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
Candidate Series: An Engineer’s Vision for Michigan’s Future with Garlin Gilchrist II
On this episode, Donna and Orlando sat down with Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II to discuss his vision for Michigan’s future. This episode is part of a series of interviews with candidates in various political races throughout the state of Michigan.
Garlin is running for Governor to build on the progress of the Whitmer-Gilchrist administration by bringing bold new ideas to help Michiganders thrive. Growing up in Detroit, Garlin knows what it feels like to be part of communities across Michigan, the Midwest, and country that have been forgotten.
Prior to serving as Lieutenant Governor, Garlin worked at Microsoft as a software engineer that helped build SharePoint into the fastest growing product in the company’s history. As the City of Detroit’s Director of Innovation, he created the Improve Detroit smartphone app that allows residents to report issues for the city to address like running water, potholes, damaged street signs, and other issues.
Garlin is the highest ranking Black elected official in Michigan history.
To learn more about Garlin Gilchrist and his vision for Michigan, click here.
Up next, Lieutenant Governor Garland Gilchrist joins the Authentically Detroit Candidate Series to share his vision for Michigan as residents prepare to select a new governor next year. But keep it locked, because Authentically Detroit will start after these messages. 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, 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 independent reporting. Hey y'all, it's Orlando. We just want to let you know that the views and opinions expressed during this podcast episode are those of the co-hosts and guests and not their sponsoring institutions. Now let's start the show Moving on to the East Side. We finally got a piece of the pie. Hello Detroit and the world, Welcome to another episode of Authentically Detroit Broadcasting live from Detroit's East Side at the Stoudemire inside of the East Side Community Network headquarters. I'm Orlando Bailey.
Speaker 2:And I'm Donna Givens-Davidson.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening in and supporting our efforts to build a 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. Welcome back to the Authentically Detroit Candidate Series. Today we're here with Lieutenant Governor of Michigan, garland Gilchrist, to discuss all of what he's been doing as Lieutenant Governor and his candidacy for Governor.
Speaker 1:Working alongside Governor Whitmer, garland has a proven track record of leading and delivering for Michigan. He played a leading role in delivering free pre-K for all, increasing small business success and diversifying the state economy, protecting abortion access, bringing more high quality jobs to Michigan, reforming our justice system to create opportunity and keep communities safe, and connecting tens of thousands of Michiganders to reliable, affordable and fast internet. Garland is committed to building a Michigan where every person can reach their full potential. Now Garland is running for governor to build on the progress of the Whitmer-Gilchrist administration by bringing bold new ideas to help Michiganders thrive.
Speaker 1:Growing up in Detroit, on the east side, garland knows what it feels like to be part of communities across Michigan, the Midwest and the country that have been forgotten. Prior to serving as Lieutenant Governor, garland worked at Microsoft as a software engineer that helped build SharePoint into the fastest growing product in the company's history. As the city of Detroit's director of innovation, he created the Improved Detroit smartphone app that allows residents to report issues for the city to address, like running water, potholes, damaged street signs and other issues. Garland is the highest ranking black elected official in Michigan history. He lives in Detroit with his wife, ellen, where they are raising their twins, emily and Garland III, and daughter Ruby Garland. Welcome back to Authentically Detroit.
Speaker 3:It's so great to be here with you, Orlando Donna. Back on the east side, this is home.
Speaker 1:I don't know why I'm getting misty-eyed over here. It's a beautiful thing, you know what.
Speaker 2:I remember I met Garland when I first got here and you were running for clerk, yeah. And so since then you've made a few upper mobility moves. Now you're looking at governor and that's really exciting, following a really successful, I would think, lieutenant Governor. You know seven years now, yeah, six and a half years. Six and a half years, yeah, you've done a lot.
Speaker 3:Well, it's been really an honor to serve, and it's funny because, you know, in my life I never thought that I would get into public service, let alone elected office. This wasn't a path that was laid before me. You know, actually I'm an engineer at heart. You know I wanted to be a software developer.
Speaker 3:My grandma bought me a computer when I was five years old and I thought how I was going to make a way in this world was by building technology and making some money and then doing something with it, or even teaching people how to use technology, like I did at the Capuchin soup kitchen right across the street when I was in college. You know, set up the computer lab there and taught a computer learning and coaching class there in the summer of 2001. And I didn't know, though, that this was going to be a path. But you know the Lord puts things in front of you and you know you answer that call when some crazy people come to you and say you know what? You should try to be a public servant, glad you called them crazy.
Speaker 2:I knew that they were crazy, but you know, to some extent you have to re-engineer right what's happening in our social system.
Speaker 1:I see what you did there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right Because there's so much brokenness and I just keep thinking that we can't just you know, just you know dibble around the edges. We really have to really think about reshaping and redoing things.
Speaker 3:Well, I think you're right. I mean, you know. So, engineers, what do we do? We solve problems. We take systems and make them work for people, and so a lot of times people ask me, like, why is an engineer in public office? And that's why, because we have so many systems that have either, you know, not done all that they can or all that they could, or that have failed people, and I think we have a problem. We need an engineer to fix it and say that we can make this system position people for success, position them for opportunity, prosperity, et cetera. And so my job is to listen to people, find out what's going on and either find or build a solution with them.
Speaker 1:Awesome Donna. How are you doing? I'm good, yeah, I'm good, yes, grand Good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, good, yes, grandson home. Grandson is home today. Yeah. From where Well he was in the hospital, my grandson, you know, camille had another baby.
Speaker 1:Camille just had another baby.
Speaker 2:See. I didn't know that part and he was in a hurry to enter this world. Of course I got you, I got you, so they kept him for a few days just to make sure he's doing great. I love it, and so he's home. But you know, it's been pins and needles. My husband, kevin, spent so much time supporting Camille and David and Maverick, and so yesterday we got to celebrate him on Father's Day.
Speaker 2:All four of his children came over for dinner and you know, he was in daddy heaven, I'm telling you, and I was really, really honored to support him because of everything he's done for us.
Speaker 3:God bless y'all.
Speaker 2:Congratulations. It's just one of these times of the year I think about just really wanting to celebrate fathers, but especially black fathers. There's something about that black dad that sometimes gets overlooked in our society, but so many of you guys are just doing amazing things.
Speaker 1:Happy, belated Father's Day.
Speaker 2:Thank you Happy belated Father's Day to you Setting examples, and really we don't always give you your credit, and so I felt really good about honoring my husband and other men who are just doing the work in a world that does not always even acknowledge what you do.
Speaker 1:I hope that all the fathers got the socks and the pajamas and the ties and all the mugs that their hearts can handle.
Speaker 3:Hey look, I like this tie I got on Father's Day.
Speaker 1:It's a nice tie.
Speaker 2:You should see Kevin's briefcase. Okay, that's got a briefcase. Look at that.
Speaker 3:So my oldest daughter though she really melts me she actually made a family portrait. She painted a family portrait. Oh, wow, yeah, and it was really I. Just it, don't take much man.
Speaker 1:How was your day yesterday?
Speaker 3:My day was fantastic, you know. My wife's happy, my kids are healthy. That's all a father wants, you know. So it was great.
Speaker 1:All right, let's get into it. You know my first question, because I don't think the listeners need a introduction of who you are. You've been on our podcast multiple times. We typically interview you often in Mackinac when we're up there. But I want to ask you this question Was losing the city clerk race the best thing that could have happened to your political career?
Speaker 3:I mean, I cried like a baby.
Speaker 1:We all did back then. I want you to know we were stumping, for I was a citizen.
Speaker 3:We were stumping hard for you. I appreciate that and you know so. I mean. It's like anything in life, you know when you decide and put your heart into something. And we built this amazing team of volunteers who were just doing just all this hard work. I knocked on 17,000 doors across city Detroit, personally myself, and then the team knocked on 14,000 additional ones. You came so close Like if I had a tat it would say 1,486 right here, because that's the number.
Speaker 2:But you know what. You won those votes. You won the votes of the people whose doors you knocked on. You lost the absentee vote. Votes right.
Speaker 3:Well, I mean, I think what was clear is that I just appreciate that people, once I met them, were willing to give me a chance. I just appreciate that people, once I met them, were willing to give me a chance. And so I cried because I felt like I failed the team. I felt like I failed my wife. I told her baby I'm sorry, I did all this work. You were holding down our children and all this stuff while I was doing this and I didn't get across the finish line. But a number of amazing things happened during that process. First and foremost, I learned a lot about myself. You know a lot about myself, a lot about people, a lot about how to build teams and how to lead.
Speaker 3:I learned that people, that voters if you talk to them and they feel like you are genuine and feel like you are earnest and feel like you are doing this for the right reason, they will give you a chance. And that was what happened with me. And then I also, you know, when I started, I was a long shot. You know, I wasn't connected politically in Detroit when I, when I started and I and I saw that I could earn people's support and respect and trust and that opened the door to a lot of new relationships. And one of those relationships was like how I met Governor Whitmer.
Speaker 3:Like, I met governor Whitmer at the labor day parade in 2017 when, like so I'm there, we, she was running for governor, she had announced for governor in January that year and but she's coming to Detroit, she wasn't from Detroit, like you know. So like she's asking the people from the UAW like what's, who are these Gilchrist signs for? Like who is that? And I'm like, they're like who is that? And I'm like they're like that's, that's him, that's the tall one, that's Gilchrist. And so we met at one of the picnics after the um, after the parade, and you know, little did I know at the time like that that you know, handshake would lead to, you know, less than a year later, her asking me to be her enemy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's amazing. But you know, I think you introduced new ideas into that race. As I recall, you talked about new ways for people to know information and at the time I didn't even understand how important that was. But then, when I became aware of all of the commissions and authorities we have in Detroit and there's no information anywhere, all of the decision making that goes on in the dark, I think it's still important for us to do that. But you actually brought that to people's attention and I recall people who were, you know, active in the community just being really excited about you and gung-ho because now we're going to have more access to information. And I think your run actually paved the way for Denzel McCampbell to run and now he's looking at doing something. So you broke a lot of, you know, barriers in that process.
Speaker 3:Well, that's very humbling to you to say. I appreciate that. I mean, I think that when people have access to knowledge and information, you know they say we say knowledge is powerful for a reason, and I think one of the biggest inequities that is connected to and, in some cases, underlying the other ones, is that like sort of inequitable access to information. Who has better information, who can get it more quickly, who can get it with fewer barriers. And when it is easier for you to get information, it's easier for you to act on that information. You can act on information for your own interests, for your political interests, for your financial interests, and I just think everyone should have access to that, and I think about that even in my current job. Again, it's like how can we remove barriers that stand between people and the things that they need to be successful or to make progress or to move forward? And you can't act on what you don't know.
Speaker 2:Or even to understand their government. Like I, serve on the board of Voters, not Politicians, and a big part of our effort push is going to be transparency in government, absolutely Understanding all of the decisions and how all of the money is spent. And we still don't have that transparency yet in Lansing, not as much as we wish we did. Do you have any thoughts or views on how you would begin to remedy that as governor?
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. I mean, first and foremost, I think that you know both. The Michigan is, you know, in the backwater of the country when it comes to the kinds of transparency and disclosure. The Freedom of Information Act doesn't apply to the executive branch. It doesn't apply to the legislature, which is wild. That's a whole branch of government, and so we should be able to bring these two branches of government fully into an era where you comply with FOIA laws the same way that our state departments and agencies have to, and I think what's important is that both come to the party. I think it can't just be the legislature or just be the executive office. I think it needs to be each one of those with the same standard.
Speaker 1:Talk about why that hasn't happened, though. I mean, I'm hearing your sentiment about it. I think that both parties in various points within the administration when the trifecta was here, when we didn't have the trifecta, benefited greatly from not being subject to FOIA. If you're on the other side, do you want FOIA to extend to your executive power?
Speaker 3:It's not a question of whether you want it, it's a question of whether it's right, and I think that you have seen before there's been a lot of sort of eagerness to find a reason for this not to work, or for them to find a reason for this legislative compromise to not come to fruition, and I think that's unfortunate. So you've had legislators, you know. You've had people like you know, Jeremy Moss and Ed McBroom in the Senate. Like they've introduced this time after time after time after time. It's time to get this right, and so I think that certainly you know, as Lieutenant Governor, you know sort of me and Governor Whitmer like we have published sunshine reports, published block calendars, published our financial disclosures before the ballot measure required. We've been doing this since 2019. Like, so being transparent about that, but everybody should be ready to fall suit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let me ask you this question. You know you being elected as lieutenant governor was historical for the state of Michigan, but especially for those of us here in the city of Detroit, your home, and everybody sat and watched you get sworn in that first time and had all of the feels. Facebook was lit up and I think we often celebrate those who have been first, number one. How does it feel to be first, right, and even beyond the, the ceremonial, like the ceremonial celebration around being the first, talk about what you've been able to do by being the first.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I mean, first and foremost, yes, I'm the first Black person to ultimately hold this office, but if we think about, you know, black folks who have competed for this office, I think about Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, I think about former Representative and County Commissioner Teola Hunter and County Commissioner Teola Hunter, these Black women who really sort of opened up space for someone like me to even be able to be, considered seriously for a role like this.
Speaker 3:I think about people like Richard Austin, who was the Secretary of State in Michigan for a long time, but he was the highest ranking Black elected executive in Michigan until I was elected. He was the highest ranking Black person to sign a bill into law until I signed a bill into law in 2019. And so I think about the fact that they created space for me is important so, but I'm first at this level and the way I carry.
Speaker 3:That is, it is my responsibility to open the window you know what I'm saying Like to have people be able to see what this is like, so that it is not foreign when people want to either pursue this or to go higher, that they can do so knowing that we understand this level because we saw it and we experienced it alongside. You know me, as Lieutenant Governor, I was being, you know, try to be generous with my experience, being transparent and open about the things that were hard, the things that were accessible and achievable, the things that inspired like awe and wonder, like I don't, I don't take for granted some of the cool stuff I get to do. You know what I mean. Like, like, like. On Friday I was in um, at Camp Grayling in Northern Michigan, one of our, uh, michigan National Guard bases, and I got a chance to do this ceremony that happens every year, called Pass in Review, which basically means that, as the acting commander in chief of the Michigan National Guard, I have to inspect our guardsmen, and so it's like, literally like we go and like I ride this like Humvee around this field where all the guard troops are, and then they march past and I'm like, yeah, y'all look great. Yeah, this is great. We're strong.
Speaker 3:And at a time right now, right when what's happening with the federalization of the National Guard in California, I had a chance to go and pay respect to these people who have, like, other jobs but also then commit to this service and show them that like they are there to protect and defend constitutional rights, not to trample upon them, and I got a chance to go say thank you to them for that and do so in this capacity. Like it's really tremendous. And so to be able to do that as Lieutenant Governor is one thing, but then to do that as a black man who is Lieutenant Governor adds a whole nother dimension to it, and so it's been really powerful to have experiences like that. And so there's versions of that that are related to our guard service, related to just the legislative process and how I get to operate in it, related to the fact that, because I have certain experiences, it's been able to make things possible that were not possible. Like, beyond only being the only black person to have this job, there's never been a software developer in my job. There's never been a software developer, like I'm the only person with my background who's in state elected office in the country, wrote code, ship code, started and sold two technology businesses and, like we're real technologists, you know what I'm saying. Like you know, governor Snyder was a accountant who ran a technology company. Like I, like, wrote the code to make the tech that made the money. Code to make the tech that made the money. You know what I'm saying. So it's like I.
Speaker 3:That gives me a different perspective and a different view on the fact that we can, like build solutions to solve problems.
Speaker 3:So that's how you get something like Clean Slate, the automatic criminal record expunging program that I was told was impossible to implement, because how are you going to connect 81 different County jail systems that don't talk to each other to one another to get a clear picture of, like, what a person's record is and if they have offenses that are eligible for expungement, and therefore remove that barrier of having to hire a lawyer and wait time and pay all this money for them not to get their justice.
Speaker 3:That's standing between them and them getting an apartment or a house or a job or being reunited with their kids. But, like, because of my experience, I was able to implement that program. It lit up on April 12, 2023. A million offenses got cleared that day. 330,000 people now are fully able to participate in civic and economic life. So when I talk about being first, it's about being able to do things that haven't been done before, that people didn't think was possible. But because I have a different perspective, I think different things are possible. I think more is possible, and that's why we got to continue to think big and be creative.
Speaker 2:I think that is amazing and until you mentioned that, I did not know that. First of all, you wrote this. I didn't understand what you wrote. It's amazing that you did that. I'm hoping that as you campaign, you let people know about things like that, because a lot of times it feels as though the battle for any type of real criminal justice reform is uphill and nothing is possible. And that's a small step, but it's a significant small step in helping to make people whole. 330,000, that's no small number and it's growing every day.
Speaker 3:And can I tell you something about that, Donna? Like that was bipartisan legislation we passed that that was enacted in 2021.
Speaker 2:It lit up in 2023.
Speaker 3:That was after a two-year implementation period. The law was signed at Cadillac Place in 2021.
Speaker 2:Wow.
Speaker 3:And so again and thinking about and feeling like these things aren't possible, like that's something that I did with Republicans, and so we have an opportunity to find consensus, to make progress with people, and that's my whole job is to solve problems right. It's not to find the excuses, it's to find the solution.
Speaker 2:And you know it feels like it's an uphill battle right now because, rather than consensus, it feels like everybody's become so fragmented and angry at everybody else that we're blaming people and we, you know we stereotype people. These are the bad people, these are the good people, and the good people are like a really small group. Most people right now is like people just like me. How do you go about helping to mend some of what's broken so that people can begin seeing that they have common ground?
Speaker 3:Well, it starts with presence. Look, michigan is a really big state. Physically, it's the largest state east of the Mississippi River. You could drive for 19 hours and still be in the state of Michigan, Really, and then you still got the whole UP. You go across the ridge and turn left. Wait, I didn't know that. Michigan is huge. Wow, we have 83 counties in the state of Michigan.
Speaker 3:I've been to all 83 counties three or more times. I've put in more work on the road in these last six and a half years than anybody in the last 50. How we start to come together is you got to go see people, just like I went and knocked on those 17,000 doors in Detroit. I have went and had thousands of conversations with people across the state of Michigan. What are you excited about, what are you worried about? What are you fearful of, what are you anxious about, like, what do you care about? And so, across the state of Michigan, when I hear about issues of housing, healthcare, the future of the economy and my place in it, education outcomes, mental health services, how the jail system has failed me, I hear about that in every single corner of Michigan.
Speaker 2:Thank you for saying housing first. It is one of those low-hanging fruit areas where everybody struggles with housing. Urban, rural, suburban housing is a national catastrophe right now. I mean, people can't afford homes, Young people can't afford homes, Old people can't afford homes. How do you begin linking some of these housing conversations? Because I think sometimes when you're in crisis, you think everybody else has it good, so oh, Detroiters have a housing problem and we're not thinking about real housing problems. Now you drive to some real places and it's like whoa, how do you begin linking that? You know I was driving up north. Another thing, I was driving up north to Idaho for one of these jazz fests and I'm looking at all of these Dollar General stores and I'm like wow, If I could only shop at Dollar General to get food, I'd be mad at the world, right? How do you begin looking at food deserts beyond Detroit or housing problems beyond this city, so that people can see themselves in each other?
Speaker 3:The problems aren't the same, but they're similar, they rhyme with one another, and so, I think, first part of my job and, frankly, the privilege of it, being able to talk with and connect with people in all these different types of communities, michigan is a super we have. Every single type of life is available here in the state of Michigan, and so, by going in and speaking with people in all these different contexts, though, you can pull out what they have in common. And so, when it comes to housing affordability and availability, what all these communities have in common is that we haven't built enough. That's one thing, right. And so, from a supply and demand perspective, having more supply can help with prices. That doesn't solve prices, but it can contribute to lower prices, right.
Speaker 3:And so, for me, after having these conversations across the state for a number of years, what I saw is that our state actually has something called a housing trust fund, the community development fund, and it's existed for decades, but it never had any money in it, right, with the exception of 2011 and 2012,. We had a democratic majority in the state house for two years. They put $10 million in it and that was great, but it never put any more money in. This is a tool that literally exists to use the dollars in that fund to invest in affordable housing. Other States have them.
Speaker 3:Ohio has one. Put $60 million in it every year. We got to do better in Ohio, right? So what I drove was the first investment into the community development fund a $250 million starting in 2021. And now we put $50 million annually into that fund. And what is the result then? We've been able to unlock the development and bringing online of tens of thousands 40,000 new housing units in the last three or four years. That is the highest rate of acceleration of new housing units being brought online, whether it's single family, multifamily apartments, duplexes, whatever.
Speaker 2:Detroit is almost all multifamily right. It is All studio apartments.
Speaker 3:No, that's not necessarily the case. We also have had some infill missing middle homes when Some of them have been on like. There's been some on like like over, not in Island View, but right adjacent to Island View.
Speaker 2:About four or five.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's the beginning of it, right. So my point is like we have to get this thing flowing. So now we understand what the program needs to look like and tweak those structures, and I share that because, as an engineer, we'll go back to that. When I see a tool that is not being utilized that can solve a problem, nothing upsets me more, and so by finding that and putting it to use, we can help to address this problem. So that's one example of this.
Speaker 3:But then you combine that with whether it's first-time or next-time time, home buyer programs we've created using our mission director, who's been really creative. We did this partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Indiana called a rate relief program that will knock up one percentage point off of somebody's mortgage rate. That is like $1,100 a month for someone to save on a mortgage. That's the difference between being able to afford a mortgage and not afford a mortgage for a lot of people, and so we're trying to use a lot of tools in the toolbox here, making sure and pushing this legislature to continue to invest in that. But those are solutions that work, whether you're trying to build again, single family, multifamily, workforce housing, like all these different contexts for different communities.
Speaker 1:You've been to 83 counties connecting with folks and you said that's the answer to figuring out how to drive policy and meet and bring people together around a common need. But you are in a political climate right now that is ridiculously polarized. In fact, the Whitmer-Gilchrist administration has governed through such tremendous polarization, unlike anything that I've ever seen in my lifetime. How does your traveling and connecting and talking to people in all 83 counties translate into policy, specifically policy that has to get done through the legislature, specifically policy that has to get done through the legislature? Typically, what we know to be true in the city of Detroit is that if legislators feel that Detroit would benefit at all or disproportionately benefit, they tend to vote it down. So talk to me about how you have built these relationships with these counties, with these legislators, to get stuff done that's really hard to get done.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm going to give you an example. So one of the unfortunately pressing issues in our country and in our state has been the mortality rate disparity between black women and white women, and so some would think that, okay, if this is something that is target toward black women, that's where it only matters and the parts of the state where black folks mostly live Detroit, flint, saginaw, bend Harbor, grand Rapids, battle Creek, whatever. Dr Mona, dr Mona Hanna, the woman who uncovered the Flint water crisis. She approached me in 2020 and said that she had worked with some researchers and had a solution that could help, she believed, address this mortality rate disparity with mothers and with their children, and it was really simple but really profound we should give the mothers money. Shocking. So she's like the program is called RX Kids prescribing kids money. Okay, that there would be a lump sum of dollars available for the mother during her pregnancy and then, for every month after the child was born until their first birthday, she'd get $500 a month. Okay, now this program they wanted to roll out in Flint.
Speaker 3:I helped champion the legislation to first make the state's $15 million investment in it, co-chaired the national effort to get philanthropy involved to support this program, and we launched it in Flint as the first and largest guaranteed income program in the country. The outcomes are off the charts as far as healthy baby weights, moms throwing up on their follow-up appointments, kids all that, the financial stability, paying off debt all that stuff is important. That was the foundation. Now, on a bipartisan basis, we have expanded the RX Kids program to places across Michigan Kalamazoo, clare, michigan and Mid-Michigan and, what I'm really proud of, working with a Republican state senator named John DeMoose, we have expanded it to the five counties in the eastern side of the UP. We launched it on Valentine's Day this year. This is a program that was maybe understood or at least perceived as only benefiting these Black mothers for their maternal mortality rate disparities, but instead we're seeing that this is an anti-poverty program that positions young people to be healthy, positions mothers to be successful.
Speaker 2:Will it come to Detroit?
Speaker 3:So it's going to be rolling out. We're trying to roll this out statewide.
Speaker 1:It's in.
Speaker 3:Pontiac it just rolled in. Pontiac, pontiac, kalamazoo, dearborn's on the table. Wayne County is looking at it countywide.
Speaker 2:I mean. So it's like we have a big opportunity here, so the county has to adopt it or match those funds somehow, or is it all state funding?
Speaker 3:So it's not all state funding, but what we've seen is a really, especially with the outcomes that have been made public through the Flint experience. We've seen a lot of partners be willing to step up in different parts of the state so it may be structured differently in a particular municipality or particular locale.
Speaker 2:So does philanthropy sometimes step in and do some of the work.
Speaker 3:They've played a role in most of the areas. But it's the kind of thing that's all hands on deck because all the outcomes are good and it doesn't require and in this era where you have Republicans in Washington who are trying to figure out all these ways to take stuff away from people, like they want to create these different requirements around it this is showing that when you, you know, give a mother, um, these resources, she determines the best thing to do, and I don't have to put strings on it because, like, you want to live and you want your baby to live, like there's no better incentive than that. And so with this it's been wildly successful and we were able to do that on a bipartisan basis. So I just share that, because for me, this is about again, if I come and see you where you at and come and talk to you and listen to you, that this is what's important to me, that we can find a solution, and I believe that then I can build a team to make it happen.
Speaker 1:You're listening to Lieutenant Governor Garland Gilchrist. We're going to be right back. I want to ask you about the state of the Democratic Party and why folks are leaving More after the break Interested in renting space for corporate events, meetings, conferences, social events or resource fairs. The Mass Detroit Small Business Hub is a 6,000 square feet space available for members, residents and businesses and organizations. To learn more about rental options at MassDetroit, contact Nicole Perry at nperry at ecn-detroitorg or 313-331-3485.
Speaker 1:Have you ever dreamed of being on the airwaves? Well, the Authentically Detroit Podcast Network is here to make those dreams come true. Formerly known as the Deep Network and located inside the Stoudemire, the Authentically Detroit Podcast Network offers studio space and production staff to help get your idea off the ground. Just visit authenticallydetcom and send a request through the contact page. All right, welcome back to Authentically Detroit. We are here live with Lieutenant Governor Garland Gilchrist. He's finally in the studio and we're not at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. I want to ask you about the state of the Democratic Party. We are seeing notable, notable departures from the Democratic Party, corinne Jean-Pierre being one of them. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is running for governor as an independent. He is not running as a Democrat he had been a Democrat and other folks who are stepping away from the party. What's going on? Why are people stepping away? What is your and why are you still in it?
Speaker 3:Well, I think a few things are true.
Speaker 3:The reason I'm a Democrat is because I believe that this team and this party is the one, at the end of the day is thinking about and doing the work to help the most people. You know, one of the biggest differences to me between Democrats and Republicans is that, like, our vision of the future is like, big enough to include everybody. I think their vision for the future is so narrow that they everybody can't fit in it, and so, whether it's the people who are poor, whether it's the black people or the gay people, or the immigrants or the women, like whatever, they can't fit all in this vision. We only have enough room for so many people. So that's one piece that I feel and that's why I'm a Democrat, because I believe our vision is big enough for everybody. You know, why people make their individual decisions is one thing, but what I will say is that, just when thinking about, let's say, the last election in 2024, I think that people were, you know, wanted the party to match their energy in terms of their frustration with the status quo. If, like, stuff wasn't working or wasn't working well enough, it wasn't working fast enough, I don't know if they felt like, you know, democrats, like in mass or at large, large, were pissed off enough about that and thought that it was urgent enough, that it had a sense of urgency to kind of fix and deal with that.
Speaker 3:For me as a problem solver, when I see problems I want to fix them and again I talked about a tool not being utilized makes me upset. A problem being unsolved makes me upset too. So I get that and want to show that you know, I can be the kind of leader and we can be the kind of party that is results driven and values, results oriented and values driven. That's like we can get things done but we also can meet that energy. I mean, it's kind of like, you know, my baby girl is going to be a six on Juneteenth and when she is like on 10, I can't meet her at a three.
Speaker 3:Like that doesn't. That doesn't escalate the situation and I think people might've felt that way, like they felt like maybe we just were trying to, you know, tell them that that stuff was okay, but it's like nah, like it's really not okay for me and I need you to feel that. And so when people have been frustrated, when they feel like their problems aren't being solved or not being solved fast enough, it opens them up to being lied to, and I think that's what happened with Trump. I think he told them a story that wasn't real or wasn't true, but it felt better than somebody trying to tell them it wasn't that bad.
Speaker 2:Well, I think there's that, but I think also in the Democratic Party there is a lack of shared vision.
Speaker 2:We saw what was his name I may get his name wrong, david Hogg stepped down from a vice chair or something like that, of the DNC because of a conflicting vision. I think that there are generational divides within the party and the party has to decide, moving forward, who it's going to be. And you've seen that happen with other political parties. Right, you saw that the Republican Party just decided to be crazy, following the Tea Party and then MAGA, but the Democratic Party feels like there's just so much diversity and so you get Sinema out of the way, or Sinema and whatever her name is. I'm just joking.
Speaker 2:You get her out of the way and you have people stepping into that space. You have people stepping into that space. We had a person in the state house last year who literally tried to bring or brought the recess stuff to a halt because she just wanted to change, and the party does not have a mechanism to really act with a shared will at all times around issues that a lot of people consider themselves. Democrats want to see there's healing. That's necessary, and I want to know what you think we can do to re-engineer that so that the party is more successful and more able to act on a single set of ideals.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I hear that. I mean, I think there is certainly breadth of perspective and I actually think that's a good thing. I don't I wouldn't want to be in there with a bunch of people who thought everything had to be one way, the same way all the time. That's boring and I don't think it's also as effective, because problems are different in different communities. We need a lot of different approaches. But I also think that, you know, we have to realize that.
Speaker 3:How are coalitions built? I don't think coalitions are really necessarily built on policy alignment. Coalitions are built on trust. Like there's a built on like do we, can we trust the rest of the people? That's moving. That they do, you know, even share our values if they have different methods. And I think what we saw, we have seen in some cases, has been a trust breakdown. And so, from my perspective, why I think it's so important to spend time building relationships, to spend time with people and to invest that, and that takes a lot of time, but it's because you build that kind of trust that says okay, you know what, If Garland has a difference of opinion on a tactic, it's not because he ready to throw me out the coalition.
Speaker 2:Right. But I mean, if we can't agree that, you know, civil rights are a good thing, if we can't agree that women's reproductive rights are a good thing within one party?
Speaker 3:Or even bringing it locally. I think Democrats agree that civil rights are a good thing. Or is water a?
Speaker 1:human right. I mean, we can talk about how the Whitmer administration rescinded this request to declare water a human right by the Detroit City Council in January 2020. I mean, there are so many factions and wings of the Democratic Party and, depending upon who's in power, a different faction or wing of the Democratic Party is completely just ignored.
Speaker 2:And I feel like a lot of times they just go along with the majority or the Republican Party Because it's the EI right. We have a state, a senator from our state who doesn't believe in DEI and says, well, let's just focus on other things, and it feels like betrayal. The water thing feels like betrayal to many people who consider themselves Democrats, because you think we're electing people that are fight for things I care about.
Speaker 3:Yeah, okay, so I think I see what you're saying.
Speaker 3:Well, look, look, I think I think this what I stand for and what I think that we have to be anchored in again is how do we position the most people to have the biggest chance of success, to have the biggest chance for access to their own dream of health and wealth and success and a path out of, you know, a situation that they want to get out of, and like to me, that means making sure that people are supported, are resourced, have access to health, have access to education, have access to economic you know diversity and dynamism, do whatever they want to build and like.
Speaker 3:I think that those are the things that we hold true. Those are the things that I work toward as a Democrat. Those are the things that we hold true. Those are the things that I work toward as a Democrat. Those are the things that I work toward as a leader of the Democratic Party here in the state of Michigan, and I think my record reflects that that's the kind of thing that I want to build, and I think that I'm also the person who has built the trust across the span and breadth of this coalition, and that trust is the currency that's going to be needed to hold it together. And I think, when you saw a trust breakdown I think we saw a trust breakdown in the lame duck session last time or in the 2024.
Speaker 2:That's true, we did oh we did.
Speaker 3:And so I think one of the things that's coming upon leadership is to put in the work such that that trust is there, and that's something I would do.
Speaker 1:I want to talk to you about the democratic trifecta that we had for the first time in what was it 40 years? Um, a lot happened, a lot was accomplished, but my question to you is did you, do you feel like anything was missed, like was there something you really wanted to get done that didn't get done?
Speaker 3:that I mean, yeah, like I want to do a lot of stuff, man, I mean it can be simple, right?
Speaker 3:so we did the um, the uh, reproductive health act yeah okay, yeah, so passed a lot of things um related to making sure reproductive freedom was available. Um, you know, I think that's that issue is really important, I think for families. I think it's not just important for women. I think that's that issue is really important, I think, for families. I think it's not just important for women, I think it's important for fathers, as the you know, I think reproductive health is, is a pro father policy. I think that if I think that we, for example, though, did not get across the finish line the ending of the 24 hour waiting period, and that and another piece of that, that package had to ultimately come because of a court order that just happened recently we could have got that done legislatively, which would have been a much more robust way to implement that policy in a way that was able to be protected under Michigan law.
Speaker 3:I think that there are, you know, we've laid a foundation to build upon with the clean energy package that we signed into law signed into law, you know, um the the my healthy climate package. I think that, um, that's a. That was a fantastic start. It's been one of the reasons why we're the number one state in the country for clean energy sector, job growth, but we have still more work to do to make sure that more people have access to be able to participate in that economy and their own energy independence. Right, I mean, there's still more work to do on that, and so I think there's been a lot of foundations laid through what we did. But, of course, like are there, is there more that can and must be done?
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely, and that's why you're running for governor. We got a lot to do.
Speaker 2:Going back to Orlando's question, though is water a human right?
Speaker 3:I think access to water is absolutely.
Speaker 2:Do you believe that the state and localities have a responsibility to come up with some mechanism to make sure that clean, safe water is affordable to everybody who lives in this Great Lakes state?
Speaker 3:Well, first and foremost, we have to make sure that everybody has even the infrastructure to get that water Right. So, for example, so in the city of Benton Harbor, right when there was there was testing saw that there were elevated layer levels in Benton Harbor I actually went to Benton Harbor and announced that we were going to replace all the layer service lines. Now, for a city of that size, that is a seven-year project Okay, even though Benton Harbor is not a very large city, right, but that was a seven-year project. I went and announced in the rain that we were going to do that project in two years and I was back there 14 months later to say we was finished.
Speaker 3:And so I think, in order to even have this conversation, we have to make sure that we have the infrastructure to deliver it. So that's why we've been working to do that across the state. One of the reasons why we are so committed to doing everything we can at the state level to make sure we get our Inflation Reduction Act dollars here in Michigan is because there was a lot of resources in that legislation for lead service line replacements to meet our lead and copper rule that we put in place. That's so strong after the Flint water crisis for communities across the state of Michigan. Now, so that building that infrastructure is important for the facilitation of clean water and, yeah, I think we need to be pretty creative about figuring out how we can make sure everybody has that clean water to drink in a way that they can actually afford. And so that requires programmatic creativity, like you saw during COVID when we basically put a moratorium on water shutoffs.
Speaker 2:Right After.
Speaker 3:Yeah, say what After After you rescinded. But what I'm saying is we did a maternal water shutoff. Yeah, they have Right, and so that is, I think, a demonstration of that value, and so I think we have more work to do, to continue to be more creative to get there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because we still have in Detroit some of the highest water rates in the nation, no-transcript $30,000 worth of investments to reconnect water service to homes, to water service, and so it's not a temporary service disruption. Sometimes it is a permanent service disruption that really impacts quality of life. And it feels as though there's been hesitance at the state level because of a bolt decision some time ago that said you can't charge different rates for different people. Nobody's tested that decision and been sued because we're trying these differential rates, but it feels as though there has been. Let's just go along with what's been done. I mean, our sewage rates are really high, our stormwater drainage rates are really high and a lot of us are looking to the state to say the state will also partner with the city of Detroit residents. We have a good friend, monica Lewis-Patrick has been fighting that good fight for years and hasn't gotten any progress. So how would you be different in approaching this problem?
Speaker 3:I think it's. Look, I want people to be able to drink clean water, and so I think that what we have an opportunity before us to do is we've tried a lot of stuff, but it may not have resulted in everybody getting access to water, so that means that we got to try more and we got to try something different, and so, I think, a different approach. If you believe, like I do, there are problems or solutions that just have not revealed themselves yet. If you believe, like I do, that you know impossibility is not a fact, it's an opinion of the unimaginative, then you say, okay, well, that's who do we need to sit down with to converse with about how we can get something done.
Speaker 1:Mic drop. So, because that was good, that was real good, I'm taking I'm taking mental notes Uh, a Gilchrist administration for the state of Michigan. What does it look like?
Speaker 3:I mean, it's one that is really grounded in creating this truth that Michigan is the best place for a person to have an idea, that it is a place where people can stay and succeed. It's a place where people can come and grow. And and that is grounded in my experience as somebody who you know spent the the. The city of Detroit, the city of Harmington, like poured into me as a kid, believed that this you know, skinny kid could be an engineer. They believe that I could go and and make something of myself. But it poured all that into me.
Speaker 3:But then, when I came of age, I, because I wanted to be a particular kind of professional um, I felt like, uh, my path was to go elsewhere, outside of michigan. When I graduated with two engineering degrees, the university of mich, michigan, in 2005, and wanted to be a software developer and I thought that I needed to go west, well, I was heartbroken by that. The first business I started was to solve my own problem. They said can you get an internship in Detroit so you don't leave? That was the first business I ever started.
Speaker 2:Wow, what was the name of the?
Speaker 3:business Detroitinterncom Very well branded, and it was. It existed. We sold it to the Kellogg Foundation seven years later, going to start. But I also had experience trying to raise money for that business in Michigan and doing so unsuccessfully in 2005. We didn't have like a real super healthy venture capital market, you know, for online. So I feel like I had to leave somewhere to be the professional I wanted to be.
Speaker 3:Well, my administration will be wholly grounded in the fact that people in Michigan know they can stay and succeed in Michigan, and so I've worked to build some of that foundation here. In that particular scenario, I described things like the Economic Opportunity Fund. Right, we start this $10 million fund. I led the application to the federal government, the Biden-Harris administration, to use dollars in the state small business credit initiative, ssbci, and we said specifically we want to use these resources to provide funding for entrepreneurs who are disadvantaged because they're black, women, veterans, differently abled, whatever. But they haven't been able to get money from the bank, not because of the quality of their idea but in large part grounded them because of the identity of the applicant, and so the state of Michigan now would use this fund to be their partner.
Speaker 3:And you know what the first grant was that we gave To this hair salon called Joyella May. It opened a location on Michigan Avenue, and so this wasn't about tech business. It was about entrepreneurs and who gets to see themselves as an entrepreneur, who gets to get accepted as an entrepreneur into this economy and grow in a way that they want to grow and can grow. When I say, stay and succeed, I didn't want that woman to leave Michigan to go start her business.
Speaker 2:That's really good to hear, because we have so many businesses that just need that kind of help. I have questions, though, because you talked when you first talked about being governor. You talked when you first talked about being governor. You talked and described an experience, which is an important experience with the Michigan National Guard, which is largely ceremonial, but in further conversation you've done a whole lot of stuff that is more substantive in terms of your specific role. People don't always know what a lieutenant governor does. Can you talk about what you've done?
Speaker 1:as a lieutenant governor. She the people on Netflix.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Well, you know, I think I got through about half an episode on that and I said no, I can't.
Speaker 1:I thoroughly enjoyed it, donna. Maybe I just have to keep watching it, because I couldn't get.
Speaker 2:it was like are we really doing this? Anyway?
Speaker 1:I'm sorry.
Speaker 3:Look. So I mean, it is true that there are not very many people who, just if you just asked them off the street, what is the lieutenant governor doing? Who is it who would know the answer to that question? The way I describe it to people is that, just like the country has a president, the state has a governor, just like the country has a vice president. That's me, for Michigan. I'm the vice president of the state of Michigan. Oh, okay, you're the number two. Yeah, I'm the number two.
Speaker 3:It means I serve as the acting governor when the governor's out of state. It means that so I'm the first in line of succession, should you know, heaven forbid, something happen, but the governor's incapacitated. And it means that I am the only person who serves in two branches of government in the state of michigan. I'm the president of the state senate and so like wholly in both branches. Which means that, what for that? For people? What does that mean? It means, basically, I tell everybody in the senate when they can talk, when they can't, and that when the state senate, which has 38 members in it, when they vote on something and it gets tied exactly at 19 to 19, I cast a tie-breaking vote. Or, as one of my mentors who was in an office when I came into office. What he said was when I vote, I win, which I just love that energy.
Speaker 3:So that is the job according to the constitution of the state of Michigan. Now, beyond that, the role of lieutenant governor is defined by the relationship between the lieutenant governor and the governor, like in terms of what do we want to accomplish as a team? And then, therefore, what do I want to, or am asked to, focus on? And so, because of that relationship with me and Governor Warren, because of the confidence that she has shown in me she is, you know, maybe unlike previous Lieutenant Governors asked me to lead on a bunch of stuff that matters Housing, healthcare, particularly disparities, criminal justice reform, juvenile justice reform, the future of our economy, enabling more technology, businesses to come here and thrive, expanding mental health services across the state of Michigan. Like, she's asked me to do a lot of important things and I'm proud to have been able to lead on them.
Speaker 2:You know, a lot of people thought you might come to Detroit and run as mayor.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, this is the money question right here. This is the money question right here because people thought, listen, he's going to come back home and run as mayor, and you didn't.
Speaker 2:What was your thinking about running for governor and?
Speaker 1:once you answer it here, you won't have to answer it anywhere else. That's hilarious. Everybody's going to hear it.
Speaker 3:So you know, I have learned and seen and gained a tremendous amount from my experience across the state of Michigan and what I've seen is that this opportunity to be able to solve problems and create solutions that benefit people across Michigan is actually a super high leverage opportunity for the city of Detroit. You know, look, we haven't had a governor who was like a for real Detroiter in a really long time, like we talk in a hundred years, and that opportunity to have someone who is deeply interested in and connected to the city of Detroit to be the governor, a person who Detroiters can trust, is really something that is high leverage and it can help bridge that gap that y'all talked about earlier, about this sort of separation, this chasm, this divide between the rest of the state and the state's biggest city, knowing that we are all connected.
Speaker 2:But you know, I mean, even as people were expecting you to run for mayor, people knew that the mayor was going to run for governor and some people would say that that would be a benefit for him running for governor, since he has directly worked in the city of Detroit. What would be different between the governor, since he has directly worked in the city of Detroit? What would be different between the other? Than he's no longer a Democrat between the Gilchrist administration and the Dutkin administration at the governor level.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think the trust is important. I harp on that because I think the people have to be able to trust the person and who they are and who they've been. I think that's important. And the second thing is that I'm the person who's running for governor right now, who has delivered value for Michiganders everywhere. You know whether it is the issues that matter again housing, healthcare. I'm the person who's expanded access to mental health services in every part of the state.
Speaker 2:Can I ask you a question? Yeah, have you been investigated for anything that you've done as Lieutenant Governor? I have not. That might also be a distinction. You are listening to Lieutenant Governor Garland Gilchrist.
Speaker 1:If you have topics that you want explored on Authentically Detroit, you can hit us up on our socials or at Authentically Detroit on Facebook, instagram and Twitter, or you can email us at authenticallydetroit at gmailcom. It's time for shout outs. Let's do the shout outs because we're up on time. Lieutenant Governor Gilchrist, do you have anybody you want to shout out?
Speaker 3:Well, we're coming here on the back end of Father's Day, so I definitely want to shout out my dad, garland Gilchrist Sr. I also want to thank and think about my granddaddy, dan Posey, my grandpa, isaac Gilchrist. My grandpa lived to see me get sworn in as lieutenant governor. He was there the first time I signed a bill into law. It was really tremendous. He made it to 98 years and was like three weeks short of his 98th birthday, and so I've been thinking about them a lot this weekend. But just look, there are people across the state of Michigan, man, who refuse to accept that there are things they can't accomplish, and so that gives me so much energy, like if y'all are out here putting in this work, because you believe something is possible. But you know what I believe in you. So that's not an individual shout out, that's like a shout out to an attitude that.
Speaker 3:I think is important and that I think we have to remember that, even in the face of the again, both the division and destruction that comes to Washington, the incompetence that we are seeing wreak havoc on Michigan's economy uniquely whether it's tariffs or other things that hit Michigan harder than any other state it magnifies the importance of competence, integrity and strength at the state level and from the governor's office in the state of Michigan, and so, you know, I hope to reflect and embody that as and as governor of Michigan, and I'm hoping that people will support me in that vision vision.
Speaker 2:All right, donna. I want to shout out everybody who took the time out to go to the Little Kings rally this Saturday. I am so proud of you for standing up and demanding justice. I was so afraid. My cousin lives in DC and she said she was going in downtown DC. I was like girl, what my family's going? I was like you heard the threats. But really people stood up and stood proud and I'm really happy about that, because we either rise together or we fall together as a people, and one thing we can agree on, if we don't agree on many other things, most of us is that we believe in democracy and we don't like what we're seeing there. So shout out Hono King's guys.
Speaker 1:All right, we thank you all so much for listening and until next time we want you to love on your neighbor. We got a piece of love. It's so bright in the kitchen, things don't burn on the grill. Took a whole lot of trying just to get up back here.
