GETTING TO KNOW THE CANDIDATES

There is still time to learn about the candidates that will be on the November 2nd General Election ballot. The election is less than three week's away.

This week's candidates featured in the 'Getting to know your Candidates' are Amanda Jaczkowski City: Hamtramck; Mary Waters City: Detroit and Lynn Blasey City: Hamtramck

Name: Amanda Jaczkowski

City: Hamtramck

Candidate Title/Position: Hamtramck City Council

1.What are your personal goals once elected? My goal is to represent all the citizens of Hamtramck by working towards making Hamtramck a safe and prosperous place to live/work and to build bridges between the various communities that reside here.

2.Infrastructure is the basic physical and organizational structure and facilities needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, how will you build infrastructure in poverty-ridden communities? City council can assist the city manager and various commissions in identifying grants to help rebuild our infrastructure. Some fantastic examples over the past few years include Detroit City Football Club's partnership with Hamtramck Public Schools to renovate Keyworth Stadium, the funding coming into town with the Joe Louis Greenway, and the grant awarded to the Hamtramck Arts & Culture Commission to install new bicycle racks on Jos. Campau. These improvements may seem small to some, but they bring a vibrancy to the city that will continue to increase our population, strengthen businesses, and overall provide additional revenue streams.

3. How could those funds, heavy in the Police Department, be better used throughout the city? Public safety is a top priority for Hamtramck residents and utilizing public safety funding in a practical manner is important to keep insurance rates down, safety up, and provide consistent, respectful services to the entire population. Like all departments within the city, the council will need to evaluate the best value for our dollar. Training for our officers in de-escalation, cultural sensitivity, and appropriate responses for mental health emergencies is incredibly important. As we move forward, I would strongly encourage funding to be considered for hiring social workers to coordinate with the police department on calls regarding domestic violence, mental illness, and other matters that could be more readily handled by a different set of professional skills and training than most police officers are required to have.

4. How can we deter crime? Hamtramck already has many laws and ordinances on the books, but much of it is either unenforced, unenforceable, or not understood by our residents due to a lack of clear messaging. If we began to look at the Broken Windows Theory, starting with basics of keeping the streets cleaner, yards maintained, sidewalks shoveled in winter, trash picked up every week from every alley, these concepts can help push Hamtramck to be recognized as an orderly, conscientious city without compromising our passion for diversity - and sometimes quirkiness - that makes our city unique.

5. What value do you see in food banks and homeless shelters? As someone who has spent many years working in addressing food insecurity and housing, I see vast benefit in having these resources readily available. Food banks and homeless shelters are very important as people are trying their best to survive and get back on their feet. People deserve basic necessities such as food and shelter, and they deserve to receive the aid with dignity.

6. Where can improvements be made in education programs? Hamtramck Public Schools are a separate entity from the city council. The council does not directly influence the school board, although there is room for coordination in messaging and programming. In terms of community education, programs to educate drivers and cyclists on bicycle safety are one of my personal goals - where a personal passion coincides with the incoming Joe Louis Greenway, which will likely increase the number of cyclists frequenting our city.

7. How can citizens play a role in the community? First and foremost, those who can vote should do so in every election, and research available, accurate information on current candidates and ballot proposals. In Census years, responding to the Census is critical in bringing much needed funds into our community. On an ongoing basis, one of my major goals is to push to transcend transactional politics - meaning that we should, as a community, stress the importance of being involved in the political process 365 days a year, every year. This can mean keeping up with what is happening in city council meetings, emailing the elected and administrative officials to generate documentation of concerns and ideas, or even joining one of the various commissions and boards that the city has. There are so many ways to get involved, and I aim to facilitate and grow citizen involvement.

Name: Mary Waters

City: Detroit

Candidate Title/Position:

City Council at Large

1.What are your personal goals once elected?

My priority is serving Detroiters, making sure that we support all our residents and make our community stronger. Detroiters are facing many issues, and I am running to be the people's voice by:

• Fighting to strengthen our neighborhoods by bringing American Rescue Plan dollars to homeowners and restructuring the home repair loan program into a grant-based program

• Reallocating Community Development Block Grant funding directly to community-based organizations and block clubs, putting the people's money into the people's hands

• Reforming our police department to ban the use of racist technologies like facial recognition and military-grade equipment, moving those dollars into hiring & paying a fair wage to Detroiters to join the department

• Improving collaboration between the Detroit Health Department and the Detroit Wayne Mental Health Authority to bring more mental health services to Detroiters

• Championing environmental justice, holding polluters accountable, and strengthening city ordinances to protect our air, land, and water

2.Infrastructure is the basic physical and organizational structure and facilities needed for the operation of a society or enterprise; how will you build infrastructure in poverty-ridden communities?

I believe that, to revive our community, we must invest in our infrastructure and our people. I was proud to stand with members throughout the community to propose the Majority Budget, which reflects the priorities of Detroiters. Of the $800 million, approximately $400 million should be used to replace municipal tax revenues lost due to the pandemic shutdowns. I will:

• $175 million to restore neighborhoods & build wealth

o $75 million in home repair & weatherization grant funding

o $50 million for foreclosure assistance and prevention

o $50 million to end homelessness (with matching VA funds for homeless veterans)

• $75 million for Detroit Health Department to roll out new homecare services for seniors and mental health programs throughout the city

• $50 million for improving Detroit Fire Department and EMS services

• $50 million in water and sewage infrastructure improvements to reduce Detroiters' water bills

• $26 million for utility assistance

• $10 million in bringing affordable high-speed Internet throughout the community

• $2 million for each Council District, allocated to community organizations working in that district ($14 million total)

3.How could those funds, heavy in the Police Department, be better used throughout the city?

I support reallocating funding that would have otherwise been used by the Detroit Police Department to purchase military-grade equipment or racially- biased technologies and putting those dollars into social programs to help the community. The problem with over-policing is not with the budget, but with the Department's over-reliance on racist technologies like facial recognition. We also need to see strong reform in the department's vice unit so we can get beyond the legacy of corruption that has plagued the unit for decades. I support moving the department back towards neighborhood policing, reopening community microstations and increasing the connections between officers and the communities they patrol. This will help reduce rising crime in our community and improve working conditions for officers

.

4. How can we deter crime?

Building a safe community involves not only strong public safety services, but also supporting the growth and development of residents. I have fought for Detroiters for decades, from the Charter Commission to the halls of the State Legislature, helping to bring in new employment opportunities, support local businesses, and help bring our neighborhoods back.

5. What value do you see in food banks and homeless shelters?

I see lots of value in providing help to those in need, something I have worked to champion throughout my life

6. Where can improvements be made in education programs?

The public schools fall under the school board for oversight, but I stand with the school board in supporting their efforts to improve educational access and outcomes for residents.

7. How can citizens play a role in the community?

I've been honored to work alongside many members of the community who have taken an active role in improving Detroit. Some ways involve running for office, serving on commissions, volunteering with city programs, forming and engaging with their local block clubs, patronizing local businesses, or even taking that extra little effort to clean up and maintain their properties. It all makes a difference and helps our community.

Name: Lynn Blasey

City: Hamtramck

Candidate Title/Position:

Hamtramck City Council

1. What are your personal goals once elected?

As a city council member, I intend to work together with my colleagues to improve communication between the city and residents, identify and address inconsistencies in our budget revenue and expenses, set up systems for accountability on approved projects and grants, and ensure that the projects we pursue align with the city's master plan.

2. Infrastructure is the basic physical and organizational structure and facilities needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, how will you build infrastructure in poverty-ridden communities?

I will continue to work on community building to address small scale infrastructure challenges like the planter boxes along Joseph Campau, encourage partnerships similar to what I'm doing through the Arts & Culture Commission with the DDA & Hamtramck Community Economic Development Dept to fulfill the grant we were awarded to add bicycle racks in preparation for the Joe Louis Greenway, and pursue other grant and funding sources to support more infrastructure projects as they become available. I will also work on council to recruit qualified, enthusiastic individuals to serve on our boards and commissions (who are often the ones doing the work to fulfill the requirements of the grants we're awarded.)

3. How could those funds, heavy in the Police Department, be better used throughout the city?

I support the addition of mental health specialists and social workers to compliment/support traditional police work. I also support the creation of a citizen led police oversight commission modeled after our other boards and commissions whose role would be to build relationships with the police dept, monitor their performance, and increase transparency but communicating regularly and clearly with the public.

4. How can we deter crime?

Our city's master plan outlines several strategies for crime prevention including a section that addresses the establishment of safer streets, identifying community service providers that the city partners with including a youth violence prevention program, addressing code enforcement, mapping and tracking actual crimes, and more.

5. What value do you see in food banks and homeless shelters?

Food banks and homeless shelters provide essential services to the economically disadvantaged. Hamtramck is rich with social service organizations that exist to support our residents through hard times and help them navigate towards financial stability. ACCESSS, Muslim Family Services (ICNA), the Piast Institute, Arab American and Chaldean Council, Detroit Friendship House, HCI, HUSS, and others are all great community resources that are already working to help families and individuals.

6. Where can improvements be made in education programs?

Education across the country has been hit hard from covid. This is a great opportunity to re-evaluate the ways we attract, recruit, retain, and support our educators. I come from a family of teachers and education administrators and my day job consists of administrative work to supplement the education of Detroit area kids with free after school art enrichment activities that help students gain skills that the public schools are unable to provide. Encouraging partnerships with organizations that help supplement in-class learning is something I'm uniquely equipped to provide as that is what I do every day.

7. How can citizens play a role in the community?

There are many opportunities for interested citizens to participate in public life. Hamtramck has formal opportunities including officially appointed positions with our boards and commissions and less formal opportunities as advisors or volunteers to our boards and commissions. We're also a very community-based city and have volunteer groups that organize neighborhood cleanups, tree plantings, flower plantings (as I'm doing with the planter boxes along Joseph Campau), etc. Residents are also invited to be active on our many social media groups and tune into city council and other public meetings.

To be included in the GET TO KNOW YOUR CANDIDATES, send an email to Kellee Jordan at [email protected].