FORUM I
Thursday, March 5, 2020 7:30 a.m. Detroit Athletic Club 241 Madison Avenue, Detroit, MI 48226
Panelist
Mike Duggan Mayor City of Detroit
Warren C. Evans Wayne County Executive
Michigan Chronicle Vol. 83 – No. 26 | March 4-10, 2020
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Detroit Homeowners:
Help is on the Way with Pay as You Stay By Patreice A. Massey On Monday, March 2, Mayor Mike Duggan, Representative Wendell Byrd (D-Detroit), Wayne County Executive Warren Evans joined Governor Gretchen Whitmer as she signed the Pay as You Stay (PAYS) legislation into law. The PAYS legislation is the result of the leadership of Representative Wendell Byrd (D-Detroit), who introduced the legislation, along with the collective backing of leaders across Wayne County government, Detroit City Council and other state Gov. Gretchen leaders who Whitmer supported a program that would help provide financial relief to residents struggling with current and delinquent taxes. This legislation couldn’t come at a better time as the City of Detroit is embroiled in controversy over Detroit homeowners being overtaxed to the tune of $600 million. According to reports, thousands of Detroiters are in debt and at risk of losing their homes after the City of Detroit failed to accurately assess property values in the years following the Great Recession. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan spoke of this in his State of the City Address saying that homeowners overtaxed from 2010 to 2016 shouldn’t expect to see any type of refund. In response, citizens protested the overtaxing of Detroit residents and forced the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center to temporarily shut down on Friday afternoon. “I’m glad that there is some relief on the way but what happens to the money that was overpaid,” asked Tiffany Kennedy of Detroit. Shouldn’t we get that money back? Name one other business that doesn’t make an adjustment when there is overpayment.” While its not likely the citizens will not see a return of the money that was overpaid, the “Pay as You Stay” (PAYS) plan that would assist low-income earners who fell delinquent in their property taxes by eliminating the penalties and interest and lowering their monthly payments, which would help about 31,000 Detroit homeowners, avoid foreclosure. “Pay As You Stay will help homeowners across the state struggling with delinquent taxes stay in their homes,” said Governor Whitmer. “Everyone deserves a path to own a home, and this program will help more than 30,000 Detroiters and Wayne County residents avoid foreclosure. I applaud Representative Byrd, County Executive Warren Evans, Mayor Duggan and all of our partners for their leadership in getting this done for all Michiganders.” Getting into PAYS is a twostep process:
See PAY
AS YOU STAY page A2
Daylight Saving Time Begins March 8 Remember to set your clocks forward one hour.
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Future Of U.S. Democracy Hinges On Black Vote By Whitney Gresham Your vote is THE most important and history altering vote on March 10 the presidential primary. If you heard it once, you heard it a million times before, Michigan will be at the center of arguably the most important presidential election in our nation’s history. Or, at the very least, since the 1860 presidential election which saw Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin of the anti-slavery Republican Party defeat John C. Breckinridge and Joseph Lane of the violently racist pro-slavery Democratic Party. That election served as the catalyst for the Civil War. Given who the incumbent president is, his blatant, relentless, and cruel racism, autocratic impulses and the complete failure of the legislative and judicial branches of government to keep him in check, the choice for black Michiganders are stark. Ironically, it is the disturbing similarities between the 19th century Democratic Party and the modern Republican Party when it comes to their attitude about race which underscores the urgency of this moment in American history, for black Americans in particular. The 2016 election of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States was a loud rebuke to the historical election of the nation’s first black president, Barak Obama and the racial progress he symbolized. And it literally ushered in a full blown second era of Post-Reconstruction for black America. During the 19th and 20th centuries this ranged from the denial of the right to vote, the promised “fifty-acres and a mule,” to electing white supremacists at local, state and federal levels who were committed
to fighting legislation which assured the most basic protections for African Americans against racial discrimination and violent, rampant white vigilantism – including lynching. Today, the Trump and the Republican Party have either engaged in or advocated for massive cuts in the social safety net targeting programs of particular benefit to the poor and especially racial minorities. This includes Trump gleefully announcing plans to cut more than 700,000 people from the food stamp rolls by April. Massive cuts in programs for other forms of food assistance, housing assistance, school lunch programs, healthcare, and an especially concentrated effort to destroy Obamacare. He also has attacked union rights, opposes a minimum wage increase and recently announced plans to cut Medicaid and Social security while angling for another massive tax cut for the rich. But the most evident examples of the glaring racism of Trump and the Republicans is its transformation into a mainly Southern-based political entity comprised largely of the descendants of the Confederacy who fought in favor of the enslavement of black Americans. Their spawn still share many of those racist views and the modern Republican Party has become the vehicle for expressing them. This was evident last December by a vote in the House of Representatives to pass the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019 (VRAA) which strengthened the iconic Voting Rights Act of 1965. It had been deliberately sabotaged by the five right-wing Republican justices on the Supreme Court in 2013. But, as Ari Berman of the Mother Jones magazine noted in a December report, “The bill passed the House on a large-
ly party-line vote, 228 to 187. However, unlike in 2006, when the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act passed the House by a vote of 390-33, only one House Republican, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, voted for the new bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already declared his opposition. (McConnell also called a sweeping democracy reform bill passed by House Democrats in March a “power grab” by Democrats.)” Trump threatened to immediately veto the bill if the Senate dared pass it and send it to his desk for him to sign. To drive home the point to black Michiganders especially, that the Republican Party under Trump has devolved into a largely white nationalist political entity, every single Michigan member of the Republican House Caucus voted against the VRAA. And their Party’s 2020 senate nominee for the U. S. Senate seat currently held the state’s junior senator, Democrat Gary Peters, is a black man from Detroit named John James. However, he not only opposed the VRAA, but refuses to speak out against voter suppression and makes it a point to go around telling white Michiganders how much he hates Obamacare and supports Donald Trump “2000” percent. Yet, he is mum on the subject of Trump with black Michiganders. The fact is, there are a myriad of critical local and state issues that need to be wrestled with by Michiganders in general and Detroiters in particular leading up the election. Among them are the chronically bad conditions of Michigan roads how to finance a reasonable and effective plan for fixing them, the state and city’s public schools needed improvements, gentrification, housing discrimination, crime,
See BLACK
VOTE page A2
The DIA Mileage Renewal Deserves Approval By Patreice A. Massey The Detroit Institute of Arts is looking to renew a tri-county millage on the March 10 ballot. In an effort to get ahead of the curve the DIA is proactively working to make this happen two years before the museum’s 10year millage is set to expire. “Since 2012, we have transformed the DIA to a museum that is outwardly-focused, building relationships with the residents of all three counties by providing important services to students, seniors, veterans and thousands of others. To continue providing those services at the current level, a renewal of the millage is necessary,” said David Flynn, DIA senior vice president of community and public affairs. The millage renewal seeks to collect 0.2 mills, which is 20 cents for every $1,000 of taxable property, or $15 a year for a home valued at $150,000. All funds are independently audited and reported on a public website to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent appropriately and transparently. The renewal amount is the same amount approved by voters in August 2012. The mill-
age is estimated to generate over $25 million across three counties $13.6 from Oakland, $5.8M from Macomb and $8.5M from Wayne. “This renewal is not new. It is not an increase. We are just looking to keep things as they are,” said Salvador Salort-Pons, Director of the DIA. The existing millage service agreements provide: free, unlimited general admission for tri-county residents, free school field trips and free transportation for tri-county students, free weekly programming for seniors, including free bus transportation for groups and partnerships with non-profit organizations in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties. The millage affords residents invaluable access to a world-class museum. The DIA is home to some of the most profound exhibits by African American artists and with art education being eliminated from many schools students having free access is a great benefit. “The DIA is a gem, said Moriah Martin of Ferndale. “And I believe that every child should be able to walk into that museum and not worry about the cost. In my opinion grant-
See MILEAGE
RENEWAL page A2