Authentically Detroit
Authentically Detroit is the leading podcast in the city for candid conversations, exchanging progressive ideas, and centering resident perspectives on current events.
Hosted by Donna Givens Davidson and Orlando P. Bailey.
Produced by Sarah Johnson and Engineered by Griffin Hutchings.
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Authentically Detroit
The Black Detroit Democracy Podcast: City Council’s Role in a Strong Mayor City with Denzel McCampbell
The Authentically Detroit Podcast Network in collaboration with Detroit one million presents: The Black Detroit Democracy Podcast, hosted by Donna Givens Davidson and Sam Robinson!
Together, Donna and Sam illuminate the complexities of Detroit’s unique political landscape and give residents a resource for navigating civic engagement and election season.
On this episode, they are joined by community advocate and candidate for city council in District 7, Denzel McCampbell to discuss the role of city council in a strong mayor city, why he’s running, and what voters should expect.
To learn more about Denzel and his campaign, click here.
Detroit City Government is a service institution that recognizes its subordination to the people of Detroit. The city shall provide for the public peace, health and safety of persons and property within its jurisdictional limits officers, in seeking to advance, conserve, maintain and protect the integrity of the human, physical and natural resources of this city from encroachment and or dismantlement. The people have a right to expect city government to provide for its residents decent housing, job opportunities, reliable, convenient and comfortable transportation, recreational facilities and activities, cultural enrichment, including libraries, art and historical museums, clean air and waterways, safe drinking water and a sanitary, environmentally sound city. Keep it locked. The Black Detroit Democracy podcast starts right after these messages.
Speaker 2:Detroit Podcast Network offer studio space and production staff to help get your idea off of the ground.
Speaker 3:Just visit authenticallydetcom and send to the Black Detroit Democracy Podcast. I'm Donna Givens-Davidson, President and CEO of the Eastside Community Network.
Speaker 4:I'm Sam Robinson, founder of Detroit. One Million.
Speaker 3:Thank you for listening in and supporting our expanded effort to build another platform of authentic voices for real people in the city of Detroit. We want you to like, rate and subscribe to our podcast on all platforms. The purpose of this podcast is to encourage Detroit citizens to stay vigilant in the fight for justice and equality. With a special call to action for Black Detroit, we seek to build awareness of our history as a gateway to freedom, a beacon for justice and a laboratory of liberation. Sam and I are joined today by community advocate and candidate for Detroit City Council in District 7, denzel McCampbell, to talk about city council in a strong, mere city, what voters should expect and why he's running. Welcome back to the Black Detroit Democracy Project. How is everyone today?
Speaker 5:Pretty good.
Speaker 3:Dark rainy day.
Speaker 5:It's so rainy. It is that.
Speaker 4:We woke up Thinking that it was Yesterday still, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5:I'll be happy when the sun. There's some A string of sunny days, some warm days, for sure.
Speaker 4:It's getting a little warmer, but it's not getting any nicer. On and off, though right, you gotta line them up. It's like.
Speaker 3:It teases me. It's like, oh, it's kind of warm today, and the next day it's like 30 or 26 in the morning.
Speaker 4:I tweeted this. It was like you know, it's cold one day, but it'll be nice outside. It'll be warm one day, but it'll be bad outside.
Speaker 5:You just got to line them up. This is the season that you have to have a coat, a jacket, a sweater, a t-shirt, everything, especially you.
Speaker 4:You're just talking before we started recording about how you've been everywhere this week. On Monday, I saw you at Detroit City Council echoing the sentiment that we heard from transit advocates asking for 16 more millions of dollars for that annual DDOT budget. Why did you? Why were you out there on Monday?
Speaker 5:You know, as mentioned thanks again for having me on I'm running for Detroit City Council and one of the parts of my platform is around funding public transportation, having more access to public transportation, and the reason why I joined Advocates and Neighbors at the Detroit City Council budget hearing was because we really have to face the realities of folks in the city, especially in District 7. We have a city where one in three households do not have access to a car. We have a city where there's unaffordable insurance auto insurance. We also have a city where we have a change in demographic, where young folks are looking for options that aren't owning a car to get around, and for me, I have the view that a city government and a government on all levels should be providing that service to folks to have that mobility. So I was there urging the city council to have a budget with more funding for the Department of Transportation.
Speaker 4:We heard a few of those issues, why people are asking for more. The mayor proposed a $20 million increase to DDOT's budget. I think it would be $151 million, $130 million in total from the general fund around $200 million going toward improving services, getting more bus shelters, increasing the amount of bus drivers and the amount of buses. Talk about what you're hearing from folks about why. I mean, we know from people who are just talking about riding the bus coming late people, riders feeling disrespected. Riders feeling like their priorities aren't being put first.
Speaker 3:You know if I can just say something real quickly because I want to hear about what you're hearing. But also, detroit is one of those places where public transportation is for poor people, disabled people and people too young to drive. It is not a place where people who have the most social and political capital that's not how they get around people who have the most social and political capital.
Speaker 3:that's not how they get around, and so we look at bus service as almost a charitable service and not as a part of a functional city government. But in this new world where we know global climate change says we should be driving less. Cities that promote public transit first of all attract more people. They're healthier cities. Cities that promote public transit first of all attract more people. They're healthier cities. And also it makes more sense in terms of climate change to really, you know, move into public transportation. So even as we're thinking about these things and even as you give these answers, I just wanted to just throw that out that I think it should not be just for poor people. Shouldn't that be just for poor people? And the other thing I want to say, real quickly, is that we did an experiment here a few years ago where we were trying to promote people not driving for a week and using public transit, and our problem with buses we were going on our test bus rides was not that the buses came late, it's that they came early.
Speaker 5:You know you're absolutely right early. You know that you're absolutely right. I go to, when you go to Washington DC, when you go to Chicago, when you go to these other major cities, it's really at a point where you don't even have to think about a car. You could, if you wanted to take Uber, you could, but if you landed at their airport, you will be able to take public transportation to get to their city core, to get to their neighborhoods, the outskirts, whatever it may be. And we should be able to take public transportation to get to their city core, to get to their neighborhoods, the outskirts, whatever it may be. And we should be able to do that here in the city of Detroit.
Speaker 5:And what I hear from riders you're absolutely right it's really the reliability of the buses being there at the time that they're supposed to. So, even using technology to be more innovative, to say, the buses at this point, it will be here at this time so folks can that they stay on schedule, but folks know where those buses are. I hear about safety on the buses at the bus stops. We heard at the city council budget hearing and I hear this from riders of, even when it's very cold outside, they used to have buses, folks able to sit in buses and warm up or even, when the bus driver is on break, being able to be in the coaches there.
Speaker 5:I went to a mobility event that actually had the city of Detroit involved earlier today and, donna, you hit on a point where folks did bring up of really changing the culture of how folks are looking at public transportation, especially in the city of Detroit. It should be a way for folks to get around period, and it should be looked at as a critical need for residents here and a service that the city is providing for opportunities for folks to get to and from work, to get to and from school, to get to their friend's house, to be social. This is a way for folks to get around and enjoy the city that everybody should be able to be a part of.
Speaker 4:And it's interesting, we saw a diverse group of advocates come out restaurant workers, people who certainly had the means to afford cars and Ubers but prefer to ride the bus. People who are just moving into Detroit, wanting to be in a larger city from where they came from across the state, realizing that the bus system here might not be much more than what the community they're coming from that has twice as less residents. It's interesting you talk about the disparities, donna, between the just perceptions of people who ride the bus. The queue line. You know, a couple of years ago I think it was 2022 Republicans in Lansing and signed by Governor Whitmer, of course subsidized the queue line as a part of a like 17 year $85 million. You know it was a Republican led bill to make the queue line free for all riders.
Speaker 3:The thing about the queue line that bill is the way they subsidized. It was not through a bill that says make the queue line free. I don't know if you remember, but it was somehow tied up in this convention center act.
Speaker 4:Yes, it was, and you had to read lines With the hotel. Yeah, I just it was.
Speaker 3:And you had to read lines With the hotel. Yeah, I just, I was like I am not able to read this and figure this out and this is, it's the worst kind of non-transparent government.
Speaker 5:Oh, for sure.
Speaker 3:That you can have where you know reasonable people can't read this and know what's happening. I remember our friend, chase Cantrell, posted something like this on Facebook and I was like that's not happening. I don't see that in here and I'm like reading it three or four times just to try to understand.
Speaker 5:And even with that bill, it's really the focus on how they did that, right? So if you're thinking about conventions and hotels and downtown, that's still not from the aspect of residents, right. That's still not acting from the point of we actually have to have ways for folks to get around town and that's actually how we should be looking at all aspects of public transportation. And you know, you hear from folks that are like oh well, who's going to pay for this? How is it going to pay? And things like that. Well, it's a service, it's public transportation, and we know these things. Like I mentioned, they lead to folks getting to work, they lead to folks getting to schools and if we're talking about creating more opportunities for folks to be in our cities, to live, to thrive, we're really going to have to take a look at expanding public transportation options.
Speaker 3:Well, you know, people say who's going to pay for it? And I just want to know that when they talk about tearing down those Rinson Towers, who's going to pay for that? Who's going to pay for that? Who's going to pay for it? Only comes up when it comes to services for people who are not wealthy, when the whole point of subsidizing the Q line is to bail out all of those wealthy people who invested in this project. That was failing.
Speaker 3:You had to make it free because nobody was writing it. I got on the Q line. I like the Q line okay, because you can park somewhere and go to one of those places downtown. You don't have to find parking, go to one of the festivals. But I could ride my bike faster than the Q line half the time.
Speaker 4:Same with buses, and that's why a lot of advocates are pushing for something further than the bus system itself, but buses go much faster than those Q line cars. They're abiding by traffic the same as the queue line is.
Speaker 3:But there's different innovations in buses, where buses, as they're approaching a stoplight, the stoplight could turn red or green. Bus record transit I forget what they call those lines.
Speaker 4:I can't believe that the queue line wouldn't be able to do that.
Speaker 3:Well, I don't think the queue line is a reasonable response to transit inequity or transit issues. I think a reasonable response to transit, you know, is to say how do we help people who have the least access to transit gain access to these places? The Q line says how do we help people who are in the wealthiest part of the city get around? And it just, it's just emblematic of more injustice.
Speaker 5:That's exactly how I approach it. I say that if we're going to think about public transportation in the system, it has to be from the aspect of someone who is dependent on public transit in that way and that's how I look at public policy period of like, who is the most impacted, who is the most marginalized, most vulnerable person, because we know when we're building out public policy with those folks centered, everyone else, no matter how they experience that specific issue, will be lifted up as well, but we have to be looking at centering the folks who are most impacted in this.
Speaker 3:Well, you know I'm going to with our lead in. I don't know if you've heard our show before, but we have a lead in which is from the Detroit City Charter, from the rights outlined in the Detroit City Charter, and one of them is that Detroit citizens have a right to expect city government to provide for its residents decent housing, job opportunities, reliable, convenient and comfortable transportation, and if transportation, this is what residents have a right to expect from their city government. There is no articulated right for what businesses and corporations have a right to expect from city government. City government is supposed to be of the people, by the people and for the people, and so when we come back, we're going to take a break. When we're going to come back, we're going to talk about that and how well Detroit is living up to that purpose, before we then talk to you about your political experience and your dreams.
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Speaker 3:Welcome back to the Black Detroit Democracy Project, denzel. Yes, sam, how well is city government delivering on those promises or on those duties that are outlined in the city charter? And I'm going to start with you, denzel, because I think you played a very specific role in the city charter revision commission.
Speaker 5:Absolutely. And it's so funny that you bring up the charter and I know you talk about it a lot. I actually had the charter up on my phone as we began because I tell folks when I'm going around that the beginning of the Declaration of Rights actually says that the Detroit city government is a service institution that recognizes its subordination to the people of Detroit. And I bring that up because when we think about our city government and I bring that up because when we think about our city government it should be in service of folks it's outlined, it's outlined in the charter, no-transcript feeling that there is a unbalanced attention to places downtown and our downtown area than it is to the neighborhoods. And look, folks in Detroit and I really dislike when folks have this binary of oh, so many folks are upset what's going on downtown.
Speaker 5:It's not that Folks enjoy new things, folks enjoy places to go to, folks enjoy being able to go out to enjoy dinner or a show or anything like that. But the key is that they also want those things in a neighborhood and they also want their neighborhoods to have the resources of whether it's a full-service grocery store, a health clinic, a coffee shop just to hang out at, or those third places where folks can be in their community to have their needs answered and the services provided for the city and a lot of places in the city of Detroit are just not seeing that. So when you ask about our folks fulfilling what the charter outlined, we have some work to do in the city of Detroit.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we do. Now, sam, you're not going door to door, necessarily, but you said Denzel was everywhere, but the only reason you knew that because you were also everywhere, right? So tell me what you're hearing. Are you hearing from people the same message that they don't mind seeing what they see downtown, but they also want to see it in their neighborhoods?
Speaker 4:You know, I do hear sometimes people being completely averse to one or the other right, People that are living downtown and don't want to go in neighborhoods, whether that be longtime Detroiters or new Detroiters, a certain kind A certain kind.
Speaker 3:You hear folks you can't get away with that.
Speaker 4:You hear folks say you know a certain kind of new Detroiter that is, you know, out of touch with the residents that are living here Thank you, you also hear what you guys are talking about.
Speaker 4:Solomon Kinloch will talk about a tale of two cities. Duggan will push back fiercely and say ask the neighborhood groups and associations and the nonprofit leaders. But what I'll say is you, you go on newspaperscom and you look up state of the city. You know any mayor, dave Binks, kwame Kilpatrick. You know back in the times they were talking about this same issue of that people felt like downtown was getting attention, that neighborhoods weren't, and so this is a you know it spans decades now that there's been this sort of out of balance and it makes sense, I guess, for developers, right, but you know having a little bit of experience in this field.
Speaker 3:You know I started working for Vanguard Community Development Corporation in 1999. And at that time we were trying to build housing and trying to build up the North End and I learned a few interesting things. For example, if a developer went down to city council, they had to get the land from city council. They couldn't get it from a land bank authority. If they went down to city council and said I want land for this project, city council members would routinely ask what organizations are you working with in the community to make this possible? What is the evidence of community support? So the easiest way for a developer to do a project for housing was to partner with a nonprofit organization as a co-sponsor of that housing. Usually that entity would be the 51% owner of the project, even though they didn't get the lion's share of the developer's fee and did not necessarily have control. But it really did force partnerships and I'm really proud of the work that we created. As a result of those partnerships there was definitely a priority built to build housing in neighborhoods, housing in neighborhoods.
Speaker 3:Some of the planning around that wasn't great. Sometimes housing was planned and promises were broken and you ended up seeing devastation for generations moving forward. For example, in the Brightmoor community and McDougal Hunt people bought tax credit finance housing with the promise that after 15 years they could purchase the homes and that a portion of their rent was going to be set aside for purchasing. When people do housing developments, a lot of times they don't expect 15 years to actually happen and so at year 14, people are saying, hey, wait a minute, I'm going to be homeowner next year, right, and they're like, oops, we forgot to save, we forgot to put that in place. And so the residents went to court and they won a lawsuit to actually have that housing be turned over to them. And in Brightmoor and in McDougal Hunt you see owners having evolved from those situations.
Speaker 3:In other communities you had housing being put in. You can't put a new house next to a crack house and expect the crack house to get better. What ends up happening is that new house ends up getting burned or people don't want to live there because they have like turnover in tenants. So you had like really bad placement and design of housing. And then you have people sometimes working in neighborhoods where the residents who already lived in those neighborhoods were not brought in as partners to support those projects, but I'm proud to say we did a project that is still standing at Melrose and East Grand Boulevard, just down the street from Triumph Church, and that housing is still in excellent shape. Every single home that we built is occupied, still standing and in good condition, and the reason is because we worked with the community, we had a site plan that made sense and we supported the residents in helping to maintain their properties even as new properties were coming in. When you do it well, those things stay, and we have a lot of housing that was built in neighborhoods that is still in good shape.
Speaker 3:Whether you're looking at what U-Snap back built near Alter and Mack, whether you were looking at what North Star Community Development Corporation built near Puritan and Livernois even though North Star Community Development Corporation built near Puritan and Livernois, even though North Star is no longer in existence you have a lot of housing that was built that was for low to moderate income people, and so, yes, these have been concerns all along downtown versus neighborhoods, but there's never been a time where neighborhoods have been so ignored as they are right now. There's never been a time when developers can come into a neighborhood and not speak to anybody, because all they have to do is get permission and support from the land bank and the city. This is new and so we're never going to solve this, but I think it's a matter of degree. At what point have we just decided that organizations like ours don't matter? And then, finally, I want to say, just in response to this concept that just asked the community associations and block clubs, this is what this mayor has done.
Speaker 3:This mayor has created funding pools for community associations and block clubs to get funds from the city and then said to those community associations and block clubs that he's giving it directly to them because organizations like mine always get all the money. He has created fissure and division inside of neighborhoods, saying to a block club why is ECN getting this money when you should be getting the money, knowing that they don't have the capacity to manage funds in that way? But also, I don't even know if he does know that we grant money to other organizations every single year. We granted $70,000 in mobility grants last year. We've granted you know, prior to that, about $100,000 in pass-through grants to organizations, small grassroots organizations. We've done leadership development. We should not be treated like the enemy, but that's how people get power.
Speaker 4:This is incredible insight. Is he getting on the inside of the nonprofit leadership community organizations?
Speaker 3:It is because, well see, this is the mayor. The mayor is a tactician and he understands very strategically how to gain power. He opens up an office of neighborhoods, staffs it with political cronies and has the office of neighborhoods act as though it's functioning like a community development organization like ours.
Speaker 4:One of the most genius politicians, the most genius politician I've ever met quote unquote Karen Whitsett, who is also running in District 7. I turned into the Whitsett whisperer of sorts during the lame duck period. She became the main character and Detroit was in the spotlight there with Joe Tate. Um, I mean, you know you were watching along, as we all were, um, but when I talked to folks she has such a uh, uh I don't even know what to describe it as just a relationship with folks that is longstanding and a trusting one. Um, it does seem like and you would know more than I would where those relationships come from. It does seem like you know you yourself, talking about the District 7 race, and Regina Ross are sort of aiming at Woodset. Is that fair to say?
Speaker 3:I would hope so.
Speaker 5:You know, I would say this I you know'm—.
Speaker 5:I'm sorry, I would say this I you know she's a sitting state rep, right, and I think that carries a weight of itself, especially in a city council race where a significant portion of her district covers year during the election. Is that really a lot of folks in the electorate are done with? Oh, I just know this person, or I've seen this person or I know of the name, right. I think folks are in a place where they are disenchanted with a lot that is going on in our communities and are looking at what is actually going to improve their quality of life on every level of government. And what has been disappointing is that there was an opportunity during lame duck to have meaningful legislation around water affordability, meaningful legislation around maternal and infant health, legislation around community violence intervention funding, internal and infant health legislation around community violence intervention funding and a host of other things that are very deeply important to folks in District 7. When I'm on the doors that I hear from folks and to see that that did not get across the finish line from the actions of folks. And you know I would say those things should have happened long before, but there was an opportunity for that to happen in December and for that not to happen because she was not there. I think folks will have something to say about that.
Speaker 5:But you know, what I'm focused on when I go door to door is actually talking to folks on what can we actually tangibly do on the city council level.
Speaker 5:And you won't be able to do that unless you show up, and not only show up at the council table but show up in neighborhoods, show up on doors and build those relationships with folks. Similar to what Donna is saying is that when we think about what needs to happen in our districts, we shouldn't be talking about anything at the council table, especially with this council by district model unless we are talking to folks in the community, unless we're going to the doors. Even beyond the folks that may turn out to a community meeting right, our most engaged residents that will always be at those meetings. Absolutely, they have a voice and they should be heard. But we also have to go through to folks that may not even know who their city council person is or what the city council does, because they still should be at the table, because those are the folks who will have to engage with, whether it be development, a new service, a taken away of service, like whatever is happening here. Folks should be involved in what their city government does.
Speaker 3:You know, I'm really curious when I hear about politicians being popular in districts, how we determine that. Is it based on voter turnout and voters actually showing up, or is it based on the existing political leaders in a space being the ones to have that say, I think that Karen Woodset has definitely gained loyalty, and that's how politics work in some places, where you gain loyalty. I also think that sometimes we evaluate politics by style points and not substance points Not did you create positive change, but did you create? You know, did you make waves? Or, in the case of Duggan, were you smooth, were you able to sell something to people? Wow, this guy is so smooth and this is what we're looking at. And we do that at the disservice to the most vulnerable people inside of a community, because when we only look at the style and we don't look at the substance, the people who really need substance are the people who need things that are not being addressed.
Speaker 3:As you pointed out, karen Witt said my issue with her goes back long before this last session, going back to proposal. Well, when she refused to support elective abortions for women who received Medicaid and she said I will not cast a single vote to allow taxpayer money to fund elective abortions when those same dollars should be used to fulfill our duty to struggling seniors living in poverty. She did not have a bill for struggling seniors living in poverty. It was a false. It was just a false fight. It was just why should poor women have lesser access to reproductive health care than women who can pay?
Speaker 3:And who in her district thinks that you should have fewer rights if you're poor than if you are middle class? I think that there's people who are anti-abortion, and I get that. But if abortion is legal and you've decided that certain groups of people, certain classes of people, shouldn't have it because seniors are also poor, it just doesn't make sense to me. I think she did not represent her district well, and this is not even the second time that she's done that. She has a pattern of siding with the other side, making waves, getting attention and then saying well, listen, I'm acting on my voter's will and I just hope she doesn't make it to this fight.
Speaker 5:What I will say is all the issues that we brought up and we talked about lame duck, we talked about reproductive justice. I've been actually a part of those movements and that work around crafting legislation, helping to push and advocate for it. Use another tool of government to say, well, you get access to reproductive health care and you do not get access to reproductive health care because you are low income, because you are of a certain class. For me, that dates back to the oppressive history of this country. For me, it's that if we are saying that everybody deserves bodily autonomy, that means everyone and it should not be by class. So that's what drives me in this work as well.
Speaker 5:But we also have to think about, when we think about all of this around economic opportunity, when we think about reproductive justice, when we think about actually answering the needs of people, basic needs, access to water. Water is a human right. We should have water affordability. That was held up by her actions. When we think about community violence intervention, that was held up by her actions, especially in the District of District 7, where violent crime rates have plummeted because of the work of organizations like Force Detroit, that you talk to them and they say well, we actually need resources in the whole of government to take care of all of these issues when it comes to housing, when it comes to water affordability and utilities. That's what we have to look at when we are making decisions as elected officials, as community members the impact of all of these issues together on someone's lives. And we have to have that very broad focus on these issues and know how they connect with each other as well.
Speaker 3:Question how does city council act in a strong mayor city to make those things happen?
Speaker 5:So that's a great question. Well, that's a great question and I want folks to know and a lot of folks are familiar with the way the federal government works, right, you know, this president has the executive branch, has the various departments, is able to appoint folks to lead those departments. Some of them are subject to the Senate, some of them are not, and then you have the legislative branch with Congress and the Senate and the Senate, some of them are not, and then you have the legislative branch with Congress and the Senate and the House. The city council is that legislative branch. When it comes to city government, our city council is responsible for crafting and passing ordinances. Even if the mayor does not agree with those ordinances, the city council can veto those ordinances to be put in place. The same with the budget. Right now we are, as we talked about those budget hearings. The mayor introduced his budget and now the city council is deliberating with that budget and they will have to vote on that budget as well and they have veto power over those aspects.
Speaker 5:The city council has some power over appointments to various departments. When we talked, we just had a new city chief approved right, a police chief, sorry, and the city council had the power to either reject that police chief's choice or approve it. That is the same for various departments. As we come to that. They have the ability to appoint various folks to different bodies and entities in the city government as well.
Speaker 5:When I talk to folks about city council, I believe that we can even be using the city council power even more Especially. I go back to this council by district model to really be in the neighborhoods to really bring city government to folks. The city council is, as I said, in charge of the budget, so they are in charge of wherever those funds go, making sure that when those contracts, I would ask folks, even if you're not able to attend the council meetings and watch them live, but go to the website and see and look at an agenda of the various amounts of money that goes before a city council and form of contracts. They have a very large. They have a large amount of power, which I see oftentimes being minimized with our current strong mayor system. But just because we have a strong mayor type of government does not mean that our city council is powerless.
Speaker 3:I think you had a question.
Speaker 4:Oh no, I mean, I was just going to say I think this process and the role of city council is something that I've heard from insiders and sources certainly off the record who sort of question whether some of the current and active city council members, not just in Detroit but across the state and various municipalities, even know their own rules. And I can tell you guys, just having watched small time city councils across Metro Detroit, kalamazoo, calhoun County, ingham County, midland Basin, saginaw County there are council members that don't know the rules to the councils and bodies that they actually sit on. And getting a foundation to where everyone's on the same page, I think is something that not everyone realizes. How that happens. We as reporters, when I covered the legislature, aren't able to sit in on the training days, the training sessions that new freshman legislators go through. I think some of the pundits should go through it also.
Speaker 3:I think that's a great point.
Speaker 3:I think we should have some community training like sit down and let the community explain to city council members what we expect from them, starting with the charter assigned duties.
Speaker 3:Right, if the city charter says that it's your responsibility to manage and oversee, to oversee the budget approval process, that means you've got to get in the weeds and you've got to figure out what all of these things are.
Speaker 3:If it means that you're a check on mayoral power, then you got to be willing to check the mayor, sometimes Absolutely.
Speaker 3:I feel as though the way that the challenge with city council by district is a lot of city council members believe it is their responsibility, I think, to act on behalf of the district which voted for them and not act on behalf of the city of Detroit, and so if the mayor can promise me a plum for my district, then maybe I will go along with the mayor for this vote, and that way he has it strengthens his hand as opposed to strengthening the hand of these communities that have council by district. We don't elect people thinking you're only going to care about this, whatever five miles that you represent. We're really thinking that you're going to care about the city as a whole and hold him accountable. But we're not seeing that and I think we have to talk about the fact that all nine members of the Detroit City Council work for every citizen of the city of Detroit. These are the people who get to vote for you, but you work for all of us and how do we hold them accountable to?
Speaker 5:that is a question. I definitely agree with that. And how I look at the council by district model is I look at it, you know, going back to how I started of a city government and service to its residents. I think about it as city services. Right, I talk a lot about growing up in the city of Detroit when we had many town halls or where you could go right down the street. Growing up on the east side I know it was around 7 Mile and Conant where you could go and get services, where you could talk to folks from the water department, the assessor's office, get those answers to those questions that you have without having to go downtown. And that's actually how I look at council by district, of making sure that your district is serviced by the services that the city has to offer, that your district is having that face-to-face time with the departments and getting their answers, questions that you are present, that they have more of an interface with their council member.
Speaker 5:But when you're thinking about these issues beyond council by district, you know I don't go. When I'm leaving District 7 and going to District 5 on Livernois you don't see a sign that says, oh, you're leaving District 5. None of these issues here apply to you, right? When we talk about public transportation, a transit rider on the deep west side probably has similar issues that a transit rider on the deep east side has, and we should be thinking about how these issues impact everyone. We should be thinking about, when we have development that causes issues to public health on the east side, how that could easily happen to someone in District 7 on the east side, how that could easily happen to someone in District 7 on the west side and has happened right. So I think we have to think about these issues.
Speaker 5:I agree as a city as a whole, no matter what implications that will have on the votes that you may get or favor that you may get. You are elected to a four-year term. Favor that you may get, you are elected to a four-year term. That is it. You are not promised anything after. We are not promised tomorrow. So it's like you should be paying. You should be making decisions that are beneficial to the population of the city of Detroit because you are elected as a council member for the city of Detroit.
Speaker 3:So I'm going to love having that conversation with the next seat at city council and even as we continue speaking to candidates, we're going to take another break. When we come back, we're going to talk a little bit more about Denzel's background, his motivations for running and what we can expect to see next.
Speaker 2:Detroit One Million is a journalism project started by Sam Robinson that centers a generation of Michiganders growing up in a state without a city with one million people. Support the only independent reporter covering the 2025 Detroit mayoral race through the lens of young people. Good journalism costs. Visit DetroitOneMillioncom to support Black journalism Independent reporting.
Speaker 3:And we're back. Denzel Anton McCampbell is a young community advocate and native Detroiter living in District 7. He was born and raised on the east side and is a graduate of Michigan State University. Since high school, Denzel has been dedicated to public service, fighting day in and day out to increase access to democracy and representation from marginalized groups. Denzel's parents instilled in him the importance of being involved, showing up for others and making his voice heard.
Speaker 3:Denzel was an elected Detroit City Charter Commissioner where he led an effort to revise the Detroit Constitution to better serve residents and create an equitable foundation for our city government for decades to come. Denzel also served as communications director and advisor to Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, Michigan District 12. He is currently the managing director for a statewide advocacy organization where he works with Michiganders to affect change and deliver on the everyday needs of his neighbors. So, Denzel, you have quite an interesting background. We did mention here that you also I don't think we mentioned that you ran for city clerk a few years ago, and so, if you can just wrap up your introduction into politics, how did you get into politics?
Speaker 5:So you know, I point out specifically my parents because I remember growing up, my mom would wait for me on election day and she would take me to the ballot box with her and say, which of these candidates have you seen, which of them do you like? And I'll say, oh, I saw this person on commercial, but I didn't really like what they said. Or I saw this person and they seemed to have something, but you know, I was a young kid and she made her own decision at the ballot box. Of course, no voter fraud happened, but I bring that up because she really instilled in me her and my dad around paying attention. They were both union members around this aspect, around collective action as well, and really taking care of community.
Speaker 5:So when I went to Michigan State this was before the Larry Nassar scandal, but I remember being at the table with university leaders and we were talking about investing more money into the counseling center because there were fellow students who were coming. I was a part of the student government and they were coming to us to say, you know, they were survivors of sexual assault and they were trying to get appointments in the counseling center and they were having to wait four to six weeks and it was horrible. And I remember we said, okay, can you put more money? Our tuition is going up, so you definitely have more money. Can you put more money into the counseling center and support for folks, survivors of sexual assault? And I remember one university leader said no, because if we take money from the classroom, or if we take money from the classroom and put it to there, we won't have money for academics. Now, mind you, you were still increasing our tuition. So that really showed me the aspect of this power dynamic of folks being in these institutions, me, the aspect of this power dynamic of folks being in these institutions, really in this power struggle between folks who actually needed resources and folks who had those resources but refused to provide them. And that's really how I got my start around organizing, really to put these demands on the folks who had power, who had the resources, who were accountable, who were supposed to be accountable to the folks that they serve and were not actually doing that work.
Speaker 5:I've been involved in voting rights and election protection work so folks could have that voice at the ballot box and beyond. I've done that statewide of trying to make sure that we have ballot boxes on campuses so students can make their voices heard. Making sure that we have ballot boxes on campuses so students can make their voices heard. Making sure that clerks around the state actually had accessible ways for people to vote. This was also during the time that we didn't have no reason absentee, so people were facing those barriers, trying to knock down those barriers.
Speaker 5:And throughout my organizing experience I really I keep going back to this aspect of service, because when we want folks to take an action, when we want folks to be involved with their community, we have to make sure that folks' basic needs are answered to. I. You know we've heard time and time I had a friend who was doing some community organizing around development and she went to a woman's door and she had kids and she said, oh, I want you to take, can you come down to this meeting? She said, look, I care about that, but I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to feed my baby tomorrow Because she didn't have access to formula. And when I heard that story I said that's exactly it.
Speaker 5:We cannot go to folks and say, oh, you have to take action on this larger thing when this thing right in front of them is not answered. So that's why, when I'm going around to folks in District 7 in the city talking about what are the things that you actually need, and I hear folks saying of course we need access to jobs here in the community, education opportunities, grocery stores, and it seems that it's not. As you know, if you're someone who has access to a car to get to Meijer, it's not going to be as to hear that you can get there. But these are folks that may not have that access and they should be at the center of our work for sure.
Speaker 4:Yeah, One thing that I think is one of the most noteworthy parts of your experience certainly that your critics are going to talk about is your work with Rashida Tlaib, which I would imagine you're probably quite proud of. But she is a polarizing figure, one of the most right now. I think just her entire existence sort of underscores the fissure within the Democratic Party. I think it's interesting, zooming in, you talk about State Rep Karen Woodset. Her sort of value system over the last six years sort of underscores the dilemma within Dems across the country as well, competing for power, the different factions there. I guess what is it about Rashida that made you want to work for her? And I guess just talk about her work in Detroit. It's very much criticized, people thinking that she's too concerned with other places.
Speaker 3:I just have to say it really hurts me to hear a comparison between Karen Woodset and Rashida Tlaib. That hurts my feelings especially because we're sitting in the Stoudemire Wellness Hub and Rashida got us congressional funding to support our work here and has done so much work fighting for our community against environmental injustices. So they are two people who are polarizing, but one person is polarizing in a way.
Speaker 4:Both Democrats.
Speaker 3:Both Democrats. But when you bring Rashida to the hood, Pete, the hood loves Rashida.
Speaker 5:Oh yeah.
Speaker 4:The hood loves her. They don't like.
Speaker 3:Karen, not like Rashida you can't. What has Karen done? I mean, what is her?
Speaker 4:You have to ask her.
Speaker 3:I mean you do and I'm not. I don't have to ask her, but I'm just saying if behalf and when we were dealing with Stellantis expanding here, rashida was the one who was fighting against the environmental injustice, even before I knew it existed. I found out that the state was going to allow Stellantis to increase pollution here by decreasing it in Warren, because Rashida came to a community meeting, to our annual meeting, that year and told us what was happening. She was engaged in letter writing campaigns and making demands on the state and the federal government. So I just even again, that's a style kind of comparison, but not a substance comparison because Rashida has a track record of consistent progressive values and I think, karen, I don't know what her values are, but anyway I just that's my girl and I always have to defend Rashida because she is under attack, so much.
Speaker 3:And I am just going to go all out and let people know that when somebody fights for the community, I think we should fight for them, and yeah, I agree and I am definitely proud of the work that I've done with Rashida in the office.
Speaker 5:I would tell you the times that I've seen Rashida most frustrated is when we are not able to get help to residents as quickly as possible. And what I mean by that and I will say I credit her for the reason why I talk about service so much is that when you go to folks in the 12th Congressional and when you go to folks in now, what is the 13th Congressional District of areas that she previously represented, when you go to folks in now, what is the 13th Congressional District of areas that she previously represented? Or you go to folks in the State House District that she previously represented, you will hear folks say that Rashida Tlaib called me back, rashida, to make sure that I got it. And that's how I look at her leadership style of thinking that when you see her and what's so interesting about what you brought up, sam, of what folks the perception of what they see she cares about is that I remember the role when I was her communications director, and it was one. It was a certain issue that came up, but you know I a member of the media and there's more.
Speaker 5:So it happens with national media, right, that it's like that—that they'll come and say, oh yeah, we would like to talk to the congresswoman about this. And I said, okay, well, this is around—I said, well, she just introduced the Waters and Human Rights Bill, right, that will make sure that we prevent water shutoffs. And she really wants to talk about that. No-transcript this past year, and it's even that right. And I remember even the interview of that interview in Detroit around the debates with Jake Tapper. That turned into a whole interview about Israel when it was supposed to be an interview about the issues in Detroit because the debate was in Detroit.
Speaker 5:Right, those are things that happen. But what folks don't see on those national interviews is Rashida. Like I get I've gotten emails from Rashida late at night about a constituent case, right. Or I'll get calls from Rashida on, like, how do we make sure that this story gets into the media to make sure that this person gets help? Or you know of her just going to all types of events to make sure that she's present, like the thing about Rashida. What I would say is that she's in the community, she values her constituents, like to a point where I'm like Rashida, you got to make sure you take care of yourself.
Speaker 3:Right Like here. Remember, her constituent services office was here and so people came here to get help. And and there was. We weren't the only one, we were one of a few constituent services offices that she put inside of community centers, in neighborhoods, and not just in, you know, in official buildings where people don't always have access. But I do also want to point out that it's very hard for women of color oh, absolutely To be treated as equals. It is very hard. You can say whatever you want about Kamala Harris, but she was asking, answering questions about Donald Trump said you're not really black, are you?
Speaker 3:In an interview about her work, they decide on the superficial issues and women always have to defend against these claims. She curses a lot. Well, first of all, as a woman who likes to curse, I'm offended by that right. Okay, I don't do it as much professionally, but I enjoy it, to my husband's chagrin. But also, when Coleman Young was cursing, it was okay. When she's cursing, it's not. And then I think when you have a woman who is Palestinian, chastised for standing with Palestinian people, I would not respect her if she didn't, because if those were my people and I wasn't standing there, you shouldn't respect me and I don't care. You know, maybe I never lived there, but those are still my people.
Speaker 4:And Donna, even from her harshest critics, the people who stand in direct opposition to her values. They respect her for that.
Speaker 3:I've heard so many people say that she only cares about Arab issues and she doesn't care about black people and she's done nothing for black people. What has she done for black people? I believe she introduced legislation on credit scoring and other things, and so I'm not here just on that basis. And so I'm not here just on that basis, but I always because Rashida has stood with us in a public forum. I will always stand with her. I don't hide from my friends and not my friends because we're not personal friends. I've never been to her home, she's never been to mine, but I think people who have contributed to the people in our community like I've seen her contribute, and to our organization, deserve a special level of support against those political attacks. So we just have a few more minutes, but I do have some questions, also on your track record and what you want to see happen. What would your top five priorities be as a city council person?
Speaker 5:Absolutely. So my top five priorities one thinking about, as we talked about, public transportation. I do think that we should actually at least double the funding that goes into the Department of Transportation, really to get us to the bare minimum, but to also get us thinking about how do we actually expand transportation options in the city. We talked about bus rapid transit. I think there is a future to have true public transit or rail in the city and regionally Truly affordable housing, like making sure that, as we talked about that, community organizations and nonprofits actually get what they need to do housing in a city in an equitable way. But also to make sure that things such as the right to council is fully funded. Making sure that we have that we take on these investors that are really taking advantage of folks that are not actually upkeeping the property that they have in the city, that we eliminate the barriers that folks have to home ownership.
Speaker 5:Thinking about environmental justice we have to make sure that folks have access to water, that we are making sure that we are holding corporate pollutants accountable on the city level and having ordinances that ensure that we have clean air and clean soil. Also thinking about in the city of Detroit folks don't know this, but a lot of folks don't know this. But we don't have a central office dedicated to senior resources and services. We have a lot of organizations that work on it and the city government should be a true partner. But we should have a one-stop shop for seniors, to say but we should have a one-stop shop for seniors to say I need help with home repair, I need to know about the property tax exemption, I need to know about the discount for trash collection. There should be someone in the office dedicated to that.
Speaker 5:Having more resources for young people. I just talked to someone about having community spaces where folks can get training, whether it's on music production, audio production or entrepreneurship or things that they want to do. We have to meet folks where they are. And then I will also say is that on that service-oriented process of providing true community service, bringing city government to our neighborhoods, to our communities and making sure that folks have what they need in their neighborhoods. And the last thing is on that equitable development. There's a lot of data out there of what folks need. We have done study after study. We have to now use the leverage and the resources of the city to make sure we are addressing basic needs in the neighborhoods.
Speaker 3:Do you support downsizing or phasing out the Downtown Development Authority?
Speaker 5:Yes, and I think there should be some conversation about this with the Downtown Development Authority, because I saw an article about even where we're getting the history and origins of Downtown Development Authority's having the need to get downtown's resurgence and more vibrant, and you can argue that the downtown in the city of Detroit is doing that, but now the DDA is still getting these tax captures that are impacting the schools and libraries.
Speaker 3:And the general fund of the city.
Speaker 5:Yes and I believe it was Outlier. Yes and I believe it was Outlier. I can't remember the outlet, but they're still even taking more than they are supposed to be taking in that way. So that should definitely be looked at, and it should be a very earnest conversation on the state level too, to look at that legislation as well.
Speaker 4:Denzel, can I ask you? Some different kind of questions. Sure, yeah, In District 7, where do you buy groceries? Where are you going out at night and the weekends? Maybe you know your favorite bar or restaurant and tell the people who is your favorite Detroit artist or just celebrity, somebody that we know that you admire and aspire to be like.
Speaker 5:Yeah, Okay, so the first question for groceries. I'm a member of the Detroit Food Co-op, so I would love to see a co-op in District 7, but I go to District 5 for groceries. My favorite place in the city to hang out is Spotlight, so I come to the east side. My favorite artist is probably Cashdow.
Speaker 4:Okay, shout out to Cashdow. Yes.
Speaker 5:Yes, so that's my favorite Detroit artist, but I think I love hanging out at Spotlight. I love going to Black on Both Sides on Monday nights as well. Where's?
Speaker 1:that.
Speaker 5:That's at the Godfrey on Monday nights. My favorite spot in the city, my favorite place is Sunset Point at Belle Isle. I love going there, especially after a long day, or just it's been a long week just being by the water, seeing the skyline, and it's just so peaceful just to be there. So I love the city I go. I've lived in Washington DC for I interned there for a summer. I've visited other places and I'm not just saying this to be cliche Like there's no at a point you can take it for advantage, like being in a place that you are just surrounded by so many black folks and being in these black spaces that other folks in other cities are like. I haven't experienced that. When they come to Detroit they're like oh wow, now I see what y'all mean when y'all say this about.
Speaker 3:Detroit, Not just black folks, but black folks who are highly educated, black folks who are union workers, black folks who are churchy. You have this very diverse and rich black community. That makes this all fun. I love my city too. I was actually living in the suburbs. I was just talking about this day when I moved back to Detroit. I could breathe differently. I was like I am home. So I really appreciate that. And, Sam, you're a newcomer to Detroit.
Speaker 4:I am. I've been here five years.
Speaker 3:But you seem to like it here.
Speaker 4:I don't plan on leaving. There you go.
Speaker 3:So you're a wonderful transplant, and I see you still have a lot of love for the Eastside, didn't you? I'm just going to point that out. Oh, yes, I love the.
Speaker 5:Eastside, that's. I tell folks, I'm an East Sider Now I'm becoming a West Sider.
Speaker 3:You know, I'm just a Detroit now and I'm a West Sider, Now I'm an East Sider right. Yeah, I think the most important thing in public servants is that they love the people they serve. When you love the people you serve, all of the ideology makes sense. But when you don't love the people that you serve, sometimes the ideology can be swayed or minimized and stuff like that. So I really appreciate you coming here and you've always demonstrated a lot of love for the communities that you've worked in and served.
Speaker 3:I want to thank you so much for listening to the Black Detroit Democracy podcast. Be sure to like, rate and subscribe to our podcast on all platforms and, of course, support Black Independent Reporting on Detroit1millioncom, because good journalism costs and I'm a subscriber. I'm sub-stack Same. All right, any last words?
Speaker 4:I hope it is a brighter and sunnier day tomorrow. Let's get it guys.
Speaker 5:I will say for folks I know we just went through a very rough election year in 2024, but we do have municipal elections this year. The primary election is Tuesday, August 5th, and then November 4th will be the general election. So please check your registration, get an absentee ballot, so you don't even have to go there and make sure you vote.
Speaker 3:You know you didn't get a chance to be city clerk to make sure that this information was being posted and shared widely and people understood what they need to do. So that is one of the reasons for places like the Black Detroit Democracy Podcast, because we're going to make sure that you have all the information you need as we come up to election day, each of the election days, including how to find your polling place, whether it's mood, what days. All of that good stuff, thanks, guys no-transcript.
