The Decision is Made; The Action is to Come
November 11, 2005
Tuesday, November 7, 2005 was an important day across America. It was Election Day, Decision Day, and Judgement Day (if you were up for re-election) all rolled up into one. In few places was this more evident than in the city of Detroit, MI. City Council. School Board. Mayor. Ballot Initiatives. Many things were to be decided on that day.
The headline decision made by the people of Detroit was without a doubt the “shocking” re-election of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick over his challenger, Freeman Hendrix.
What’s important now is understanding what the next steps are for the city. There are many issues that will require the Mayor’s attention in the coming days, but addressing these two may build a strong foundation upon which he can move forward.
First: Establish an effective working relationship with the City Council.
There is tremendous opportunity here given that the Council now has four new members (in: Monica Conyers, Brenda Jones, Kwame Kenyatta, Martha Reeves; out: Maryann Mahaffey, Alonzo Bates). Many of the issues the City faces are financial, and in order to function the Mayor and the Council must be on the same page. Given some of the disputes, the Council and the Mayor appeard to be reading different books. By proactively building a positive relationship with the Council, Mayor Kilpatrick will not only be steps closer to solving the City’s problems, but he will also silence his critics who claim his is arrogant and not able to partner effectively with others.
Second: Establish a realistic city budget
This is an obvious one that was beaten senseless during the election. The Mayor, along with his allies in the City Council, will be able to tackle this issue together more effectively by working as a team. They will be stronger together when coming to the table of negotiation with Union leaders and other groups who that will need to work with the City to address its fiscal responsibilities than the Mayor or City Council were when attempting this individually.
These both will build a strong foundation and solid momentum for the Mayor as he continues his work leading the great City of Detroit. The Mayor has to build on the successes seen during his first term (increased development Downtown, increased housing development throughout the city, improved City services, etc.).
The Mayor has heard from the people. They made their decision. They put faith and trust in him. He now will lead them on to greater days. The best is yet to come.
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YP 11/18/05