In TV debate, Detroit mayoral candidates tackle housing
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The candidates during Monday night's debate. Photo: Courtesy of WDIV-Local 4
Affordable housing access is among Detroit's most pressing issues, and mayoral candidates tackled how they'd improve it during a debate televised on Local 4 Monday night.
Why it matters: The city needs tens of thousands more affordable units to ease its housing crisis, the Detroit Justice Center found in a 2023 report. But construction costs are rising and subsidies only go so far.
The candidates in the debate were chosen based on local polling. During a wide-ranging event that also touched on public safety and seniors' needs, the candidates' answers on affordable housing were:
Former police chief James Craig said Detroit is in a housing "crisis," and the units in the pipeline are "not even making a dent."
- He wants to grow the city's middle class with homeownership, use a sweeping set of statistics to track affordable housing progress and provide developers incentives.
City Council President Mary Sheffield touted the city's $1 billion invested in affordable housing over five years. But to keep that momentum going, she'd prioritize tax abatements to offset the high costs of building housing in Detroit and work with faith-based institutions doing development.
- The city must also address the "real issue," its extremely high property taxes, she said.
The Rev. Solomon Kinloch Jr. said this issue is why he got into the race.
- What's been done to improve housing access isn't enough, he said, "when the average person is not making $800 a week." People need pathways to build wealth, including through down payment assistance.
Former nonprofit CEO Saunteel Jenkins echoed Kinloch that not enough has been done to address housing insecurity. Both pointed to the two children who died while sleeping in a van in a casino parking garage.
- Jenkins says she'd use bond funding to lower the cost of building affordable housing, offer more down payment assistance and assure there's more options for seniors.
Go deeper: Watch the full debate