bing won
the
primary
and
general
elections
in the
special
election
and then
repeated
the wins
in the
primary
and
general
elections
later
that
year for
a full
term.
In
2013,
when
Mike
Duggan
began
his run
for
mayor,
Duggan
tapped
Beckham
as a
senior
advisor
to the
campaign.
After
Duggan
won, he
appointed
Beckham
as group
executive
for
neighborhoods,
a
position
that put
Beckham
in
charge
of the
city’s
new
Department
of
Neighborhoods
as the
administration
named
district
managers
to act
as
liaisons
between
residents
and City
Hall,
with
district
managers
and
deputy
managers
for each
of the
seven
council
districts
after
Detroiters
began
electing
council
members
by
district
following
the
enactment
of the
2012
city
charter.
The
job also
put
Beckham
in
charge
of the
city’s
Buildings,
Safety
Engineering
and
Environmental
Department.
Beckham,
a
resident
of
Detroit
for 60
years,
has a
daughter
and a
granddaughter.
He lives
in
Lafayette
Park.
A
native
of
Cincinnati,
Beckham
grew up
in
Detroit’s
Russell
Woods
neighborhood
and
graduated
from
Cass
Technical
High
School.
He
received
a
bachelor’s
degree
in
mechanical
engineering
from the
University
of
Michigan
in 1969.
Beckham
has
served
his
community
over the
years
through
organizations
including
the
Detroit
Alliance
for Fair
Banking;
Detroit
Neighborhood
and
Family
Initiative;
the
Michigan
Black
Chamber
of
Commerce,
chairman
of
Detroit
Transportation
Corp.,
which
operates
the
Detroit
People
Mover;
Black
Family
Development
and
other
Detroit-based
organizations.
Over
the
years he
has
served
in the
private
sector
in
engineering
management
positions
at
General
Motors
Corp and
co-founded
and
served
as
executive
director
of the
African
American
Association
of
Businesses
and
Contractors,
known
today as
the
Detroit
Black
Chamber
of
Commerce,
which he
also
served
as
president
and CEO.
Beckham
said
he’s
been
working
on a
one-man
play
with a
comic
touch
that
tells
his life
story,
titled
“Seemed
Like a
Good
Idea at
the
Time.”
It will
have its
first
public
performance
Sept. 15
at the
Charles
H.
Wright
Museum
of
African
American
History
in
Detroit.
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