Time Management Key on Council
With the growing demands of what the electorate needs, Spivey said time management is very crucial for him to deliver on his electoral promises.
“As we are getting adjusted, the Dave Bing administration is getting adjusted as well. The amount of time it takes for a business to get a permit, that has to stop, the amount of time it takes to get a house torn down, police response time, that has to stop.”
He is confident the council has a handle on things because “the tone is different” and staff members are getting more prepared before legislative sessions to brief members on the issues to be tabled.
Spivey is currently heading the Detroit Census Task Force that is helping to mount the campaign to reach residents in the April 2010 Census. He calls such an assignment a big-ticket item that should have all hands on deck.
“I would have thought that late 2009 we would have been moving forward, letting people know, especially if we are in an area that’s very important and that people may not get out and hear the message,” Spivey said. “We are trying to send the message out that our congressional seats are at stake, billions of dollars for infrastructure, Head Start, senior programs are at stake here.”
He said he and council member James Tate, co-chair of the Detroit Census Task Force are urging community groups as well as taping public service announcements for the census.
The 2010 Gubernatorial Election
Detroit, as always, will be a hotbed for any of the candidates seeking to be governor this year. Though the city votes 90 percent Democrat, it is still in play for Republican candidates who want African- American voters not to see them through the diatribes of the Rush Limbaughs and Glen Becks of the world.
“I would hope that we as a nine-member council would set of agenda for whatever candidate we decide individually or collectively to support,” Spivey said. “If history repeats itself, we probably would not all support the same gubernatorial candidates. But I think we ought to have the same agenda we present to each candidate. Whoever is elected governor or secretary of state is very important to Detroit and to the Detroit Public Schools.”
In balancing faith and politics, Spivey, said his young family is key. He wants to attract other young families to enjoy what the city offers despite tough times, just as he and his wife, Shema, and their two young children Andre II and Kendall, are.
Watch senior editor Bankole Thompson’s show, “Center Stage,” on WADL TV 38, Saturdays at 1 p.m. This Saturday’s program, March 6, is the first debate between the two Democratic contenders for Michigan Secretary of State, Janice Winfrey, Detroit City Clerk, and Jocelyn Benson, Wayne State University law professor. E-mail bthompson@michronicle.com.
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