2026 Sustainability Summit and the Fate of the RenCen with Joseph Middlebrooks

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What's up, Detroit?
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Welcome to another episode of Authentically Detroit.
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Today we are broadcasting live from our living rooms.
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Donna, I understand you're in a hotel room, but we're on StreamYard today.
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My name is Sam Robinson.
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And I'm Donna Givens-Davidson.
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And we want to thank you all so much for listening and supporting our efforts to build a platform of authentic voices for real people here in the city of Detroit.
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All right, Donna and I today have Joseph Middlebrooks here with us to give a little bit of insight into the sustainability summit that is happening at the Eastside Community Network on Saturday, September 26th.
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That is from 10 a.m.
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to 2 p.m.
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Again, uh this Saturday, September 26th.
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Sustainability is the talk at ECN.
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Joseph Middlebrooks is the economic growth manager at ECN, where he supports Detroit entrepreneurs and small businesses through technical assistance, resource navigation, strategic partnerships, community-based programming.
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With more than 10 years of experience in nonprofit and community development, Joseph's work has centered on connecting Detroit residents, entrepreneurs, and families to resources that create pathways toward economic stability and growth.
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Throughout his career, Joseph has worked across housing, economic opportunity, and community engagement, helping residents access critical programs and strengthening partnerships between organizations and the communities that they serve.
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Joseph is passionate about making resources more accessible, empowering people with information, and helping Detroiters turn opportunities into sustainable growth.
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Joseph, you are with us today on the live stream uh version of our podcast.
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Welcome, Joseph.
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How are you feeling?
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Thank you.
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I'm feeling really good.
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I'm happy to be here.
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Yeah.
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So we want to talk, of course, about what is happening on Saturday for those who are not aware of who you are or what you do.
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Joseph, tell us a little bit about yourself.
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Who are you and uh how'd you get involved at ECN?
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So, yeah, so um um my name is Joseph Middlebrooks.
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Uh I am the economic growth manager here at East Community Network.
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Um, I got involved with um ECN uh way back when uh I heard of ECN, I should say, way back when um working with other organizations and kind of was in my on my radar to kind of you know uh keep an eye on you know things happening on the east side.
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I'm an east side native um and seen an opportunity um with uh sustainable um performer uh sustainable homes department and took that opportunity and um you know fate land me landed me here uh being the economic growth manager.
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Uh I've been doing this for you know uh quite some time, you know, really connected to the work, really connected to the east side, as I mentioned, you know, I'm east side native.
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So yeah, you know, I've just been you know rocking along and you know connecting research, connecting uh residents to resources and things that's happening and inside the community center.
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And on Saturday, of course, coming up at ECN is the sustainability summit.
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Joseph, talk to us about what is happening.
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Uh, I understand that there's gonna be some free food, some and some lunch uh provided.
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Yeah, so on Saturday, um we are having the sustainability summit.
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Um alongside of that, we're gonna be having a mash market uh where we're gonna have local entrepreneurs coming in and coming in and uh providing resources, um, providing uh selling their products for the community, to the community.
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Um, and it's a great way for entrepreneurs and local, well local entrepreneurs to connect with the community, um, to showcase their products, um, to gain new clientele, um things like that.
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So one of the exciting things is that we have solar power and battery on our rooftop right now, and so we are able to um, first of all, reduce our um carbon footprint using our solar on a regular basis.
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But through battery storage, we also have the capacity to set out a blackout or a brownout for a period of time and keep our center operational.
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And we haven't celebrated that yet, so we're gonna celebrate that on Saturday.
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It's been a long time coming.
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I think we started this project in 2019 and through the solar feasibility process, financing, all of that.
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It just took us some time, and of course, the um the pandemic impacted all of that.
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Um, and also we are going to be kicking off our sharing with people the um first part of the Angela Palace Gardens.
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The cement is for so we have sidewalks out there, we'll have some furniture out there, um, lots of great stuff.
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And so um I'm really excited about what I see us doing um to contribute to neighborhood sustainability.
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And then finally, we're going to just share a little information about our um the project we worked with Blaine State for a number of years, and that is um a stormwater management plan for the Detroit River.
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It's the first stormwater management plan in the history of the Detroit River.
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So we're excited about that.
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It's in front of the EPA, our senior director for environmental wellness, um, Dr.
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Marie Garcia, I helped lead that.
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That's what brought her from Texas to Detroit before she came on our team.
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She was here as a postdoc fellow.
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And I think that um Joseph taking the leadership and helping to bring these vendors here is also evidence of the way that our team is really starting to um work together, real partnership going on, right?
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Um, can you talk about that, Joseph?
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The difference between doing this and and the way that this summit is coming together.
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Yeah, so uh really connecting with one another.
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I'm learning a lot uh about uh environmental, um the environmental aspects, um, and just thinking about um not just the not just the environmental and ecosystem and all that, um, and just but just tying into like the work of uh entrepreneurs because you really can't have a um you really can't have a sustainable you know environment without successful businesses and um successful uh uh um just successful ecosystem coming in and providing like those different resources, uh giving back to the community.
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Um a community just really isn't a thriving community without local businesses that's feeding back into that and and reinvesting um their efforts and providing local services like local foods, uh fresh produce, um, you know, local services where they don't have to drive far and things like that.
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Yeah.
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I think we look at that as a circular economy, right?
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Where the people who live here spend money here, and then the people who make that money spend money here and so make great goods.
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So that we're keeping it in the hook, right?
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Because we have this whole concept of economic leakage where we make our money and we spend it somewhere else.
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And um, that depletes our community of resources when so many people who live in Detroit go somewhere else, we're trying to bring it back in.
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Um, Joseph, can you talk a little bit about the work that you do with small businesses to support them in their development?
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Yeah, so pretty much um whatever it is that business owners need, uh, we try to serve and provide, uh, whether they are looking for technical assistance uh because they're further along within their business, uh, they have a great idea that they just need flushing out.
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Um, you know, that we make it our job and our responsibility to help them get from wherever point A is for them to the next point to really get them thriving and being successful.
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And that's what that's what the important thing about having a mash market is, not just to sell goods and services, but just to provide like those, you know, what we call in the community development world wraparound services.
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Um so we do provide technical assistance for them.
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Uh we connect them to different resources, we connect them to organizations that provide funding for them, business training, um, flushing again, flushing out those ideas.
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So, really, you know, my big, big responsibility is being that intermediary between businesses and the resources that they need, and having the the know-about to kind of guide them and navigate them uh to those uh resources.
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You know, when we talk about sustainability, um shopping local is making your economy sustainable.
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So it's not separate from sustainability summit, it's all about sustainability.
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Um, what time does it start?
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And can you just talk about what to look forward to?
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So uh it is sustainability summit, it's from uh 10 to 2.
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Um, you can come in and just support local uh business owners.
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You're gonna they're gonna be providing uh food, um, they're gonna be providing their uh retail uh items that you can purchase.
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Uh there's an educational uh vendor there selling uh different educational things.
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Um and just the biggest thing is just supporting local businesses because business owners, the entrepreneurs, they're our neighbors, they're our friends.
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Um and even if, you know, even if you say, hey, I'm I'm coming in, I'm I'm in a tight spot, um, I can't, you know, I can't, I may not be able to buy anything this time, but just coming in, sharing, you know, sharing an Instagram post, um, Facebook post, just sharing their business, being a part of them, connecting with them, getting to know them because every bit counts when you're running a business.
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One last question from me, and that is what is a business?
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How do you define business?
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A business is a business is a opportunity uh for someone to uh elevate themselves, get out the whole cog of the nine to five, someone who's really taken a chance at something different to uh whether it is build generational wealth, um, get out to do something different outside of nine to five, or just really expound upon a skill that they've built uh over some time and explore a new lane, just you know better themselves.
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It was really interesting.
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Um we had a staff meeting, you'll remember, and I asked how many people had businesses.
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And people have businesses, right?
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Somebody's braiding hair, somebody's cooking, somebody's making things, and you have a business too, Joseph.
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Yeah, I do.
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Um I have a business, uh, Visio Services is a consulting firm.
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Um I've been in, like I said, I've been in the been in the community development nonprofit space for over a decade.
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So um I helping organizations really uh build their capacity.
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Uh it's been my passion, it's been what I've I've learned and over the years.
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And so, yeah, so I'm really it's a it's a blessing to be in this seat to see from both aspects of being a business owner and showing other business owners how to grow.
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Um it's it's allowed me to even be more intentional about the questions that I'm asking or even the services that we're providing and giving input on the direction and where we're going because it's it's it's it's challenging at times.
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And so I get it.
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You know, I'm there.
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Um, you know, I'm I'm a thought partner, a friend, you know, we learn together and we can be growing together.
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So and and you do that well, you know, I mean, 10 years, nine to five or whatever we our hours look like around the BCN.
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Yeah, yeah.
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A couple more things I think is so important because a lot of times people think of businesses as separate from the people who live in the community.
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Our businesses, we're people and we have businesses.
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Sam, you have a business.
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Um, your substack, right?
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Is that business?
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Yes, yeah, yeah, right.
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It's not and and really learning how to monetize your skills and abilities in an economy such as this is so important that we are not just dependent on other people to hire us, but we remember that we have what it takes to create and do things and then to take care of each other.
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It's a really exciting um concept that when you feel powerless to remember that you're not, that there's things that are within your power to do, even when it gets hard.
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So I'm hopeful that people come out, support our businesses, learn about what we're doing.
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And you know what, a nonprofit is business too, we got to make money too.
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So um come support us.
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Um see what we're doing, we're trying to do.
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It's um really our our, you know, we're not in the pretty period, we're in like the ugly period on our grounds where, you know, all the cement is up and the dirt is up.
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But I'm really looking forward to what's ahead and bringing people in the community along with us for what will be an exciting project.
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Yes, yes, yes.
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Joseph, thank you for joining us and sharing a little bit about what is going on on Saturday, September 26th, the Eastide Community Network is holding its sustainability summit.
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Uh it is for all ages.
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We all hope to see you guys there.
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Of course, remember, uh, new parking lot.
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Uh ECN is currently under construction.
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And every time I was Ubered there a few weeks ago and I didn't have my car, uh, the Uber would would send me into the uh incorrect entrance, which is the original entrance, but right now, uh just go a little bit further down, you'll see where all the cars are parked.
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Joseph, uh, thank you for for joining us on this virtual edition of Authentically Detroit, man.
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Thank you for having me.
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Yeah.
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Uh we're gonna take a break.
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When we come back, we're gonna talk about what is happening in our city.
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The Renaissance Center, it is going to be redeveloped.
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Will it be um by our taxpayer dollars?
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Looks like it will be.
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We're gonna talk about the$548 million in ask, that is$472 plus$75 million from the downtown development authority, excuse me, uh, that bedrock and GM want to redevelop the Renaissance Center.
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Uh, we're gonna be talking about Kamala Harris in Detroit as well.
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King Locked, you are listening to Authentically Detroit.
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Welcome back, everyone.
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We're gonna run down some of this week's top headlines in the city of Detroit.
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This past week, we heard at the community benefits ordinance meetings um what Bedrock and General Motors are going to be seeking as part of the$2.2 billion Renaissance Center redevelopment project proposal.
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There is an engagement hub right down there at Atwater across from the river where you can see all the history.
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I encourage everyone who is interested in this project to go see what Bedrock and General Motors are sort of asking the public to engage with engage with.
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They're asking for public input.
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It was interesting when I went, it was maybe the second day that that engagement hub was open, and they had this huge uh wall-sized map of the city of Detroit, and all of the stickers, they're asking people to put stickers where they live because they're asking for this to be an all-inclusive um community input process.
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Of course, the impact area, which you'll read in the news.
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Uh, the the neighborhood advisory council is made up of several members that actually live right near that Renaissance Center.
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But GM Bedrock want the entire city to give their input.
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I didn't see a lot of input from like my neck of the woods or anyone on the east side, really.
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There was some midtown Brush Park, uh, Palmer Park, Sherwood uh Forest.
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There was not anyone.
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There was only like six or seven stickers there.
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So perhaps I'll go again and there'll be a full, you know, blown up with where everybody lives.
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Um, but the people that were from the neighborhoods that I talked to that came down last Tuesday after they, well, during the meeting when they announced how much they'd be asking for in public subsidy.
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Many people do not want the Renaissance Center to be messed with at all.
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Uh, they ask, why can't they just do this redevelopment while keeping the two towers?
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There was one person that described the appearance of what they want it to be, comparing it to the male anatomy.
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You know, I've never thought about it like that, but tearing the two towers down, leaving just the Marriott cylindrical uh centerpiece, right?
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And then the two towers at the top, I guess, from a drone from a satellite image, it would, you know, be a little phallic.
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However, it could look like a middle finger too.
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It could, you know, it could.
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Um, they want to take the sort of platform, is what they the language they use to describe it down, and it would it would sort of re put Jefferson back on the same side.
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I am visualizing it now, but the listeners uh on audio cannot see what I'm doing.
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Jefferson is currently, you know, and has been is the entire existence of the Renaissance Center.
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Not I'm I'm I don't know the words I'm looking for, but it's there used to be a berm right at Jefferson.
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It was a big cement berm that had plants growing out of it.
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And I believe the heating and cooling systems were contained behind that berm, but the berm also was this big cement you know thing that blocked the Renaissance Center from Detroit.
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Um, as a person who lives in Detroit when the Renaissance Center was built, I can tell you that there was excitement by many Detroiters because the rest of downtown was, you know, dying a sole death.
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And you have this investment in the Renaissance Center.
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And so if you lived in Detroit when it was being built, you have a certain type of attachment that is a little bit more sentimental than people who are coming in and saying, hey, let's look at this differently.
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You know, um, for so long, that was the only movie theater that was open in Detroit.
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For so long, you could go and you could go to um, you know, clothing stores, restaurants, um, hair salons were in there.
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It was like a full mall that also was an office building and also was a hotel.
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Um, uh there's not many people who've been to fancy events in Detroit who have not been to the Marriott.
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And the Marriott's not going anywhere according to this plan.
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But when it was first announced, there was this feeling that I think many people had of why are you messing with our Renaissance Center?
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Um, some of the sentiment I've heard is that Coleman Young was the mayor when it was built.
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Now, he did not actually begin that initiative, but he was the mayor when it was built, I believe, 1976, and he started being mayor in 1974.
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And so sometimes there's a feeling that the things that were done in Detroit after White Flight happened, when Detroit became Chocolate City, um, that those things are not always valued in the way that Detroiters want to see them valued.
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So I think it's important that whoever's working on this understands the emotional impact of the Renaissance Center to some people who saw it as progress.
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Um I've been lost in the Renaissance Center as much as anybody's been lost.
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I've I could if I went in there today, get lost again.
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Um, it's confusing.
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I know that GM, when they purchased it, they removed that big berm at the street front they created, uh, but it's still elevated, so you still have to go up a hill.
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Um, I don't know where they put the heating and cooling systems, that they relocated them or put them underground.
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Um, but you still have to drive up to get there, and then you drive underneath there to get to the parking area, and so it's set off.
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It's not integrated into the streetscape in a way that makes it bikeable or walkable.
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Integrated into the streetscape, Donna.
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That's exactly the phrase that I was looking for.
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Integrated into the streetscape.
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They want to put a pedestrian crosswalk at Jefferson Avenue uh and at the the the riverfront.
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So it would connect Jefferson Avenue to the river walk in a way uh in which is currently, you know, completely, you got to go.
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I mean you you really gotta run like a frogger to get to the other side of Jefferson in its current configuration, which kind of sucks, you know, and just walking around the whole Renaissance center complex kind of sucks.
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And so there's a lot of people, there's there's really two sides to this issue.
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Right.
00:23:12.400 --> 00:23:27.839
Um, you know, I I do think that the grassroots folks uh who are traditionally anti-public tax handout um are going to be using a lot of the sentiments that folks hear.
00:23:27.920 --> 00:23:40.480
But I remember last year, Donna, Angela Woodfield Kelly was the only council member to sort of say, no, no, I don't want this proposal, this project to happen at all, talking about tearing down the two towers.
00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:46.079
She tried, if you remember, I think it was in March to put a historic designation on the Renaissance Center.
00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:49.119
Yes, yeah, it did, it did not work, she failed.
00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:59.279
However, her the spirit of that effort is still alive because you know, you got dozens of people coming to city council opposing this project.
00:23:59.440 --> 00:24:07.039
I heard from one woman who is a uh custodian in the Renaissance Center.
00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:09.359
She says that she's worked there for 13 years.
00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:30.480
General Motors uh bedrock, they never interfaced the actual workers of the building, many of which have been put out um as the business food hall, uh as the physical therapy athletico um center that was inside the Renaissance Center.
00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:36.000
A lot of people were going in the Ren Center to do physical therapy, uh, like thousands of people were, I realize.
00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:41.200
I was one, I I actually did uh physical therapy at Athletico as well at one point.
00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:46.559
And so that's gonna be my last you know memory of going into the General Motors Renaissance Center.
00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:48.559
It is now just the Renaissance Center, guys.
00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:52.880
If you look up heading in from the freeway, they turn that sign off.
00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:56.480
Like at least you could put a bedrock B like lit up on the something.
00:24:56.640 --> 00:24:57.599
Yeah, it it did.
00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:00.400
So it was like, we're we're just gonna make it plain, you know.
00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:06.240
I'm saying if they're just trying to make it look desolate and barren, so they can't.
00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:10.799
Oh, well, you know, I I think the conversations around this are interesting, right?
00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:16.799
Um, there's my birthday on Saturday, and we went to Joe Muir's, um, which I've enjoyed going to for my birthday.
00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:18.319
I've never seen it that empty.
00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:31.119
And I don't know whether the perception that the Renaissance Center is failing has impacted people going to Joe Muir's or whether they just have different tastes, or maybe last Saturday wasn't a good day for people to go out, but it was really empty when we went there.
00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:34.880
And I think it speaks to perhaps something that may be happening.
00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:41.359
I can't say for sure that it's happening through all of these conversations about um what's wrong with the Ren Cent.
00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:48.480
Um, and so when you see the GM gone, you see that that light up at the top that was always kind of pretty at the top, and now you don't see that.
00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:50.160
Um, something needs to happen there.
00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:51.200
I agree with you.
00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:58.559
Um when I first heard about the Renaissance Center coming down, I thought they were taking all five dollars down, and I was devastated.
00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:00.000
I was aha.
00:26:00.640 --> 00:26:07.119
I have to say that I don't necessarily disagree with a lot of what they've described.
00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:09.839
I I don't disagree with what I see on paper.
00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:15.599
I think that there it is more walkable, it does provide more access to the riverfront.
00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:20.720
I think it will be more beautiful for sure than what we see right now.
00:26:21.200 --> 00:26:26.559
Um I think that a lot of good things can come with this.
00:26:26.880 --> 00:26:29.440
The question is the price tag for me.
00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:36.160
And the question is also how is it structured and is it inclusive in all design elements?
00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:43.759
But I've I've heard other people kind of relaxing a little bit, knowing that we're not talking about the total decimation of the rinse in.
00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:48.720
Um, have you heard that as well, or are most of the people still all um against it?
00:26:49.039 --> 00:27:01.039
Well, you know, people who say they don't really have strong opinions on the demolition of the towers, uh, they'll still tell me that they completely oppose the subsidy handout, the TIFF, which has already been approved.
00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:04.400
Understand that this money is already locked in.
00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:05.839
Some of it is right.
00:27:06.960 --> 00:27:12.880
Legislative are the are the it's already the TIFF is already there.
00:27:12.960 --> 00:27:21.279
They the the lawmakers have already approved the increase which was necessary for this proposal to even get started.
00:27:21.599 --> 00:27:25.119
It's the um transformational brownfield tax credits.
00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:27.039
They approved that increase.
00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:32.640
I don't know that that has actually gone to city council at the council table.
00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:34.960
I think that that's a future act.
00:27:35.200 --> 00:27:54.559
But the transformation will have to we'll have to approve the um actual proposal once that gets through the community benefits uh process, which the NAC will be the first board/slash body to um approve or not.
00:27:55.039 --> 00:28:05.279
Let's talk about that because we're throwing around some acronyms, and I think it's important that people who um participate in this conversation know what a NAC is and what all of this is.
00:28:05.359 --> 00:28:10.480
So I want to go back to the conversation about the community benefits process.
00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:21.920
The community benefits um process in the city of Detroit was enacted, I want to say in 2017, after a 2016 vote, but I could be off by a year, sometimes I am.
00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:40.079
Um it was a second proposal that was um submitted to city council voted to put it on the ballot, and then city council came with another um um alternative, and they gave voters the opportunity to select which one.
00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:55.519
Um the first community benefits proposal was going to provide a lot more input from the community, and the funding community felt like that input would stymie their ability to um attract development to the city of Detroit.
00:28:55.680 --> 00:29:04.240
Um, there was actually Tom Lewand worked for the city, and he said if proposal A, which is what the other proposal was called, passes, I will step down from my job.
00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:08.960
Now, for those of us who did not like Tom Lewand, that sounds like a pretty good outcome.
00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:14.480
But he was, you know, very um instrumental in Mayor Doug's administration.
00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:54.160
Um proposal B is a more limited proposal that limits input into the actual benefit agreement to nine people, two of whom are selected by people who live in the area, impact area, and nine of which are appointed, I mean, seven of which are appointed either by the two city council members at large, the one city council person for that district, and um under um Mary Sheffield's administration, I believe four of them are um are from planning and development.
00:29:54.240 --> 00:29:56.160
Okay, so you have nine people.
00:29:56.319 --> 00:30:00.160
I think I know two of them maybe, um, but you have nine people who are part of the NAC.
00:30:00.319 --> 00:30:06.480
Um, Gail Perry Mason, uh friend who I know very well, who lives in the impact area, is one of them.
00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:10.000
Um I want to talk about the impact area real briefly, too.
00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:24.880
The impact area is not scientifically drawn, it's an area that is determined by planning and development or whoever is assigned in the city to be the area where there's an impact.
00:30:25.119 --> 00:30:30.079
And in this instance, they have three census tracks that they've identified.
00:30:30.240 --> 00:30:39.680
The census tracks they've identified adjacent to the Renson are census tracks that house some of the wealthiest Detroiters.
00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:54.640
Um, in one census tract, about$101,000 area medium median income area, about$101,000 median income and another, about$95,000 and another$57,000.
00:30:54.720 --> 00:31:07.920
When you keep in mind that Detroit's median income is about$37,000, you can ask yourself: is this really representative of community will and the people who can and should be able to weigh in on benefits?
00:31:08.079 --> 00:31:20.480
Um, the conversations that we've had with that um at as community development organizations pat with the city, um they said that um the mayor has really pushed for extensive community engagement.
00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:31.839
So that center that you talked about, the drop-in center that you talked about, Sam, and only a few people went, they're supposed to be um going out to all of these different communities and drawing in their input.
00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:42.960
And so there's going to be a much more aggressive effort to get feedback from people about the kind of amenities that they'd like to see in the um the actual redeveloped rent cent.
00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:51.759
What the community benefits agreement determines, though, is not just what kinds of amenities would you like you would like to see.
00:31:51.920 --> 00:31:58.000
It determines what kind of benefits should be exchanged for some of the tax incentives.
00:31:58.240 --> 00:32:01.279
Are we going to give people jobs, for example?
00:32:01.599 --> 00:32:03.119
Will we guarantee jobs?
00:32:03.200 --> 00:32:05.200
That's one of the things people want to see.
00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:14.160
Another thing that some people have looked at is will you spend money in other areas to support other aspects of the community?
00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:31.279
And so with this agreement, you could have a very expansive concept that the Renaissance Centers actually belongs to all of Detroit and the entire city should function as an impact area, which some people tried to say, or that we really have to look at the adjacencies.
00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:41.440
And so what I'm seeing from the city is what they're really looking at is are the environmental impacts, the traffic impacts of the people who live really, really close.
00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:46.000
And so, in that more narrow definition, you're having those things there.
00:32:46.480 --> 00:33:04.079
Um, I think that people, many people want to see more affordable housing, not just the kind of affordable housing that will be put into the Renaissance Center, but perhaps investment in a housing fund that would invest in housing in other places.
00:33:04.240 --> 00:33:07.200
So it's going to be interesting to see what they come up with.
00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:27.599
Um, but when you don't have an impact area that is representative of the city as a whole, and then when your um selected representatives are not, you know, um peers with people across the city, they don't necessarily know their struggles and have their desires, there may be some things left off the table.
00:33:27.680 --> 00:33:30.480
And that's the concern that I've heard from some people.
00:33:31.119 --> 00:33:38.640
Um, even before you get to the tax abatements, um, there's that basic concern of who gets to decide.
00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:42.400
You are muted.
00:33:43.039 --> 00:33:43.440
Yes.
00:33:43.680 --> 00:33:53.519
Uh there are questions around members of the neighborhood advisory council last week.
00:33:54.000 --> 00:34:10.159
The city, uh representative for the city, had informed members of the public that they had done due diligence um on uh conflicts of interest.
00:34:10.400 --> 00:34:13.039
One member, Teron Haynes Jr.
00:34:13.920 --> 00:34:18.320
He accused Jermaine Dickens of a conflict of interest.
00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:26.159
Jermaine Dickens used to work for um former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's office as a spokesperson.
00:34:26.400 --> 00:34:41.119
He works as a he worked as a comms director for the House Democrats, and he also has worked on uh has been a um consultant for the city on bedrock projects.
00:34:41.280 --> 00:34:44.960
He responded saying that he is not a bedrock consultant.
00:34:45.199 --> 00:34:54.639
Um he was elected the chair of the board, and a lot of people uh had it took issue when he was elected the chair.
00:34:54.880 --> 00:35:01.280
A lot of people say that he's going to do GM's bidding and bedrocks, bidding for them.
00:35:01.519 --> 00:35:05.760
Um, I had a conversation with Jermaine after the meeting was over.
00:35:06.000 --> 00:35:11.840
Jermaine rejected those claims, said he is going to put the community's interests first.
00:35:12.559 --> 00:35:14.079
And so we will see.
00:35:14.800 --> 00:35:19.519
Teron Haynes uh was kind of a funny uh vocal member.
00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:25.199
He certainly has the support of the uh vocal opposition, the grassroots folks.
00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:26.719
Um and and you saw them all.
00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:49.280
I mean, the you know, the Russell Balance of the world were all there, the Detroiters for Tax Justice folks, um, folks that uh, as I said, worked at the Renaissance Center, who currently work at the Renaissance Center, SEIU member employees telling um uh bedrock officials that they did not ask for their input.
00:35:49.440 --> 00:35:52.239
Um, and so it's interesting what's happening.
00:35:52.480 --> 00:36:02.800
Um you want to compare the public ask, the money, the amount of money that GM and Bedrock are asking for.
00:36:02.960 --> 00:36:07.760
Um 472 million plus 75 million.
00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:23.920
Uh it's less than Olympia and Stephen Ross's project that's finally looking like uh a building over there in Cass Corridor uh for the latest district Detroit, um, University of Michigan Innovation Center.
00:36:24.079 --> 00:36:32.559
They received almost$800 million for that, which was more than than half of the entire budget for the project, right?
00:36:32.639 --> 00:36:41.199
It was, I think,$1.5 billion that it's gonna take to complete that building over there on gas.
00:36:41.679 --> 00:36:43.199
So a little bit less.
00:36:43.360 --> 00:36:47.440
And you know, Bedrock has a little bit better of a reputation in our community.
00:36:47.519 --> 00:36:54.800
That's just based on you know, community members that I talked to, Donna, um, you know, you you would probably know that as well.
00:36:54.960 --> 00:37:06.559
I think people trust what Bedrock and General Motors, especially, are gonna say are gonna do when they say they're gonna do something, as opposed to um you know, the Illich families.
00:37:07.039 --> 00:37:10.639
There is no bad Illich site.
00:37:10.719 --> 00:37:15.679
Like there is a bad Illich website that talks about everything they do wrong, you know.
00:37:15.760 --> 00:37:29.119
And like many people, um, we have a um mixed feelings, I think, about bed rec because you know, of the billionaires in Detroit, you have to acknowledge that Dan Gilbert is more philanthropic than many, okay?
00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:35.519
Illich is not giving out money and engaged in community building in the same way.
00:37:35.679 --> 00:37:37.360
Um, and so those things are good.
00:37:37.679 --> 00:37:40.559
Columbia Street does, is it's all filled out now, though.
00:37:40.639 --> 00:37:42.960
I mean, they got a new restaurant there, Sunda.
00:37:43.599 --> 00:37:47.760
So I do think it doesn't look like District Detroit yet.
00:37:47.840 --> 00:37:52.800
And it will, and you know, a lot of those things are overpriced parking lots that they got, you know.
00:37:53.039 --> 00:38:01.119
So I think that the spirit of doing things is regardless of whether or not some things are happening, um, is not fulfilled.
00:38:01.199 --> 00:38:17.760
And that's uh, and it, you know, there's so many feelings about the Illiches from holding on to some property for decades and allowing it to go down, and the way that they sort of hoarded property and in some people's eyes depressed property values in that area so they can make money off of it.
00:38:18.079 --> 00:38:23.119
Um long story though, and we don't need to say this because we're talking about bed rack.
00:38:23.199 --> 00:38:30.880
I think my issue, and and I also want to disclose that Jermaine Dickens is a member of the Eastside Community Network Board.
00:38:31.119 --> 00:38:32.800
This is not his first go-round.
00:38:33.039 --> 00:38:37.199
Actually, when he worked for the Kwame Kilpatrick administration, he was a member of the board.
00:38:37.280 --> 00:38:41.360
He may have been chair of the board in when it was Warren Crown Development Coalition in those days.
00:38:41.519 --> 00:38:46.159
Um, I like Jermaine, you know, he's a colorful person and he does um a lot.
00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:56.320
But I mean, I think that we'd be disingenuous to say that he does not do a really good job representing interest um of um the people who pay his bills.
00:38:56.400 --> 00:38:57.519
You know, we all do.
00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:06.000
So um I think, you know, I mean it's like, okay, you pay my bills to represent you and to help give you a good name.
00:39:06.079 --> 00:39:12.000
And I have known some really wonderful people who've worked for Jermaine, so I don't have any um issue with him in that regard.
00:39:12.239 --> 00:39:13.840
My concern is this.
00:39:14.559 --> 00:39:23.119
My concern is something that I've had ever since Salantis did their um community benefits agreement on the east side of Detroit.
00:39:23.280 --> 00:39:33.920
And it went to City Council, and I remember being told at the council table hearing the city council members say, well, if the NAC voted on it, we can't overturn that.
00:39:34.159 --> 00:39:40.559
And I thought, hold up, these are not elected officials, these are appointed officials.
00:39:40.719 --> 00:39:48.719
You have a legislative responsibility to make sure that this is meeting the needs and the highest best purpose of the city of Detroit.
00:39:48.880 --> 00:40:03.679
The NAC should be have very strongly worded and very respected recommendations, but the idea that nine private citizens can make decisions for an entire city, um, the city's budget makes no sense to me.
00:40:03.760 --> 00:40:06.480
I think it's anti-democratic, and I don't support that.
00:40:06.639 --> 00:40:08.880
I think that we need to revisit it.
00:40:09.360 --> 00:40:20.239
So that really what we're looking at is the NAC doing their best to give feedback and not, you know, not representing or not being substituted.
00:40:20.320 --> 00:40:32.239
Because the other thing is um if you're a city council person, you've got staff, you have um various units of government that exist to research and bring you information.
00:40:32.480 --> 00:40:42.719
So each city council person is supported by a number of people with expertise and knowledge in the law department so that they're not standing on their own.
00:40:43.360 --> 00:41:04.960
The members of the NAC are private individuals who do not have access to the Planning Commission, who do not have access to the legislative policy division or the law department for the city of Detroit or the Civil Rights Department to be able to question them and give them information that they need.
00:41:05.199 --> 00:41:12.079
And so I think it's a flawed process if you're expecting them to substitute for city council people.
00:41:12.719 --> 00:41:19.360
Um, I also think that the process is almost always rushed.
00:41:19.599 --> 00:41:21.360
I don't understand why.
00:41:21.519 --> 00:41:27.599
Um, and I looked at the schedule, it looks as though they're trying to have everything wrapped up by the end of October.
00:41:27.760 --> 00:41:32.800
And that feels like a very rushed process because it takes fact finding takes time.
00:41:33.039 --> 00:41:44.639
You know, by the end of October, I'm assuming they're gonna need to get an Eagle permit, you know, um, energy, Great Lakes, you know, Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy Department to do some of the work.
00:41:44.960 --> 00:41:47.440
Eagle will not have enough time to do their review.
00:41:47.679 --> 00:42:00.639
And so I don't think any agreement should be completed until we've completed an environmental and external environmental analysis, until we have really looked at an economic analysis.
00:42:00.960 --> 00:42:12.159
And then finally, every economic development project in the city of Detroit that gets abatements always comes in there with very pie in the sky understandings of what's gonna happen.
00:42:12.320 --> 00:42:16.320
You see, they're building office space in this new um development.
00:42:16.559 --> 00:42:19.920
Um, but you can't guarantee that you're gonna have tenants.
00:42:20.079 --> 00:42:26.800
You can't guarantee that the tenants there are not gonna be people who move from the Blue Cross Blue Shield building over there on Lafayette.
00:42:27.039 --> 00:42:32.719
At some point, I think we have to get to the point where there is accountability.
00:42:33.280 --> 00:42:39.599
When we're giving you a tax break, then you are accountable to delivering on what you said you were going to do.
00:42:39.760 --> 00:42:42.079
And if not, there is a clawback.
00:42:42.639 --> 00:42:47.039
I want more than just, you know, we're gonna give people an opportunity to have jobs.
00:42:47.199 --> 00:42:48.880
I want some type of job guarantee.
00:42:48.960 --> 00:42:52.800
That's me, you know, because it I think it makes sense.
00:42:53.440 --> 00:43:08.480
I said that was final, but the final actual thing is CREO, the civil rights um department for the city is responsible for evaluating and tracking compliance with all of these um promises.
00:43:09.199 --> 00:43:15.199
CREO should be publicly reporting its findings in a manner that allows people to push back.
00:43:15.519 --> 00:43:23.760
The former head of the NAC for Solantis ended up at war with CRO, just trying to get information from CRO.
00:43:24.079 --> 00:43:31.440
And a lot of people had buyer's remorse feeling like, you know, we agreed to these things, believing others what happened, and they're not happening.
00:43:31.840 --> 00:43:34.559
So I do have my concerns.
00:43:34.800 --> 00:43:48.239
They exist, and I think that it makes sense for us to acknowledge what they are and to put them on the table, not to be a naysayer, but to say when we do things moving forward, let's make sure there's justice built in from the get go.
00:43:48.400 --> 00:43:50.800
And yes, I said that was the final thing, but one more thing.
00:43:50.960 --> 00:43:54.079
You've been to the more than one of these NAC meetings, Sam?
00:43:54.639 --> 00:43:55.039
Yeah.
00:43:55.519 --> 00:43:55.840
Okay.
00:43:57.360 --> 00:44:05.599
I believe at one, there was a Statement that some of the housing would house people at or below 60% of the AMI.
00:44:06.079 --> 00:44:11.519
And I believe at the last meeting that AMI number was pushed up to 80%.
00:44:13.039 --> 00:44:16.239
I actually saw somebody query on Facebook.
00:44:16.400 --> 00:44:20.480
I'm not saying that people who are low income should live on the riverfront.
00:44:20.559 --> 00:44:21.760
I was like, no.
00:44:22.159 --> 00:44:27.440
Why would we expect low-income people to live on the riverfront when it should be only rich folks who live there?
00:44:27.760 --> 00:44:35.840
But you know, 80% of the area median income is much higher than the area median income for the city of Detroit.
00:44:36.639 --> 00:44:39.679
The median income for the city is about 37,000.
00:44:39.920 --> 00:44:42.960
80% of 70,000 is more.
00:44:43.679 --> 00:44:53.360
And so what that would mean is that your median income Detroit resident could not afford to live in a place that is being built and built up as affordable.
00:44:54.239 --> 00:44:55.519
That's what I got.
00:45:02.639 --> 00:45:10.400
This Tuesday, September 22nd, you can go back to Kmax, 13th floor, and hear it all again.
00:45:10.719 --> 00:45:19.599
They're not going to be giving the same presentation, but I'm sure during public comment, you will hear many of the same type of comments.
00:45:20.719 --> 00:45:21.760
It's interesting stuff.
00:45:21.920 --> 00:45:25.519
Tomorrow, September 22nd, it is a Tuesday.
00:45:25.679 --> 00:45:28.159
We are also about to welcome back.
00:45:28.320 --> 00:45:32.159
She's been here like a million times over the last 24 months.
00:45:32.480 --> 00:45:38.159
Kamala Harris, she is the vice president formerly of the United States of America.
00:45:38.400 --> 00:45:43.119
She is on her 2026 midterm tour, I suppose.
00:45:43.280 --> 00:45:46.639
Some of the candidates have not wanted her to campaign with her.
00:45:58.159 --> 00:46:14.960
Abdul endorsed Kamala in 24, and it seems like that endorsement is coming back to reward him or play in his favor or to his advantage now in 26 as he's running for Senate.
00:46:15.039 --> 00:46:26.960
They are going to be talking with Mothering Justice uh leader Daniel Atkinson, and they are going to be talking with um Wendell Anthony.
00:46:27.039 --> 00:46:30.719
He's the president of the Detroit branch and double ACP.
00:46:31.440 --> 00:46:36.800
Um, I would imagine she'll probably be at the church tomorrow.
00:46:37.119 --> 00:46:38.960
At Fellowship Chapel Church.
00:46:39.119 --> 00:46:39.599
Yeah.
00:46:39.840 --> 00:46:44.639
Um can't give away where she's gonna be with Danielle Atkinson.
00:46:44.719 --> 00:46:45.920
People are already asking me.
00:46:46.000 --> 00:46:50.000
However, um Kamala back in Detroit.
00:46:50.079 --> 00:46:51.679
She she keeps coming here.
00:46:52.000 --> 00:46:57.519
Does it seem like Detroit is Kamala country or Detroit doesn't like Kamala, you know.
00:46:57.679 --> 00:47:00.559
Um she she won the city of Detroit.
00:47:00.800 --> 00:47:04.400
I think just a matter of respect, she was a presidential candidate.
00:47:04.559 --> 00:47:06.880
She was the vice president for the United States.
00:47:07.119 --> 00:47:14.719
And, you know, she managed to be vice president, a candidate without the kind of scandal that you see going on with the existing presidency.
00:47:14.960 --> 00:47:17.519
Um she's imperfect as we all are.
00:47:17.679 --> 00:47:23.119
And so I think that, you know, sometimes it feels like black women have to be perfect to be good.
00:47:23.280 --> 00:47:28.480
And other folks can just show up, you know, and so there's resistance to her, like, oh, she's worse thing.
00:47:28.559 --> 00:47:29.920
You know, she's not the worst thing.
00:47:30.079 --> 00:47:37.119
I think it's um, you know, and then some of the ways that people characterize her role as vice president, I think is not fair.
00:47:37.280 --> 00:47:39.360
And that's yeah, I've always been clear about that.
00:47:39.440 --> 00:47:41.920
So I'm glad that Abdul is doing the right thing.
00:47:42.000 --> 00:47:54.880
If he can embrace Assam Piker and he can embrace Kamala Harris, what he's saying is, I'm listening to the people in this community, these communities, and I'm not going to ostracize people just because we're where we may have a political difference.
00:47:55.039 --> 00:47:58.079
And I think that is actually a show of good leadership on his part.
00:47:58.239 --> 00:48:17.920
I think that black Detroiters will appreciate the fact that he's campaigning with her, especially those who felt like Abdul andor people like Abdul cost her her presidency, um, which, you know, I mean, it's not mathematically possible, but it's certainly something that is rhetoric that people pass around.
00:48:18.639 --> 00:48:34.559
Abdul Al-Sayed in recent weeks has met with some of his primary opponents, surrogates of Haley Stevens' campaign, and more moderate Democrats that make up sort of the Metro Detroit black establishment.
00:48:34.719 --> 00:48:50.880
Um, there's a video on his Instagram that he just put featuring some of those folks, people like uh the e-course mayor, people like the mayor of Highland Park, people like Tyrone Carter.
00:48:51.760 --> 00:48:59.440
Uh Abdul Al-Sayed, obviously, he's gonna have to win black voters to defeat Mike Roger.
00:48:59.519 --> 00:49:02.079
He's gonna have to win a lot of votes out of the city of Detroit.
00:49:02.320 --> 00:49:05.519
We um hope he has to win black voters.
00:49:05.760 --> 00:49:06.400
Right.
00:49:07.360 --> 00:49:14.559
We hope if the polls are at all accurate, you know, Detroit's gonna be a big place where he is the winner.
00:49:14.719 --> 00:49:16.719
Um, you know, they're gonna push him over the edge.
00:49:16.800 --> 00:49:29.280
I do think Donna a little bit has been overblown, but I also think it's just the only interesting like kind of tidbit of this general election matchup is that some black voters are saying racist stuff about Arabs.
00:49:29.360 --> 00:49:30.639
I think that's like the only interesting thing.
00:49:30.960 --> 00:49:33.119
Well, it's always it's always what they do.
00:49:33.199 --> 00:49:35.760
I, you know, like I said, I've been around these rodeos, right?
00:49:35.840 --> 00:49:39.440
When Obama was running, will Hispanic people vote for him or do they hate black people?
00:49:39.760 --> 00:49:41.440
Do Asian people, will they vote for him?
00:49:41.599 --> 00:49:54.079
And Asian and Hispanic people voted for him in large numbers because I think that the decision or the desire to play up the inter-ethnic conflict is, like you said, it's very newsworthy.
00:49:54.639 --> 00:50:04.800
Um, I don't want, I believe there's a possibility because we don't, it feels to me like political lines are disintegrating.
00:50:04.960 --> 00:50:06.320
I don't know where people stand.
00:50:06.400 --> 00:50:10.559
Tucker Carlson and George near endorsed Abdul El Sayyid.
00:50:10.639 --> 00:50:14.719
And, you know, there's people from different parts who feel politically homeless right now.
00:50:14.880 --> 00:50:15.840
Who do I support?
00:50:15.920 --> 00:50:17.440
You know, not me, I'm saying something.
00:50:17.519 --> 00:50:19.199
That's what people are asking themselves.
00:50:19.519 --> 00:50:21.360
Um, so we're gonna see realignment.
00:50:21.440 --> 00:50:27.360
And what I don't want that realignment to do is to minimize the impact of black voters.
00:50:27.599 --> 00:50:33.199
I don't want that realignment to be, well, we won without you, and therefore we don't need you.
00:50:33.360 --> 00:50:39.840
And I understand people don't want to be taken for granted, but I also don't want people to be unnecessary.
00:50:40.159 --> 00:50:57.599
And of course he'll have some black votes, but you know, I think we really have to ask ourselves, how do we have influence as a community if we've decided that we're going to hold out against this person who's the most likely running in for you know Senate to support Detroit?
00:50:58.159 --> 00:51:17.360
And unlike, well, perhaps like the Arab Muslim effort in 24, I was gonna say, it just seems like you know, it's such a small minority of voters who are turned off um by a lot of the things that are caught in the national TV news cycle.
00:51:17.440 --> 00:51:21.519
Like, I just don't hear a lot of Democratic voters being turned off by Hassan Piker.
00:51:21.599 --> 00:51:31.440
And I do hear them, but it'll be like three state lawmakers and their staffers, you know, it's such an insular, it's so small.
00:51:31.840 --> 00:51:54.000
And so when you think about how are we going to have any power if we just act on our own without sympathetic allies, you know, I just I don't understand how if our only ally is one other group that feels wronged because of their one thing.
00:51:54.079 --> 00:51:55.199
I I don't know.
00:51:55.360 --> 00:51:59.280
And that was the difference between they compare themselves as they say that we're the reverse uncommitted.
00:51:59.360 --> 00:52:06.559
It's like, well, all the white people that are gonna end up voting for Abdul, they also voted uncommitted in the February primary, like it was over 100,000 votes.
00:52:06.960 --> 00:52:13.440
The other thing is that it's not the same thing, it's complete political retribution.
00:52:13.840 --> 00:52:21.039
The uncommitted vote was not a protest vote that was unconnected to a very specific outcome.
00:52:21.280 --> 00:52:27.679
The uncommitted vote was saying, disarm Israel, stop spending money and bombing babies.
00:52:27.920 --> 00:52:35.760
Our public policy needs to change towards Israel, and we are going to put pressure on the president however we can to make that happen.
00:52:37.039 --> 00:52:43.280
Uncommitted did not cost Kamala Harris the presidency.
00:52:43.679 --> 00:52:52.719
I don't believe it, and I think it's very simplistic to say that if only Arab people had stayed quiet or young people had stayed quiet, this wouldn't happen.
00:52:52.880 --> 00:52:58.800
I will say this though, and I've said this before, so I hate to be a broken record, but here we go.
00:52:59.199 --> 00:53:05.679
Barack Obama would not have become president in 2008 without the youth vote.
00:53:06.559 --> 00:53:09.039
The youth vote pushed him over the edge.
00:53:09.360 --> 00:53:19.679
The youth vote wanted things, and people were voting on college campuses, people were voting in community centers, young people all over the United States vote and helped to push him over the edge.
00:53:19.760 --> 00:53:24.639
It was the largest youth vote turnout really in my you know life.
00:53:25.519 --> 00:53:35.920
Kamala Harris was running a campaign that embraced um this is the name Cheney.
00:53:36.079 --> 00:53:43.280
Liz Cheney, but not a single Palestinian person who was objecting to the war.
00:53:43.679 --> 00:53:49.599
And the young people were not with Liz Cheney, they were with the person who was objecting to the war.
00:53:50.000 --> 00:53:51.599
She lost the youth vote.
00:53:51.920 --> 00:53:53.039
That's why she lost.
00:53:53.280 --> 00:53:56.000
Young people did not vibe with her.
00:53:56.320 --> 00:53:58.079
Didn't news media play a role?
00:53:58.320 --> 00:53:58.719
Sure.
00:53:59.039 --> 00:54:00.639
Did racism play a role?
00:54:00.800 --> 00:54:01.280
Sure.
00:54:01.519 --> 00:54:06.960
But also, were there really strong efforts to mobilize and connect with youth voters?
00:54:07.119 --> 00:54:07.920
I think not.
00:54:08.239 --> 00:54:08.800
Not at all.
00:54:08.960 --> 00:54:21.920
From what I witnessed in the 2024 election, which the only young people that I saw around were the staffers, uh, the very many staffers that Kamala Harris employed as a part of her billion-dollar campaign.
00:54:22.159 --> 00:54:28.719
And so, yeah, Kamala Harris has since apologized to people like Abbas Alaway.
00:54:29.280 --> 00:54:38.239
He was the leader of Uncommitted, not Abdul Al-Sayed, who had not anything really much to do with Uncommitted other than the fact that he supported it in February.
00:54:38.400 --> 00:54:46.639
Um, he certainly broke with many of his uh Arab Muslim community members who were openly hostile.
00:54:46.800 --> 00:54:53.920
They called her killer Kamala to the former vice president when she uh became the nominee.
00:54:54.079 --> 00:54:55.599
The uncommitted thing was in February.
00:54:55.760 --> 00:54:56.800
That was against Biden.
00:54:56.960 --> 00:54:58.639
You could say that uncommitted won.
00:54:58.800 --> 00:55:00.639
I mean, they they got exactly what they wanted.
00:55:00.719 --> 00:55:03.440
Um, you know, they did not end up endorsing Kamala Harris.
00:55:03.599 --> 00:55:06.639
I think they told people to vote against Donald Trump.
00:55:06.719 --> 00:55:08.800
They didn't endorse Jill Stein either.
00:55:09.039 --> 00:55:14.079
I would imagine a lot of the people that were diehard, uncommitted followers probably did vote for Jill Stein.
00:55:14.159 --> 00:55:24.800
You can go look in the Dearborn precincts where like a third-party presidential candidate performed better than had since like a hundred years ago.
00:55:25.039 --> 00:55:31.760
And so, yeah, you know, the the nuance that is taken out of this conversation is quite remarkable.
00:55:31.920 --> 00:55:36.559
Um, I'm sure somebody will ask Kamala about Hassan Piker tomorrow.
00:55:36.800 --> 00:55:39.840
Um interesting, you know, you brought it up.
00:55:40.000 --> 00:55:44.159
She she campaigned with Liz Cheney, she's gonna campaign with Abdul Al-Sayed.
00:55:44.239 --> 00:55:49.760
Like that's there's nothing wrong with campaigning with Liz Cheney to some extent.
00:55:49.920 --> 00:55:51.840
But Liz Cheney was a very visible.
00:55:52.079 --> 00:56:00.079
It was so you have Democrats for Rogers, and she was trying to make court advisors, trying to make Republicans for Harris a thing.
00:56:00.320 --> 00:56:05.679
It wasn't telling people don't be afraid, there were commercials, don't be afraid to cross the lines and vote.
00:56:06.000 --> 00:56:12.400
And I would tell Andrea Bitely this, she was the former Duggan spokesperson, uh longtime Republican flack in Michigan.
00:56:12.480 --> 00:56:13.280
She's great.
00:56:13.440 --> 00:56:18.079
You know, Andrea, once you vote for a Democrat, you're not a Republican anymore.
00:56:18.400 --> 00:56:24.639
Like, you know, this whole thing, and I think a lot of the Abdullah Al-Sayed folks talking about Democrats for Rogers.
00:56:24.800 --> 00:56:31.119
I think all of the Democrats that vote for Mike Rogers, you know, you guys are at that point, you know, conservative.
00:56:31.840 --> 00:56:37.519
Especially at this polarized point in our history, that can't be your strategy.
00:56:37.679 --> 00:56:46.000
It can be something that you allow for, but to openly court somebody, because you know, listen, how people view Dick Shaney as a warmonger.
00:56:46.880 --> 00:56:50.239
And you're embracing a more warmonger, I think that's the perception.
00:56:50.400 --> 00:56:53.119
So don't need to go on to about that too much.
00:56:53.280 --> 00:56:57.599
I just want to point out that um there were some tactical errors, in my opinion.
00:56:57.760 --> 00:57:02.159
And a lot of people say that there's campaign staff and the people you listen to.
00:57:02.320 --> 00:57:05.360
It's why it's important to have really good campaign people around you.
00:57:05.519 --> 00:57:14.800
And I think it's also fair to say she didn't have a lot of time to build a campaign because she was kind of thrust in the middle of it way too late in the game.
00:57:14.960 --> 00:57:15.280
Yeah.
00:57:15.920 --> 00:57:18.079
So, you know, she was imperfect.
00:57:18.159 --> 00:57:18.719
Like we all like.
00:57:19.360 --> 00:57:22.960
It was the most frustrating 107 days of his political career.
00:57:23.280 --> 00:57:25.280
You can imagine how Kamala felt.
00:57:25.360 --> 00:57:28.480
Uh, it is that time of the week again.
00:57:28.800 --> 00:57:31.599
We're gonna do our shout-outs.
00:57:32.480 --> 00:57:34.159
Donna, who do you want to shout out?
00:57:34.400 --> 00:57:41.840
I just want to shout out um just everybody who wish me happy birthday, um, my husband for you know treating me so well.
00:57:42.000 --> 00:57:43.840
We had a really wonderful weekend.
00:57:44.000 --> 00:57:48.000
Uh, my children, grandchildren are coming over and celebrating with me.
00:57:48.159 --> 00:57:59.039
Um, every year, you have an opportunity to be thankful that you are here and that you, you know, are part of this exciting space that is called life.
00:57:59.280 --> 00:58:02.480
And um, so I'm happy about that and I want to say thank you.
00:58:02.800 --> 00:58:11.920
Yeah, I want to shout out Abby and Roxy from the campaigns of um Mike Rogers and Abdul Al-Sayed, respectively.
00:58:12.159 --> 00:58:18.639
Uh, you guys have received a lot of nonsensical requests, all of them have been fulfilled.
00:58:18.719 --> 00:58:26.960
So keep up the good work, everybody that is a flack or a box or a follower arounder of a candidate.
00:58:27.119 --> 00:58:30.559
I know that you guys are in tough times right now.
00:58:30.800 --> 00:58:34.880
And even uh Joetta Apea, shout out to Joetta as well.
00:58:35.199 --> 00:58:37.679
Joetta, you you know, sorry.
00:58:37.840 --> 00:58:46.320
She's on to greener and greater pastures now with uh uh the former Atlanta mayor running for governor of Georgia.
00:58:46.480 --> 00:58:46.960
What is her name?
00:58:47.039 --> 00:58:48.320
I forget Lance Bottoms.
00:58:49.280 --> 00:58:53.599
I don't know why I forget her name, but yeah, the some of the best flacks have come and gone.
00:58:53.679 --> 00:58:56.400
They a lot of them came out of the 24 cycle.
00:58:56.639 --> 00:59:02.159
I'm hoping to see some of you guys again um as we approach 2028.
00:59:02.320 --> 00:59:08.400
Michigan is the fifth primary state in that um Democratic presidential primary lineup.
00:59:08.800 --> 00:59:13.039
So all of the people that work at political campaigns, keep hitting me up, keep doing your thing.
00:59:13.280 --> 00:59:16.719
But this week, special shout out to Roxy and Abby.
00:59:17.039 --> 00:59:21.039
Um, I'll leave your last names out of it, but you know who you are.
00:59:21.519 --> 00:59:22.480
Thank you guys.
00:59:22.719 --> 00:59:28.400
We want to thank you for listening to another episode of Authentically Detroit.
00:59:28.639 --> 00:59:38.559
Please be sure to uh like, rate, and subscribe to our podcast on all the platforms where our podcast is.
00:59:38.800 --> 00:59:43.199
Keep uh liking the Instagram Rails, putting it on your on your stories.
00:59:43.519 --> 00:59:47.760
Um, we are gonna be back next week uh in studio.
00:59:48.320 --> 00:59:50.400
We want to thank you guys again.
00:59:50.559 --> 00:59:52.400
Uh happy birthday, Donna.
00:59:52.800 --> 00:59:55.280
Thank you, and we will talk to you guys next week.