Detroit, Michigan Oct 16, 2021 (Issuewire.com) - The Rationale behind why Herb Strather selected Mike Duggan to be mayor of Detroit in the beginning. Strather said, "He was the right person for the time in 2013, everyone knew the city needed good municipal management, and Mike Duggan was the ideal candidate amongst the selection of candidates available at the time; he got the DMC Hospital system back on track financially."

Therefore, Strather reached out in hopes of influencing him (Duggan) into running for Mayor... He agreed! So, Strather gave him a campaign office in the Tower Center on Grand River and Greenfield and donated the maximum legal contribution to his campaign.

Strather also lobbied at several prominent churches on his behalf and made a strong case as to why Detroiters needed to elect "Mike for Mayor."

Make no mistake, this cost him (Strather) a few friends and even more colleagues, and he did not apologize for fighting hard for Mike's mayorship. "It was the right thing to do at the time," Strather said.

The city is now bustling with new construction in targeted communities and lots of new Gen-X, Millennials, and Z-Gen adults are flourishing in the city. However, the impact on African American Detroiters is far more devastating, with more than $320,000,000 in equity lost from illegal property tax foreclosures during the last 8 years and NO plans by Duggan to restore the losses. Times have changed dramatically; fiscal matters are more under control, but not for African American families native to Detroit! In general, Black people in Detroit face a deplorable state of epic proportions. Detroit's population (based on Wikipedia's calculations) is approximately 82.7% African American, making it the largest concentration of Black people in North America. Yet they own less than 10% of the gross business economy in the city. Other nationalities are thriving because of Black consumerism.

The primary businesses owned by black people in Detroit are hair salons, soul food restaurants, and manual car washes. Yet we hold less than 1% of gas stations, grocery stores, liquor stores, and 10% of Dispensaries. Furthermore, Black people do not realize the disproportionate economic impact happening in front of their very own eyes. Detroiters must retire Mike Duggan.

Mayoral candidate Anthony Adams believes that voters should restore ownership to Detroiters that have lost homes under these circumstances.

Adams would start by allocating some of the American Rescue Funds to restore illegally lost ownership. He believes in a preference on all Detroit Landbank Homes to those impacted the most. Adams believes citizens can easily develop the adjacent areas where African Americans and other disadvantaged citizens live. The mission, Block by Block (contiguous) without scattered sites that will not amount to wide-scale or distinguishable redevelopment.

Anthony Adams believes redevelopment efforts should be linked together and not intentionally focused on new groups at the expense of native Detroiters who have lived here for decades, paid their taxes, and labored the fact that Duggan's administration knowingly & illegally foreclosed on tens of thousands of lower-income African American homeowners for non-payment of property taxes, which they were legally not required to pay. It's unbelievable that Duggan knew it, and based on our analysis... done nothing about it!

About 16,000 of these homes were acquired at the Wayne County Tax Auctions by "outside investors" and others from around the world, making a huge $300 Million dollar profit to Wayne County & the city of Detroit. On July 27, 2021, the Detroit News reported that the Michigan Supreme Court in Rafaeli vs. Oakland County (A neighboring Detroit Metropolitan area county) ruled that local governments cannot keep profits from tax foreclosures and must return the excess proceeds to the former homeowners. This case is making its way through the Court of Appeals to determine if compensation should be retroactive. The administration has received more than $800 Million from the federal government. The question is... "How much will go toward restoring lost equity owed to those that have suffered under this Administration as opposed to funding the paving of bike lanes for residents in Duggan's targeted communities?"

Points of interest:

1.) Duggan gives preferential treatment to people he identifies with most. For example, homeowners/ developers in the  Russell Woods area between Dexter and Broad Street receive funding, while streets between Dexter and Linwood did not receive funding.

2.) General Motors' recent $50M grant for zip code area 48206. Grandmont - Rosedale was another targeted area, but Funding stopped in the center of the community at the Asbury Park area instead of continuing to the Grand River area. The same unfairness occurs in the zip code area of 48221, the funding stops at Bagley and does not extend west of Wyoming.

3.) Anthony Adams would not allow any person or entity to receive more than 10% of a public funding pot period!

In summary, what Detroiters need in times like these is a fundamental shift in municipal management, and quantifiable answerability. Detroiters need someone who is a part of their communities' landscape, that will tell it like it is and honestly talk to them about their shortcomings while providing tools, resources, and equal opportunity for the correction! Community advocates have an obligation to "Level the Playing Field!"

As a native Detroiter and community advocate, Strather cannot help but wonder how many more big pocket money-grubbing, property stealing corporations, would be able to sneak under the political wire of greed... if Anthony Adams (a born and raised Detroiter) was the mayor?

Is Strather a fool to commandeer this narrative or story? He knows that Duggan is a well-funded, vengeful, political strategist aligning himself with local pastors, distributing funds to their projects or naming streets after them, and taking photo ops surrounded by misinformed African Americans. Some of Strather's well-intended colleagues think he is foolish to write such a story exposing Duggan's mismanaged tactics. He (Duggan) has control over millions of dollars that can certainly help complete high-profile projects that have been sitting far too long on Detroit's busiest streets. However, as a community and Youth Advocate, (having built 150 Optimist Clubs, whose primary focus is to aid and encourage the development of youth, in the belief that the giving of one's self in service to others will advance the well-being of humankind, community life, and the world.), Strather feels that he cannot look at Duggan's political glitter & shine, and say nothing about 1/3 of a billion dollars in losses suffered by fellow Detroit citizens.

Strather is compelled to fight the Good Fight for his community and little kids that are growing up trying to see a glimmer of a future out of poverty like he was seeking. Strather tells anyone that will listen "I'm Herb from Herbert Street in Detroit, and Herbert Street wasn't in the most glamorous part of Detroit; my mother worked hard to keep clothes on me and my sisters back, and I remember thinking to myself... one of these days I'm gonna leave this neighborhood and buy my mother a decent home to live in... I did that, and more." If you ask most young black boys what do they want to do in life... what would make you very happy, most would say to buy their mother & family home, and take care of their family. Strather himself is not concerned about political backlash. Strather expressed, "I am a child of God, and he did not create me to be foolish or fearful of any man... Let me admit that I am not the only person that feels like it's Time for a Change... a changing of the Guard is an absolute necessity."

Interestingly, as a reference to Duggan's beginnings, there were four African Americans on Duggan's Executive Committee in 2013; a brilliant young Harvard Graduate as campaign manager, a well-known pastor with a church on Woodward, a prominent contractor on E. Jefferson, and Strather, a real estate developer & Coach.

Out of the four former supporters, Duggan might get one approving vote... MAYBE! Simply put, they knew too much and will NOT knowingly contribute to the demise of their own community based on what they know NOW!

Don't forget... Detroiter's have the Power! This election is about whether Detroiters have the willpower and commitment to take back their city, regain respect, and level the playing field while ensuring that African Americans who lost their homes are restored and that communities are simultaneously redeveloped. Preferential treatment and nepotism should not allow anyone to take the majority of the pot of public funding and entitlements. Detroiters owe this to the next generations just as our parents demonstrated for us.

Yes, Duggan has a boatload of campaign funds from all the major companies in & outside of Detroit, but they cannot vote... only Detroiters can! In the words of our beloved civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." Support and vote for Anthony Adams.

Voice your opinion and Contribute to: anthonyadamsformayor.com now.

Still Unconvinced? Then type in these two reference links and read their story.

https://www.propublica.org/article/how-a-tax-break-to-help-the-poor-went-to-nba-owner-dan-gilbert

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/07/27/judge-limits-compensation-foreclosed-oakland-co-property-owners/5394238001/

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