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.
Check us out on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @AuthenticallyDetroit!
Authentically Detroit
Reimagining Detroit: Capital Access, Housing Justice & Safer Communities with Donald Rencher
This week, Donna and Orlando sat down with the President and CEO of the Hudson Webber Foundation, Donald Rencher to discuss the election, Detroit’s housing market, public safety beyond policing, and expanding access to capital for small businesses and entrepreneurs from historically marginalized communities.
Donald Rencher assumed the role of President and CEO at the Hudson Webber Foundation in February 2024. Prior to his tenure at the foundation, Rencher served as the Group Executive for Housing, Planning & Development for the City of Detroit, a role he held since January 2021.
Rencher's impact on Detroit's landscape is undeniable, having held progressive leadership positions within the city for nine years. Rencher's leadership and commitment to equitable urban development make him a driving force in shaping the future of Detroit's built environment and ensuring opportunities for all its residents.
To learn more about Donald Rencher and his work with the Hudson Webber Foundation, click here.
FOR HOT TAKES:
VOTER TURNOUT WAS UP DURING MICHIGAN'S 2024 ELECTION. FIGURING OUT EXACTLY WHY MAY BE TOUGH.
IN THE PAST 50 YEARS, WE'VE LOST MORE THAN 150 MAJORITY-BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS
Up next. Donald Rencher, president and CEO of the Hudson Weber Foundation, joins Authentically Detroit. To discuss was up during Michigan's 2024 election. Figuring out exactly why may be tough and in the past 50 years we've lost more than 150 majority Black neighborhoods. Keep it locked. Authentically Detroit starts after these messages. Interested in renting space for corporate events, meetings, conferences, social events or resource fairs? The MassDetroit 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. 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 in the world. Welcome to another episode of Authentically Detroit, broadcasting live from Detroit's East Side at the Sotomayor inside of the East Side Community Network headquarters. I'm Orlando Bailey.
Donna Givens Davidson:And I'm Donna Givens-Davidson.
Orlando Bailey:We are back. 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. We are so happy to be back in the studio this week with a much anticipated guest. This week, we have Donald Rencher, the president and CEO of the Hudson Weber Foundation, here to talk about the election as well as some other very important challenges he's working to help Detroiters overcome, and so, for the first time ever and we've been here a minute now since 2019, donald, welcome to Authentically.
Donald Rencher:Detroit. Thank you so much for the invite. I really do appreciate it.
Orlando Bailey:Thank you for coming on. It's been a long time coming. We're going to ask you to get a little closer to the mic. Okay, maybe we'll have Griff come and adjust it. Donna, how is this blessed day finding you?
Donna Givens Davidson:It's good, it's good, it's good. You know, I have to say that a lot of things happened over the weekend. One of the best was Detroit was activated, activated. One of the best was the opening of the Stoudemire Park. Yes, that was really emotional for me, and the best part of that was actually not anything formal. It was when we were just standing around talking and you asked Ian Stoudemire what he thought of the park.
Donna Givens Davidson:And he said well, it's really nice, but I'm just wondering who's going to maintain it. And I thought, oh my goodness, out of the mouth of babes, that's right.
Donald Rencher:He looked around and just wanted to make sure it was a great question to ask, great first question.
Donna Givens Davidson:And he just reminded me so much of his dad. It was like okay.
Orlando Bailey:Marlo coming out In stature and in question.
Donna Givens Davidson:And that was just such a great question. It was a great question for you to ask. Maybe we need to have Ian on here next.
Orlando Bailey:Oh, let's do it. Yeah, this weekend was activated. You know, shout out to you. If you went to the African Rural Festival, shout out to you. If you went to the Concert of Colors, shout out to you. If you went to Detroit Book Fest At Eastern Market or Black on the Block at the train station, and it was so many more Miniature activations. Everybody was everywhere in the city this weekend.
Donna Givens Davidson:Everybody was not at the African Rural Festival.
Orlando Bailey:But that's a whole other conversation.
Donna Givens Davidson:Donald, you said you were there, you were there.
Donald Rencher:I was? When were you there? I love it. On Saturday brought the family out. My son got a drum. Oh cool, he was dancing. We do it every year.
Donna Givens Davidson:Did you see any of the musical guests?
Donald Rencher:I did. We couldn't stay out that long because we were out there for a couple hours. We saw a fashion show in the little zoo area.
Donna Givens Davidson:Yeah, that zoo area is kind of weird. He's three Cool, yeah, but did he enjoy that? Yeah, he loved it, those animatronics, oh my goodness.
Donald Rencher:Yeah, we had a good time.
Donna Givens Davidson:Did you see Charity?
Donald Rencher:I did not see Charity. I love her. Oh my gosh.
Donna Givens Davidson:I wanted to see Charity, but I had my future son-in-law had a birthday party, and so I had to go to his birthday party.
Donald Rencher:Not David Trevor. Oh, it's a different one.
Orlando Bailey:Yes, it's my bonus daughter no, not David. He doesn't have more than one in the air. No, I normally get know. David had a birthday party.
Donna Givens Davidson:No, this is Trevor. Trevor's birthday is actually August 7th, but he had a surprise birthday party in Waterford. So, that took us way out of the way and I didn't get to go to the festival.
Orlando Bailey:Okay, I haven't visited out there, so I don't know In Waterford.
Donald Rencher:Yeah, I don't know what it's like.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah, I don't know what it's like out there either it's a drive. Pack a snack. You know today was a good day. You know I'm enjoying the weather, but you know I was sort of knocked down. Earlier today I was in a meeting and got the news that Malcolm Jamal Warner has passed away and I'm like he drowned, drowned and I cannot.
Orlando Bailey:I'm just trying to understand. I don't understand, you know right. And I audibly gasp and then just was like man, I mean, we grew up with him, a lot of people grew up with him. I feel like he's family. So my questions are like questions that I would ask the family, like when is the funeral? Because I feel like I should be there. Who got the body and when is the reading of the will, because I feel like I should get some of the insurance like he feels that close to us.
Donna Givens Davidson:There was just a newspaper article this week talking about drownings.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah.
Donna Givens Davidson:And Lake Michigan having more drownings than any other.
Orlando Bailey:Yes, the most dangerous lake In the nation, right In the nation, yeah, Lake Michigan.
Donna Givens Davidson:And they were talking about, you know boating accidents and how things happen so quickly, and I thought about the fact that I almost drowned on my birthday.
Donald Rencher:Like the recent birthday In 2020.
Donna Givens Davidson:Because I was in my cousin's boat and it said it was a stingray boat, so I thought it was going to be fancy. And that boat we were on Lake St Clair and that boat was doing like this and Kevin was actually having to lay across the boat to hold it stable and there were no life jackets on board. Oh no, stable and there are no life jackets on board. So, yes, it is a recipe for disaster. Any disaster could have happened and I was very conscious of the fact that I was out there in the middle of the ocean of Lake St Clair not the ocean with no life jacket. I think that we need to do more to educate people about safety, because I was reading the article Michigan doesn't have any lifeguards and I'm not trying to take the conversation away from Malcolm Jamal Warner, but reading about him drowning today after reading that article yesterday. That was a really good article about the issues. I think it was in the Free Press. We need even a superstar needs a life jacket if, in fact, he was on a boat.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah, we don't know.
Donna Givens Davidson:And we all need to know how to swim. Hopefully, all of our children are learning how to swim, because so many accidents are caused that way.
Orlando Bailey:Rest in paradise to Malcolm Jamal Warner. There are so many people who are grieving the loss of this iconic, iconic actor man, I being one of them. Alright, y'all, it is time for hot takes, where we run down some of the week's top headlines in the city of detroit. Donna, we haven't done hot takes in a while because we've been busy chipping away at our election coverage, so this should be fun.
Orlando Bailey:Voter turnout was up during michigan's 2024 election. Figuring out exactly why may be tough. This is by hayley harding at vote b. Michigan ranked third in the country in voter turnout percentages last year, an achievement the state credits to major election reform and a strong voter education campaign. In a first of its kind turnout report, the Department of State highlights the effect of recent voter approved constitutional amendments, noting an increase in turnout between 2020 and 2024. Hundreds of thousands of ballots cast by first-time voters and the more than 1.2 million who took advantage of the state's new early voting laws.
Orlando Bailey:But some experts say the true driver of the gains was likely local election officials. Corwin Smith, interim director of the Michigan State University's Institute for Public Policy and Social Research, said that research typically held that early voting laws often don't improve turnout much. About 255,000 early voters in Michigan hadn't voted in 2020, the report found. But studies have found those who vote early typically plan to vote in their election anyway, and keeping an early voting option open adds a significant burden on election officials.
Orlando Bailey:Measuring the impact of any state level program is difficult, smith said, because Michigan's elections are more decentralized than in most states. In Michigan, it's up to city or township officials to run elections, rather than the county leaders. Local and county clerks did great work to educate voters, he said, but it's difficult to know how much of that came out of local budgets and how much was state supported. The data in the State Department reported is still helpful, livingston County Clerk Elizabeth Hundley said, because it helps clerks figure out where to focus their effort in future elections. But as the county's lead election official, she already had access to local and county level data and its timing as a move to raise the profile of the Department of State and Secretary Benson, who is a Democratic candidate for Governor Benson, who is leading some polls, has run up against attempts from Republican lawmakers to paint her as a lawbreaker who has run flawed elections and has cited the conflict in their fundraising appeals. Donna, what say you, donna?
Orlando Bailey:The timing of this is interesting.
Donna Givens Davidson:Yeah, the timing is interesting and you know I understand what she's trying to do. I don't know that it's going to help her in that in any way, and there's a whole lot of questions about early endorsements of one of her opponents that you know should be discussed in the future. But one thing I noticed is that Detroit voter turnout was actually down while everybody else's went up. Detroit voter turnout declined by about 2% from 49% to 47% in this last election. So it was never high enough, certainly not as high as it was during the Obama years, where everybody showed up.
Donna Givens Davidson:So to think about voter turnout, I think there's got to be more than just what the election officials were doing. There was a lot of fear mongering, a lot of hate mongering and a lot of the first time voters were voting for the purpose of being hateful and others were voting out of the purpose of fear. And so, outside of Detroit, I think the emotions and also the perception of really high stakes help to drive it. I don't give a lot of credit to election officials. I think people vote because of motivational factors for the most part. That's not to say that our clerk could not make voting easier.
Orlando Bailey:Whose job is it to you know? Get out the vote right to drum up support and excitement, to get people to the polls.
Donna Givens Davidson:I would say the people who are running Right. I would say if you're running for office and you can ignite a sense of hope and possibility in people, they'll show up more often than if you don't. I think a lot of times politicians run to the middle. They want to run towards a certain type of voter and necessarily leave so many other voters out of the conversation. So why would people in Detroit show up in an election where nobody's really talking about issues that are very specifically connected to the well-being of Detroiters? And I'm not saying that having the current president is not harmful, but a lot of people didn't feel like. I think that hope is a bigger motivator than fear.
Orlando Bailey:It certainly worked for Obama.
Donna Givens Davidson:It did, got hope Right, and you know, and optimism in this idea that things can change, and, unfortunately, trump voters are very optimistic about these grand changes that they wanted to see. They were going to make America great again by doing all of these harmful things to everybody else, but at least that was a positive reason to vote. I think too often Democrats run on fear, tactics and not vision, and in this idea, you know, trump is the worst person ever and people well, you're not great either. I'll just stay home. So I think that what they were able to do, what Trump was able to do because remember this election, he won Michigan is he was able to ignite people's excitement to some extent because you had a lot of first-time voters.
Orlando Bailey:Adonai, do you have any insight?
Donald Rencher:Yeah, Well, I was just listening to what Adonai was saying. I think all those things are on point. I was just listening to what Donna was saying. I think all those things are on point. When I talked to him, we were going to the barbershop and I was asking people who voted and there were a lot of people like saying they're not, because I also think that many people don't believe voting is necessarily going to change their circumstances every day. Right, so there has to be, like Donna said, something on the ballot where people understand, like this is what I'm voting for, the opposite of fear attacking but like this is what what's, this is what's on the on the block to vote. Right, this is what's going to essentially improve my life.
Donald Rencher:And I feel like that that discussion is rarely had and that's why I appreciate the work that you all do, because I'm not a fan of debates. Right, because it's like how do you solve poverty? And give me your 40 second, but like more intimate, like longer conversation. Essentially, what are we, what is what is on the table to vote for? What are the initiatives that you're trying to push? Let's stress, test that. Let's really see if that's something that we can actually do. I think our Detroiters need to understand what's in it for their vote, right, and not only is it on the actual people who are running for election, but I think it's on the community too. I mean, I think decisions are made by understanding, like what are the areas and who are voting for what things, and so people need to exercise that power.
Donna Givens Davidson:I agree with that. I think that we have a responsibility to actually show up and demand something.
Donald Rencher:That's right.
Donna Givens Davidson:If we demand something collectively, then we can monitor whether that's being done. I have to say, election reporting can be so disappointing. Monitor whether that's being done. I have to say, election reporting can be so disappointing. There was an election. There was a report in Bridgetory Free Press and also the Free Press by Nushrat Rahman. Is that how you pronounce?
Orlando Bailey:it Rahman, yeah.
Donna Givens Davidson:Rahman about housing and the candidates' takes on housing, and it was so uneven the responses. It was like, okay, let me go in very detailed what this person is saying in very shortened terms. So it's like I feel like there's bias in that you're not really hearing what all people have to say, and I'd rather not see that, because I think voters have the right to compare actually compare positions, as opposed to sometimes I think reporters have a way of minimizing what other people say, and so I think more long-form reporting, I think the value of and you know we had a debate and I thought our debate did we gave two minutes, not 40 seconds.
Donald Rencher:Oh, that's good, A minute and a half.
Donna Givens Davidson:A minute and a half, not 40 seconds, and people were able to express themselves.
Orlando Bailey:That's good.
Donna Givens Davidson:And you're able to hear. Sometimes it's the quality of the questions, Sometimes it is playing gotcha instead of really wanting to have that conversation. That's right. I think it's important that we hear from them in forums and that you get to hear from them equally, because, unfortunately again, a lot of election reporting has a tendency to be very biased.
Orlando Bailey:The one thing that I would infer in the conversation is that everybody that we're talking about, especially like on part of the candidates, are talking to voters, and I'm really interested to see a candidate not only talk to voters but talk to the wider citizenry, because we have the numbers right. Everybody's not coming out to vote. There's a reason why everybody's not coming out to vote and I'm interested to see and really desire and I'm longing to see candidates reach out to the folks who aren't voting. I think it's really easy to get data sets that tell you where to go, neighborhoods, to hit people who are typical voters, who come out at every election. But we have, you know, our percentage in terms of turnout is in the teens versus everybody who is registered to vote in the city of Detroit. What about everybody else? And how are you activating those folks?
Donna Givens Davidson:And I'm not seeing it happen. I agree, and I think every person who is eligible to vote should be treated like a voter. So when I say voters, I don't just mean people who show up. But you make a good point, because a lot of times that's what people say, is that they look and they see in this neighborhood what percentage of people show up and which percentage don't. I think that if you are running for office to represent a community, everybody in that community should count. Even children, even people who are not eligible to vote should know that you are governing on their behalf, and that's not something that you're always saying.
Donald Rencher:I mean it could be done. I remember watching Stacey Abrams at one of the Stacey Abrams at one of the Mackinac policy conferences. She talked about her strategy on engaging the folks that are not typical voters and empowering. She changed the game in Georgia.
Donna Givens Davidson:She went to the strip club. She was like listen, strippers come off that pole and vote.
Orlando Bailey:I was like Stacey.
Donald Rencher:There is a way to engage. There is a way to engage and it should be done.
Donna Givens Davidson:It starts with thinking that people have value. It starts with what do you think about people and this is for candidates who are running for mayor right now Do the hard work. If you don't show up on other people's territory in their forums to listen and talk to them, then you are disrespecting the very people you claim to want to serve, because we've had candidates who just consistently don't show up to any community forums. It's so disappointing. There is a housing forum and at the housing forum, three of the top candidates were there. It was, you know, santil Jenkins, mary Sheffield and Fred Durhall. Perkins, craig and Kenlock didn't show up, and Kenlock shows up in nobody's forums. Craig stopped showing up at these forums. Perkins is really usually there, but it sends such a bad message. It puts such a bad taste in my mouth to have people not show up for us.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah, all right, listen. In the past 50 years we've lost more than 150 majority black neighborhoods. This is by Ileana Perroza in Nex City. Show signs of gentrification over the last 50 years, with the number of gentrifying urban neighborhoods growing sevenfold from 1970 through 2020, and that gentrification comes at a high price for Black communities. While gentrification is still relatively uncommon, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition's new Displaced by Design report concludes its harms can be intense and lasting, namely, displacement of disadvantaged and disinvested communities.
Orlando Bailey:From 1980 to 2020, gentrification impacted more than 1,800 downtown census tracts and major metro areas, with Washington DC, new York City, philadelphia, new Orleans, atlanta and the San Francisco Bay Area topping the list, and I think we were all around to see this happen in real time. The list includes more than 500 mostly black neighborhoods affected by gentrification. Researchers found nearly half of mostly black neighborhoods that experienced gentrification in 1980 were no longer mostly black by 2020. Of those, about 29% saw a full racial turnover and became mostly white or Hispanic neighborhoods, and about 23% became racially mixed. In total, the data indicates a loss of half a million black residents in all gentrifying neighborhoods between 1980 and 2020. Here's the quote.
Orlando Bailey:So that's the level of displacement that we're seeing occurring, and it can be quite concentrated in some cities, lead researcher Bruce Mitchell says. He goes on to explain that the resegregation is something that we're concerned about, and the loss of affordability too. Gentrification can be different and difficult to define, and even harder to measure. In addition to analyzing changes in income, home values and college education levels, the study added an additional validation method Researchers gauge changes in social class by tracking differences in professional, technical and managerial employment, in the racial and ethnic composition of neighborhoods and in mortgage lending activity. While the public often imagines gentrification as individuals flipping homes for profit, mitchell emphasizes that this study is focused on developer-driven and urban planning-driven gentrification that can lead to widespread unaffordability and displacement. Donna, what say you?
Donna Givens Davidson:Wow, I mean that was a great article. I was glad to read it. I think it's important to understand that you go to places like DC. Remember when DC was Chocolate City?
Orlando Bailey:I remember when it was.
Donna Givens Davidson:And Chocolate. No More right and remember.
Donna Givens Davidson:Oakland was our sister city, oakland, was so much like Detroit, and now it's changing. I think the challenges with that article, though, are that nothing changes overnight and things begin changing before they become visible in data reports. They show no gentrification in Detroit, like Brush Park does not exist, corktown does not exist, and in Corktown black people were not displaced as much as Mexicans were. Remember, mexicantown now is majority white and it's so expensive. And in neighborhoods like East English Village, which still remain majority black. But black people who grew up there cannot necessarily afford to live there as adults, and so you're seeing people being pushed out.
Donna Givens Davidson:It's not, it doesn't happen overnight. Renters can no longer afford to rent there and they're replaced by somebody. And the other thing is that in a metro area like Detroit, where you have a pretty high number of high wealth individuals, black people with money, it's just because some people are being displaced does not mean all black people are being displaced, so it's hard to track it purely on racial grounds. Sometimes it is just a different kind of black can move into this neighborhood than the one who was there before. So I think it's important for us to understand gentrification in all of its context, because I think that our current urban policy across the board favors gentrification.
Orlando Bailey:I'm glad that you named that, and it was something that the researcher named toward the end of the article, citing developer-driven and urban planning-driven gentrification. And I think that we have to acknowledge the inherent racism that exists in the urban planning profession, right, and just how it coalesces and accompanies capitalism in a way that is violent in so many communities, and we have to be honest about that. We have to name that.
Donna Givens Davidson:And we have the expert in the house right here. Right, that's heavy.
Donald Rencher:You know it's funny that you're talking about this. I was just talking to my team about this this morning and we know that black folks in the city of Detroit and we talked about this too, donna, like my memories are coming to the city of Detroit because I'm not city of Detroit and we talked about this too, donna, like my memories are coming to the city of Detroit because I'm not originally from Detroit. I was going to come see my uncles and my cousins who lived in Grandma Rosedale and I actually was like, oh man, I used to think Detroit was full of people, of black folks that were wealthy, because growing up in Battle Creek, michigan, I did not see that. But and I also told you that, out of all of my cousins and I have, my grandfather had eight brothers and sisters we had all the renters were in Detroit. I'm the only renter that still lives here, and so we think about economic mobility.
Donald Rencher:Black people are leaving, and there's a part of this where what does it take for black people to stay? You know, that's one part of it, but also, at the same time, I'm very, very concerned about displacement and so where areas that you see heavy, heavy private investment, what is it doing to our black neighborhoods and how do we make sure or ensure that our folks still have the opportunity to live there? And that also includes just perception? Right, you might not be kicked out of your unit or the rents might be stabilized, but when you go outside, are there spaces that you feel comfortable in frequenting? Right? So, culturally, do you feel displaced or gentrified out of your space as well?
Donna Givens Davidson:Can we talk about the impact of Nextdoor, you know, which tends to really send all these signals out? There's two black males walking down the street with shovels. Watch out for them, it's like every time you're profiling neighbors.
Donna Givens Davidson:And so it was like 2000 and I want to say 2014,. Right after Super Bowl Sunday, and I was coming back from my sister's house and I pulled up to my house, which was on a corner at the time in East English Village, and could not get into my garage because the snow was so high and there were two black males walking down the street with shovels who saved me. Okay, I love that. Like listen, you have to understand that when you see and I wrote a Facebook post I said you know, when some people see black men, they see fear, but when I see black men, so often I see salvation, like that. One time I was driving down the Lodge Freeway and I had a flat tire and I had to get off and go to a gas station.
Donna Givens Davidson:And a brother pulled up and said do you?
Donald Rencher:need help. Do you need some?
Donna Givens Davidson:help.
Donald Rencher:Yes, okay, I think that that's the Detroit, I know.
Donna Givens Davidson:It's the Detroit, we know right, and then we get told these other things. But when people start feeling devalued like that when the rules start changing and people start calling the police on you. That's a thing, yeah, but also rental prices is so high.
Orlando Bailey:Can I just infer this really quick? Do y'all remember when Orleans Landing first got built? Yes, and all the people moved down in there. And I learned a new term from next door, and it was noise pollution, because Jefferson on the weekend does what Jefferson does right, it turns up. And so it's like, oh my God, all of this noise pollution, and it's really loud on the weekends. And I'm like you moved to a city. You come from wherever you come from, expecting suburban living in an urban core.
Donald Rencher:I love how you did the voice on that earlier, though oh my God, Do you remember me coming to you?
Orlando Bailey:I'm like Donna, what is noise pollution? I don't get it.
Donna Givens Davidson:It was crazy, Remember they did the same thing. Was it Orleans, landing right on the riverfront? That's what I'm talking about oh yes, yeah, oh right, right right. Yeah, I was thinking you were okay, I was thinking the place on Lafayette. Yeah, that was so hilarious.
Donald Rencher:I was here. I feel unsafe and the music is so loud coming from the job. Tops that quote.
Donna Givens Davidson:There's something about there's cultural displacement and there's a mindset around it, too, that this is violent. Because, having gone to, college with some of these folks, I heard some noise pollution. My whole dorm room hall smelled like a keg of beer old beer it's. You know, I had some friends who lived in Troy and they had a party in their backyard and they had a beautiful house in Troy and they had a party in their backyard and we were partying and someone turned on the song. Play that funky music, white boy.
Donald Rencher:Okay.
Donna Givens Davidson:And the police were there like 10 minutes later to shut the party down and they moved back to Southfield. They were like I'm not dealing with this anymore.
Donna Givens Davidson:I can't deal with this. I think that the lack of welcome, I think that the profiling that some of our kids take, and so one of the reasons I think we can get people to move back to the city is having lived in the suburbs and moved back to Detroit. I feel all the love here. I didn't feel it necessarily in the suburbs in the same way, even though I was in a mostly black suburb. It still is different than Detroit. Detroiters are more connected to each other, for good or for bad, and so I love living in the city. I think that people look at things like schools.
Donna Givens Davidson:I think people look at many things and I think even the school data is distorted right.
Donna Givens Davidson:And so when I in another life, when I was working in education, I used to run all of these reports on schools, comparing Detroit public schools to suburban schools, because I learned about how suburban schools have a tendency to track black students and you know, and marginalized black students, and so that the average ACT score at the time of Detroit was somewhere around 15 or 16, but the average ACT score for a black kid in most of the suburban communities was also around 15 or 16. Why? Because they put the black kids in remedial classes, because they put a lot of the black kids in alternative schools, which were really programs housed within a school where the data was reported as if they were in the same classrooms, and so you still have segregation. You have all of those things moving to the suburbs. So I want my people to understand that if you go to Cass Tech or you go to Renaissance, you're very likely going to get a better education in almost any suburban school.
Donna Givens Davidson:In fact, I have a friend and you know her, orlando who when her daughters were in high school, their father was arguing for custody because he said he wanted them to go to suburban schools and I wrote a letter detailing all of that data and she won her court case. So I'm an attorney. My other life.
Orlando Bailey:Donna has many other lives.
Donald Rencher:I was just going to say it's interesting because I know the planning department right now, looking at their master plan, are actually talking to young folks and their number one question to young folks is like do you want to live in the city of Detroit in the future and what would it take for you to stay here? And I think that's a huge question for us because, like you know, we're bleeding our Detroit young talent right. It's like when I graduated from University of Michigan, all the Detroiters I know who were graduating with me, they wanted to go to Atlanta, they wanted to go to DC, they wanted to go to Chicago, and they see the prosperity and the opportunity and the vibrance and the energy. I think Detroit has it. And it's like, how do we get those folks here is really important, I think, increasing perception of that.
Donald Rencher:When people in.
Donna Givens Davidson:Detroit became the Motor City of. Detroit was a land of opportunity.
Orlando Bailey:And if it's not?
Donna Givens Davidson:perceived of as a land of opportunity, people aren't coming here. The other thing I'm hearing from young people, though, is housing. Can I afford to live? I need a place to stay, a nice place to stay, so we need to do a better job creating housing that our students can afford when they graduate from high school, that's right, I mean from college.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah, and high school. So much to be done.
Donald Rencher:We're going to put a button on this conversation. We're going to take a quick break.
Orlando Bailey:We are over time. We'll be right back with Donald Rensher. Okay, 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 of the ground, just visit authenticallydetcom and send a request through the contact page. Detroitonemillioncom and send a request through the contact page.
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Orlando Bailey:Donald Rencher assumed the role of president and CEO at the Hudson Weber Foundation in February 2024. Prior to his tenure at the foundation, rensher served as the group executive for housing planning and development for the city of Detroit, a role he held since January 2021. The coordination of neighborhood investments citywide, overseeing initiatives such as the Strategic Neighborhood Fund. Rencher's dedication to advancing affordable housing and fostering economic prosperity for all Detroit residents through strategic urban development is evident in his extensive 13-year career, rencher's impact on Detroit's landscape is undeniable. Having held progressive leadership positions within the city for nine years, notably from 2018 to 2020, he served as the director of housing and revitalization, where he crafted and executed policies and investment strategies resulting in the preservation of 10,000 affordable housing units, creation of 2,000 new affordable housing units, with a total investment exceeding $1 billion.
Orlando Bailey:Before his tenure with the city of Detroit, rensher served as senior counsel for the Michigan State Housing Development Authority you know it, we call it MSHDA here Further solidifying his expertise in housing and community development. Rensher's leadership and commitment to equitable urban development make him a driving force in shaping the future of Detroit's built environment and ensuring opportunities for all its residents. I got to say I think Donald is only the second philanthropic president and CEO to join us here on Authentically Detroit. I don't think any other foundation CEO has ever sat across from us other than Angelique Power at the Skidman Foundation.
Donna Givens Davidson:I have a question for you.
Donald Rencher:Who wrote that? By the way, did you get that from me?
Orlando Bailey:Yeah, y'all did good, I don't know, okay, that's good, sounds good, right, I was like, okay, were you sitting over there like the preacher? It's all true, it's all true.
Donna Givens Davidson:How many foundation presidents actually live in Detroit. Oh, that's a good question, you know, because when I talk to you you don't just live in Detroit, you embody Detroit, you care about Detroit. I really do, and it feels different.
Donald Rencher:It feels as though that has to impact your philosophy around giving yeah and I don't want to. You know, I'm not not, I actually don't know. I don't think it's many and and I'm not trying to say their passion is any less different than what I have. But you know, truly I'm raising my, my, my son and I have my family in Detroit. I have a long history, as I said before, of my family being in Detroit. I have a long history, as I said before, of my family being in Detroit and I really care about it, and it's something, when you have actual personal connection to some of the issues that are affecting our Detroit residents, that I think carries with me. You know what I mean, so I agree you have the passion, but you also understand Detroit, you know,
Donna Givens Davidson:us and it comes through and a lot of people don't. They are really well-meaning, but a lot of people just don't know us Because, detroiters, you know how we are. We are a little cocky, a little bit proud of ourselves, you know, because we were Detroit.
Orlando Bailey:We love us.
Donna Givens Davidson:We loved our we loved our black city Okay.
Orlando Bailey:Can we acknowledge that we did not?
Donna Givens Davidson:we did not miss the people who chose to leave. It was like bye, now we can live in your neighborhoods. That's why we all looked rich?
Donna Givens Davidson:because we were all living in neighborhoods that people could afford places that ordinarily black people could not afford other places in the nation. So abandonment looked good on us and I think a lot of us are struggling right now because of this feeling that we don't really matter in the same way. And I think that for young people, feeling that sense of I matter in the same way might be attractive, especially in this day and age. What do you think?
Donald Rencher:I think you're right on point. I would suggest that any leader who is in the business of advancing and helping our Detroit residents and our Detroit communities need to spend time in community. If you're not in our space, right. If you're not here, like how are you getting connected really, right? Are you attending our black spaces, our Detroit spaces, in a real authentic way? I think people would look at some of their decisions differently. I feel like for me, I have a sense of urgency about the work. I'm still getting adjusted to the philanthropy pace because I know I don't have all the money in the world, because it's slow, it is slow.
Orlando Bailey:You're not used to that.
Donald Rencher:I'm not used to that yet, but there's a lot of work to be done. There's a lot of people that need to be supported, that do great work that haven't been seen, but I'm committed to it. But a part of that urgency is like I'm in my own neighborhood. You know I used to when I did my work, like my grandmother used to call me after every city council meeting that I was in and she would give me the business right and she's like this is not what Detroiters are feeling. This is how you need to think about it. My uncles and aunts would call me and say, like Donald, you're missing this point of view and you're missing that point of view. So it's really important to get the voice of the people when you're doing this work. It really is.
Orlando Bailey:Let's back up because first time on the show we read a little bit of your bio, but I would like to hear you introduce yourself to the listener.
Donald Rencher:Oh yeah, yeah, Donald Rencher, you know, originally from Battle Creek, michigan, on the west side of Michigan, my mother's side of the family from Grand Rapids, my father's side, the family from Grand Rapids, my father's side everybody's from Detroit. When I went to college, my dream was to always live in the city of Detroit and build buildings. I never grew up with understanding how it's done. My mother was a renter all of her life and so I just for like the basics. I never understood how you do it, but I always wanted to invest and figure out how to develop buildings. That was like my thing.
Donald Rencher:And so when I graduated law school, my first job at MISHTA really helped me get a foundation of how you do this work, and so I've dedicated my life to really affordable housing, really affordable housing. But then you know, once you do affordable housing, you realize that you can build buildings in spaces but like that's not all it needs. There's a plethora of other pieces that you need to bring into neighborhoods if you really, if that's what you really really strive to improve, and I could see myself getting away from just like, how do you build development projects? And so when I was at Michigan, I was doing projects and Cadillac Michigan was the last project that I did at, you know, at Michigan, and I was like I want to go to Detroit because I don't, I don't know where Cadillac is. I want to see the work. It's somewhere up north If you try to go up to to Mackinac, and I wanted to see my work, right.
Donna Givens Davidson:How do you define affordable housing?
Donald Rencher:It's such a controversial term, oh yeah, it's easy for me, it's 30% of your income on housing.
Donna Givens Davidson:But I mean, when we talk about building affordable housing, that's what makes housing affordable at 30%. But when we say we're building affordable housing, I think there is sometimes the expectation that the housing is affordable to people who are low income.
Donald Rencher:Okay, okay, yeah, and I hear you. So I've always had a belief that you need affordable housing across the income spectrum Absolutely, but there's not enough, we'll go ahead.
Donna Givens Davidson:But I mean you know the data will show there's an oversupply of housing that's affordable to rich people and an undersupply of housing that is affordable to people who are low to moderate income. So when you start getting to the lower incomes, that's where people find the housing shortages.
Donald Rencher:Well, I also agree. I would say a couple of things. One, if you're talking about regulated affordable housing, it's not enough to that lower income stream. It's just not enough.
Orlando Bailey:Especially HUD regulations.
Donna Givens Davidson:Well, even naturally occurring, affordable housing is disappearing. Quality affordable housing is just disappearing.
Donald Rencher:I would say quality, affordable housing is disappearing and I was reading, even last week, a report that said one out of four people who can actually meet the criteria to receive a housing choice voucher. That means you're very low income. There's only one out of four people actually get that housing choice voucher. So you're talking about 75% of people who are in poverty, have no housing solution, and if you're talking about the city of Detroit, where I know there's probably a list of 20,000 above people who are on the wait list to get a voucher, the only other way they can get housing is to be in usually poor quality housing units that are not regulated, affordable and it's just acceptable.
Donna Givens Davidson:You know, Outlier just did a story on some folks who purchased or have a management company.
Orlando Bailey:They own housing. Have you seen my story on blockchain technology? Yeah, okay.
Donna Givens Davidson:You can describe the story.
Orlando Bailey:So Realty is a company that was buying up homes and units for cheap and renting them out. They're not based here and they had a local property management company, but the other thing that they were doing was they were tokenizing stakes in the ownership of these homes in digital coin and selling coin to foreign investors.
Donna Givens Davidson:So like somebody in Spain you haven't seen this.
Donald Rencher:I did not see that. Oh man, you got to read it. That sounds insane yeah yeah, outliermediaorg.
Donna Givens Davidson:I'm always plugged.
Orlando Bailey:And nobody in America and nobody in Detroit was even eligible part of their rules to buy some of this digital coin in this ownership Right. And so there are problems with like the dividends and profits being shared amongst some of these owners already, but the quality of these housing units are decrepit, yeah Right, and Realty would like to blame the property management company, but the property management company submitted to us like receipts, like you know, we are not. You know what I mean. And so we've been investigating Realty probably for the better part of the last six months, and you know story after story. The story led to Corporation Council launching the largest nuisance abatement lawsuit that the city has ever put together because of how dilapidated these units are. But what it also speaks to it speaks to a larger problem is that folks are so badly in need of housing that they are willing to stay in homes that don't have running water, in homes with holes in their roofs, without any real recourse or enforcement.
Donna Givens Davidson:Well, two other pieces of that though One of them is the most recent story is that Realty didn't even own some of the homes they were renting out. Right, they were, and so we have people doing that all over the city.
Donna Givens Davidson:But you know what happens is a renter's in a home, the home is not being taken care of and they withhold their rent so that until the person takes care of the home, making a demand and the courts will not enforce a demand that you fix the water, whatever. So people feel helpless. And then if you don't pay your rent, you're kicked out. Even some people who put their money in escrow accounts or sometimes are moved from their homes and the courts accept it.
Donna Givens Davidson:Now, under Duggan's administration, you had the rental ordinance and you had a lot of the landlords had to in the escrow position of the landlords had to In the escrow position, but a lot of the landlords then said okay, we're going to sell this house by way of land contract to you because it's the same home. But it's no longer a rental agreement, it's a land contract agreement or lease to own, neither of which has any regulation in the state.
Orlando Bailey:And so there's always this way to evade it yeah.
Donna Givens Davidson:And you know that we have a planned land contract program, but it's a beneficial land contract program that will protect the purchaser.
Donald Rencher:It could be good if the person who's putting it together has a, but we don't have enough laws and policies.
Orlando Bailey:Professor Eric DeWicke talks about getting his home on a land contract.
Donna Givens Davidson:He figured it out A lot of I mean when Detroit became majority homeowner black city, most people did not have mortgages.
Donald Rencher:Yeah, we weren't banked.
Donna Givens Davidson:We weren't banked, my grandparents didn't have mortgages on their homes, and I found that out years later, just like a couple years ago, when somebody showed me the deed to a house and I said wait a minute. How did this happen like this? So we know, land contracts have always been part of our thing, but right now they're being used with a specific purpose of exploitation. I agree, and none of this happens. Affordability doesn't happen. Quality, affordable housing doesn't happen for low-income people without government intervention. Right, what kind of laws and policies do we need?
Donald Rencher:So I could tell you before I left the city of Detroit the one thing that I think is going to be transformational is that we push the payment in lieu of taxes ordinance. It's a part of the fast track affordable housing ordinance that just was passed last year right before the end of 2024. And essentially, if you look at any regulated affordable housing where you get money to actually develop affordable housing, you also receive a pilot, which is a payment in lieu of taxes, which takes your property off the tax rolls and charges you a small fee, a service fee, and it's really a way to make projects more financially affordable to get done. And so now the city of Detroit has the ability to provide that same pilot rate to any developer who's providing affordable housing at certain income levels. 30% AMI right now is saying you're not going to actually have to pay any taxes at all, but to get it you also have to spend at least $10,000 per unit for your projects.
Donald Rencher:And so, from what I've understanding, that they just opened up a couple of months ago and they've received over 250 applications, and I think policy-wise because it's either you're giving us a bunch of money but you also have to think policy-wise how can I increase the amount of affordable housing, quality affordable housing in the city, and so I think this is going to be a substantial change that you'll see in the city of Detroit in increasing affordable housing. But I think philanthropic organizations have stepped up before in the past. I'm hoping that they continue to step up. We raised $65 million to Detroit Housing for the Future Fund for affordable housing as well, and because federally, I don't think we're going to get a bucket of cash from the federal government anytime soon, and so like I don't think we're going to get a bucket of cash from the federal government anytime soon, and so, like, what are we going to be doing as a philanthropic sector to address this issue?
Donna Givens Davidson:Well, even as you talk about federally, what do you think the impact of the big bloated bill? Will be on housing.
Donald Rencher:Huge. They already put a two-year limit on people who have vouchers. When I told you before, out of everybody who can actually meet the criteria to receive a housing Section 8 voucher, only one-fourth of the people who meet that criteria receive it. So now they're saying whoever receives it, you got two years on the clock and you can't be it on anymore. But the issue because they believe it should be temporary, but the real issue is that people are going to be in poverty for a long period of time because we live in a society where we have people who don and we need to be addressing and helping them, whether it's Medicare and Medicaid, food benefits, like all of these sources of funds are being substantially impacted and it's going to have a real effect in the city of Detroit.
Orlando Bailey:You know what's occurring to me. Listening to you talk, I could tell that you love talking about this stuff, that that you live and breathe it, and you have gone from being, you know, a practitioner in this space for all your career and switching over to the philanthropic space. What was the impetus for that man? Why the switch? And how are you? How are you? How are you coping?
Donald Rencher:yeah, well, you know it's uh, you know what I uh, I so I loved working for the city and doing the work there. It was sometimes it. It was it was tough and um, uh, but uh, I had, I had always wanted to try to really find my own voice and and take the direction of where I believe that I believe that we should be doing. But at the same time, you know that you know, a foundation has a deep history that you respect and you know, and you're talking about new concepts and new things that we can get involved in. That that part takes time and so, especially at your foundation, at my foundation, it takes time, but I'm open for the challenge. But I think that was one of the biggest right it's time to take a different, a different avenue. So I could, you know, push the some of the work that I can, you know that I would like, really would like, to focus on.
Donna Givens Davidson:Because you worked for the public sector for the first part of your career 100%. And now you are in the private sector, philanthropic sector, and it's different because some of those same things are there. But what are the differences the positive differences about working for the Hudson Weber Foundation?
Donald Rencher:So I think, first of all, I think the board I have a board that's a brilliant group of folks that are definitely passionate about the city and I like to believe that the team that I work with are all passionate about the work too, and we don't just consider ourselves as like we're giving you a grant and you're done, and go back Like we're here to help, like call whoever we need to help, you know, get your, your projects and your initiatives pushed forward, and we actively want to engage with our grantees in a way, and so I think that's that's a fantastic way to do it. And I think you know Hudson Weber has had a name before I came here, and so I think people you know open the door when, when we come knocking right right and we can have a conversation, and so just their history in the city of Detroit I think helps us move agendas and strategy.
Donna Givens Davidson:Now, unlike a lot of foundation presidents, you are a member of the trustee board of Hudson-Weber Foundation.
Donald Rencher:I am not no longer oh okay. Yeah, so I don't vote.
Donna Givens Davidson:Okay.
Donald Rencher:I think that was. It was an old rule back in the day when there wasn't, you know, there wasn't like a difference between the family that was running the organization and like getting a president and CEO, but it was interesting when we were talking about it. I don't vote on any of the grants, and so that's the only thing that a trustee really distinguishes between a trustee and a regular everyday you know staffer, and so we just said we'll get another trustee to fill that spot.
Orlando Bailey:There are a few things that Hudson-Weber is known for. We know that you all are supporting. You know, comprehensive election coverage, but you guys are also have been outspoken about public safety and what it means and what it could look like, and I think that's a palpable and salient topic right now as Detroit, Detroit summer, and we've seen curfews instituted for young people and you know a task force really busting up illegal block parties. I'm interested from the foundation's point of view what does a safe Detroit look like beyond punitive measures, beyond, you know, the over-policing or additional policing of our citizens?
Donald Rencher:I think that's a great question. Right now to Orlando, because I can tell you that you know, I never felt comfortable around police until I started working for the city of Detroit, until I was like working next to DPD, like until then I was like you know, I'll pull up into a light and I see a police car. I get nervous. You know, I'll pull up until light and I see a police car I get nervous, you know so what changed. Like I think, actually working familiarity and knowing the folks.
Donna Givens Davidson:I know some police officers, but I still get a little stressed out. So it had to be more than just knowing.
Donald Rencher:I think that was like we actually did a lot of work together and there was just like you see, that people have a passion in the city of Detroit some of our police officers and just knowing them I just got more comfortable. I could tell you before that I never was. And so just when we talk about safety, I think from some people's eyes and perspectives they're like more police, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's how I feel safe as a Detroit resident and so really thinking through how we support community, not only as a preventive through like shot stoppers or CVI, community violence intervention but you're really doing preliminary work in the community that really knows their community better than any police officer would, and so knowing that, I mean community policing is cool, but like knowing that we have a community-based intervention and strategy, I think is very important, and it's definitely not always calling the police right Right now.
Donald Rencher:What I think is very important, and it's definitely not always calling the police right Right now what I think a fascinating conversation that we're actually having right now is the over-policing in some of our immigrant neighborhoods. I think, about right, it's giving me the same over-policing vibes you know what I'm saying, or even the police escorting ICE.
Donna Givens Davidson:ICE that's what I'm saying and violating our you know, the ordinances that say that our police should not be engaged Right.
Donald Rencher:And I think about how that impacts our immigrant community.
Orlando Bailey:It's when you don't feel comfortable and our psyche, our overall psyche, you don't feel comfortable walking down the street.
Donna Givens Davidson:What I think about is trauma.
Donna Givens Davidson:I think there's so much trauma in our community from all different sources and we don't have a good mechanism for dealing with. You know mass levels of trauma, but when you have mass incarceration you have children put into foster care homes and taken out of home. That's traumatic and it's not the kind of trauma that goes away because you got a good education. It's sometimes for a lifetime. You're dealing with that and then you know there's so much research around. You know the impact of lead, the impact of toxic stress syndrome when people are pregnant, but we always look at public safety as something that police will resolve and not therapists not. You know programs that just help people to cope. When you guys invest in public safety, what does that look like? Do you look beyond the typical?
Donald Rencher:So I would say three. So definitely, cvi is a big thing. So we're, you know, we're a supporter of uh force detroit, who has done a fantastic job with their work. Um, we recently, uh did a the co-responsal talking about what your the behavior health aspect of things, and so we don't see, um, you know, police actually being put in the position to address an issue that they're not actually, you know, trained for Right and and so that's. You know, the chief white who used to be the chief police, is now over, yeah, d-win, and so we're doing that. But, you know, my predecessor, malenka Clark, was really, really focused on criminal justice for us. So she started the Michigan Justice Fund. At its base, at its core, equity is the biggest piece, and knowing that the communities that are highly being impacted by over-policing or the criminal justice system are black and brown folks, or the criminal justice system are black and brown folks, and so that's a particular initiative that we're really, really proud of and focused on and want to continue their work to grow Wonderful, wonderful.
Donna Givens Davidson:Now, what about small businesses? I'm sorry.
Donald Rencher:Oh, okay, small business. You know what we talk about access to capital. I come from being at the city. I have this real desire to focus on ecosystem change.
Orlando Bailey:That makes sense from your vantage point, what you got to see, I mean, even on the housing side, donna.
Donald Rencher:It was like in Orlando. It's like you can give me all the money in the world. I used to say this to council members about like home repair you give me all the money in the world to do home repair, but like I don't have enough contractors, the process to take contracts through city council to get approved is long, and so when you think about small business and getting access to capital and all and all these other pieces, other resources to to start, you know having POS systems and um and all those things are good and there's a lot of organizations MBBA is the one I'm a part of and I think they do fantastic work. I still think about how many steps it takes to start a business in the city of Detroit Too many.
Donald Rencher:Just too many. Well, that's what I think about. It's almost like you can put all the money into like capital and like other resources, but like if still takes me a hundred steps to go through the city process to open up my restaurant you know I saw jay rayford on saturday and jay rayford got a motorcyclic grant for um social sushi okay, okay and he went through the whole process of getting the building together and how long it take on grand River he did not.
Donna Givens Davidson:It didn't happen, and so he just now is, nine years later, talking about starting his own restaurant. I think it's about to open now, but it's it that the process yeah um Amina Daniel started Live Cycle Delight all right in West Village okay and it came and went with the pandemic. We have so many businesses starting up and they aren't maintained Right. So what do you do about that?
Donald Rencher:So I think the first thing I could tell you is know that you're not an expert in that space Like I know that I'm not an expert in small business but I know that it's vitally important, especially if you're starting to dig into neighborhood investment strategies, because we have to have those core businesses for people to walk to and have those amenities in our neighborhoods for people to walk to, and we also want to see opportunity. Our small businesses employ a lot of Detroiters and if you're talking about black detroiters, it's even more significant. And so having who people who are experts in the room like a charity, um, and to really give money to, to put the battery in her back, to help our small businesses, I think that's that. That's first step one. Um, uh, for me, um, I'm like I'm really going to be focused on the ecosystem change and building. Like, how do we get people to start their businesses? How did we get people to get connected to the city easier? Marlo Rencher is my cousin. She was actually doing the. Yeah, you know her.
Donna Givens Davidson:Yes, absolutely.
Donald Rencher:Every Wrencher in the city of Detroit or you see in metro Detroit is related to me.
Orlando Bailey:And I've been trying not to ask you know.
Donald Rencher:Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's so funny, but she was doing Detroit Means Business and all of it was about how to get connected internally to the city systems that, like, sometimes impede their ability to grow right and so really helping in those spaces. But I think it's critical for any neighborhood investment strategy and how you're going to. You know, work with our small businesses and so, but I you know this is not the thing where I'm like kicking over the door and say this is what we're going to do for small business in the city. I think it's really important to listen to our small business resource providers and understand they help you paint that picture. Nei serves that purpose too. They provide funding to business resource organizations around the city and so they're important to support, so we've provided them a grant.
Donald Rencher:But that's how I see it. I mean it's almost a lifeblood. I don't know the percentage, but I would bet more than half of jobs in the city of Detroit are small business.
Donna Givens Davidson:Just imagine, if we used our economic development dollars to help small businesses in the way that we do some of the larger billionaire-owned businesses, what we'd be doing. I agree another person who I think is a bright light in that space is kai bowman kai bowman, I know him pretty well.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah, yeah, I know him pretty well. Yeah, we love kai. Yeah, and and the last, the last uh tranche that we want to talk about really quickly yeah, um is hudson Webber's support in comprehensive election coverage.
Donald Rencher:What does?
Orlando Bailey:that look like.
Donald Rencher:Well, I mean, this is where you know I knew we were getting and, honestly, it's a muscle that we're going to have to continue to work on because there's a governor election coming up too. I think for me, knowing how much the city of Detroit is like, the advancement of the city of Detroit is so connected to its government that it was like so many people were like I even saw in the philanthropic space were so focused on the national election and I was like listen, I hear you, I hear you, I hear you. And if a certain person is in the power, I hear you. It's going to be problematic, but we have our own election that we're not really being focused on.
Donald Rencher:City council dictates and has the ability to choose on millions of dollars and policies and regulations, and I just felt like it needed to be covered in a way and Stephen Henderson is on my board, but you know I remember talking to him about just the amount of funding that's available for the journalists and news media just to cover, and I was like what I'm afraid that it's going to be is like the quick responses and not, like you know, discussions to really listen to what the folks who are running for these positions are going to bring to our city and I just thought it was really important. I think it's important to meet the community where they are and then get the opportunity to ask their questions, and to me it was really important. Hudson Weber hadn't really done something like this and I thought it was an important time.
Donna Givens Davidson:I could not agree more. I think that I can't focus on federal elections because I feel powerless there.
Orlando Bailey:Yeah Right, federal elections, because I feel powerless there. Yeah.
Donna Givens Davidson:Right, yeah, and so you know. Those are important, I think, focusing and changing what you can and influencing what you can in the way that you can. Our people in Detroit have lived through federal governments who have not loved us.
Donald Rencher:Right.
Donna Givens Davidson:But when we love ourselves and we have people who are protecting us. That's when that's what really matters, Right. So, I appreciate it. So what kinds of funding do you support? Do you provide for this? Is it to independent news organizations?
Donald Rencher:Yes, it was, so we provided. So Bridge Detroit was the first ones that came to us to talk about the idea. But they're really connected, I think, overall to the, I would say, the journalism ecosystem. And this is where I'm looking at Orlando, cause I'm, you know, maybe it's a different thing that I have to learn Cause you also mentioned, you know, mentioned outlier, who I could tell you when I was at the city, we're like the best interviewers. I was like man, how'd y'all know this? I know. I was like how did y'all? Uh, oh, man.
Donald Rencher:I don't know if I want to talk to y'all still, we're not your enemy. No, never, never. It was never that. It was never that.
Donna Givens Davidson:Would you have come on Authentically of Detroit while you were working for the city?
Donald Rencher:100%. I don't. I believe in keeping it 100%, 100%, all the time.
Orlando Bailey:I mean, you're friends with Kai Bowman, so we already know what that is. That's my guy. We already know that's my guy. Listen, we want to tell you Go ahead, finish your point.
Donald Rencher:But no, I just thought it was important that we provide coverage in the city of Detroit in a real way and in a thoughtful way and that was like the original conversation and to see what we could do and I still think there's opportunity to even support even more, especially as we get through the primary.
Orlando Bailey:All right, donald Rencher, thank you for coming on. Authentically Detroit man. We really, really enjoyed having you Listen. If you have topics that you want to discuss on Authentically Detroit, you can hit us up on our socials at Authentically Detroit on Facebook, instagram and X, or you can email us at Authentically Detroit on Facebook, instagram and X, or you can email us at AuthenticallyDetroit at gmailcom. All right, it's time for shout outs. Donna, you got any shout outs?
Donna Givens Davidson:I do. I want to shout out Janine Hatcher at Genesis Hope.
Orlando Bailey:Let's go.
Donna Givens Davidson:And Janine has been so steadfast in her work to develop housing and a strong advocate, and a strong advocate, a person who imagines the unimaginable. So she had a ribbon cutting last week that I was not able to attend but shouting out Janine for making it happen.
Donald Rencher:All right, don do you have any shout-outs, man, I actually want to shout out y'all. I got to tell you when some of the new board members came in last year especially the ones that were family from out of town they were like, how do I keep in touch and understanding what's happening in the city of Detroit? And your podcast was the first one that. I sent. So I was like if you just want to hear what people are talking about instead of like cranes and listening, to this yeah.
Donald Rencher:Or hear another perspective that you should hear. I just I appreciate the invite. Uh, love to come back anytime you want and um and uh, thank you all for putting this platform together.
Orlando Bailey:No, thank you for coming on I'd like to shout out uh, the whole squad at outlier media, uh, you guys continue to outdo yourself. The realty. Investigation has been nothing short of amazing, but this mayor's quiz got people in a tizzy Like it is.
Donald Rencher:Like. You pick up the things that you want and then you find out who you like.
Orlando Bailey:So there's a questionnaire that all of the mayoral candidates took it's fine.
Orlando Bailey:And then we asked people to take the questionnaire and we matched them with you know the answers. We matched their answers to the candidate who most likely matched with them, and so it's. You know, it's a fun tool. I think, if it is anything, it's an impetus for you to do more research on the candidate that you thought about, or the candidate that you didn't know you know was most in alignment with how you answered the questions. I don't think it is a revelatory tool at all.
Orlando Bailey:But it's a cool tool and everybody's enjoying using it, and so if we can get more folks in it, keep on doing it y'all. So with that, we thank y'all so much for listening. It was good talking. Love on your neighbor. Bye.
