Charles Pugh for Detroit City Council

I met Charles Pugh for the first time on May 18, 2005, which was the day that the City of Detroit decided to demolish the historic Madison-Lenox Hotel and replace it with a parking lot. I was the local press contact for the historic preservation groups, which meant that it was my job to remind everyone that there were developers ready to redevelop the hotel, creating jobs and tax revenue in the process. (There is more from that fateful day over on my personal blog.)

I also got to remind everyone that the City of Detroit had recently falsified the inspection reports for that hotel. They argued that the building was found to be in eminent danger of collapse when, in truth, their own records showed that the building hadn't even been inspected.

Charles Pugh was one of the reporters who got the importance of the story. He seemed to understand the value of not only preserving a piece of Detroit's cultural identity, but the importance of jobs and tax revenue that a reborn hotel can create.

Of course, it didn't stop there. When Detroit Synergy launched its Shop Detroit project to encourage people to discover some of the retail options that exist within Detroit, Charles Pugh went out of his way every year to make sure that the project got the media attention that it deserved.


Charles Pugh is also one of a handful of individuals who never let his celebrity status get to his head. Over the past few years, I have seen him on several occasions on Riverfront downtown or at one restaurant or another. He is one of the most approachable people around; always willing to listen to anyone who wants to talk - regardless of whether they're happy or upset with him.

He takes that experience as a reporter and a lifelong Detroit resident into the campaign with him. He has made crime and police response time key issues in his campaign as well as taxes, mass transit and economic development. You can read more about his platform here.

It's for all of these reasons that I join the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit Regional Chamber, the Metro Detroit AFL-CIO and others in endorsing Charles Pugh for Detroit City Council.

Evans Becomes Chief of Police

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing fired former Chief of Police James Barren late on a Friday afternoon. Specifically, he did it at 4 p.m. on the Friday before the 4th of July holiday, according to an interview that Mr. Barren gave WXYZ-TV. In the realm of public relations, doing something late of a Friday afternoon is a famous tactic of burying a story since most reporters are gone by then.

Of course, it didn't work. A quick review of Google shows 420 stories about the firing and the fact that Wayne County Sheriff Warren Evans has replaced him as chief of police.

Mayor Bing told reporters that this had nothing to do with the shooting last Tuesday of 7 teens at a bus stop in the Warrendale neighborhood. Quite frankly, I don't believe him.

Having worked for a few politicians, I believe this has everything to do with that shooting and - more to the point - the fact that Detroit Police Department still doesn't have any suspects in custody; that their only suspect to date was someone that they couldn't bring charges against due to a lack of evidence.

This is an election year. When things like this shooting make headlines around the year, and solid arrests aren't made promptly, politicians inherently start looking for someone to blame before the public piles the blame entirely them.

Mayor Bing, of course, is a businessman and not a career politician. This, in turn, means that there was likely a senior staff member within the Bing Administration who brokered this deal for Barren to be fired and for Evans to replace him.

Politics. This entire matter is pure politics, in my analysis.

Of course, the fundamental problem is that the next time a crime like this happens - like, say, 4 teens being raped on Detroit's east side - there won't be anyone left for Mayor Bing to fire as a diversion.

The roughest days for the Bing Administration clearly ahead.

Breaking News: Shooting at W. Warren/Southfield

I heard the gun shots. A few minutes later, I heard the news choppers overhead.

Earlier this afternoon, two people wearing masks pulled up in a green minivan to the Shell gas station (17720 W. Warren) and started shooting. When it was all done, at least 5 teenagers were shot, although some reports have put the number of victims as high as 7.

No one is in custody at this moment.

More on this as the story develops.

UPDATE @ 3:59 p.m.
WXYZ-TV is reporting that each of the shooting victims have been identified and the Detroit Public Schools are notifying their parents. The victims range in age from 14 - 17.

UPDATE @ 5:38 p.m.
Both WDIV-TV and WXYZ-TV are reporting that both of the shooters in this case were dressed in black t-shirts and black pants. Assuming that they also wore black shoes, this would likely indicate that they were members of one of the drug gangs that have been operating in Warrendale for several months.

Also, the Detroit Police Department has confirmed that there were a total of 7 victims in this shooting - 3 males and 4 females. 5 of these individuals are students. All of them have been taken to area hospitals for treatment.

There are still news choppers overhead.

UPDATE @ 7:51 p.m.
The news choppers are gone now. WDIV-TV still has one of their vans parked across the street from the crime scene. The police are gone as well.

Other than that one news van, the corner looks so much like it did this morning that it's actually a little eerie. I feel like the place should look different now that 7 teens have been shot at that spot.

The one bit of good news that I can share is that the Detroit Police Department has reportedly found the green minivan that was used in this shooting. It was almost certainly stolen. Hopefully, they'll be able to find a few clues in it to find and convict those responsible for this atrocity.

UPDATE @ 10:58 p.m.
Since my most recent update, I have learned that 5 of the 7 victims in this shooting were students in the summer school program at Cody High School's 9th Grade Academy (7350 Southfield Fwy.). The other 2 teens reportedly were not students.

The Detroit Police Department has reportedly obtained the security tapes from the Shell gas station near where this shooting took place. They hope to find some clues as to the identity of the shooters, their motive for a shooting or both.

Finally, there is at least a rumor in the neighborhood as to the motive for this senseless shooting. I have heard reports that an argument of some sort happened between two of the female victims of the massacre this afternoon and another woman. This other woman than reportedly made a phone call to her boyfriend. That boyfriend then drove to where he knew the two victims would be so that he could settle this grudge with gunfire.

The other 5 victims in this shooting were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting a similar version of events, where the shooting was the result of a fight that happen yesterday at the school.

Detroit May Crack Down On Strip Clubs

WDIV-TV is reporting that the Detroit City Council will consider a proposal to ban alcohol from strip clubs in Detroit. The proposed rule changes would also stop lap dancing, close VIP rooms and force topless dancers to wear opaque pasties. It would also require the topless dancers to remain 6 feet from the patrons and on a stage at all times.

Rob Katzman, owner of the Toy Chest Bar and Grille (18728 Ford Rd.) in the Warrendale neighborhood, told WDIV that these potential changes would put nearly all of the clubs out of business. The Toy Chest is 1 of approximately 30 strip clubs in Detroit; meaning that we have 1 strip club every 4.6 square miles on average.

Quite frankly, I think this is an incredibly stupid idea from an urban planning perspective. Vibrant cities have a variety of entertainment options, even ones that some people might think of as morally objectionable.

More importantly, if all of the legal strip clubs in Detroit are driven out of business by excessive regulation then that will simply create a tremendous opening for the illegal strip clubs who will inevitably set up shop. No matter what one might think of the current, legal strip clubs in Detroit, there can be little argument that the illegal ones that appear from time to time are much worse.

These problems, of course, are compounded by the fact that the Detroit Police Department currently has a shortage of police officers to handle their existing case load. There is simply no way that they will be able to respond effectively to the scores illicit strip clubs that we will soon have in our neighborhoods.

I have to admit, though, that I don't think that the Detroit City Council would be entertaining this proposal if it wasn't for the fact that at least one member of the council will soon be under federal indictment on corruption charges. This, of course, puts every member of the council under a cloud - forcing them to appear as upright Christians who can be trusted for another term of office during an election year.

WCO Mayoral Forum

The Warrendale Community Organization will host a forum for the various Detroit Mayoral candidates on Saturday, January 17 from noon until 3 p.m. This forum will happen in the gymnasium at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, which is located at 5780 Evergreen in Detroit's Warrendale neighborhood.

The first hour will be an informal meet and greet, where residents will have a chance to talk with all of the candidates on a casual basis. There will then be a moderated discussion of the issues beginning promptly at 1 p.m.

In the interest of time, the executive board of the WCO decided to only invite five of the eighteen candidates. A vote was taken at the WCO's annual holiday as to which five candidates should be invited. The membership decided to invite:

• Dave Bing;
• Ken Cockrel, Jr.
• Warren Evans
• Freman Hendrix
• Nicholas Hood, III

Each of the candidates will be asked a series of questions that were prepared by a committee of WCO members. After that, the floor will be opened for questions from attendees.

This forum is free and open to the public.

Mayoral Forum

The Warrendale Community Organization will sponsor a forum for mayoral candidates on Saturday, January 17 from noon until 3 p.m. in the gymnasium at St. Thomas Aquinas Church. The WCO will invite 5 candidates to address questions such as public safety & crime, economic development in the neighborhoods, mass transit and the City's budget problems.

Members of the WCO will vote at their holiday party on which 5 of the mayoral candidates should be invited. (See below for details on the WCO holiday party.)

More information about this event will be forthcoming on this blog.

Tip of the Week: Courville Containers

After my post about a couple in the Warrendale neighborhood who has been robbed 4 times this year alone, and who have gotten no assistance from the Detroit Police Department, I received a flood of suggestions about what can be done to minimize crime in the Warrendale neighborhood. With all of those suggestions in hand, I've decided to launch a new feature on the Warrendale (Detroit) Blog.
I call it the Tip of the Week. As much as I my schedule permits, I will endeavor to publish this one every Monday. It will include crime prevention and money saving tips as well as general information that's useful to know.

My tip this week has to do with the Courville containers that the Department of Public Works gives everyone in Detroit for their weekly trash collection. It turns out that a growing trend for criminals is to use those containers as something to stand on when they want to break into a home by entering one of its windows.

The Courville containers are widely available, which means that the criminal doesn't have to bring anything with them. Plus, they're the perfect height for a thief to use for entry through a window.

There isn't much that you can do about the City's use of Courville containers or their size. However, you can make it a lot harder for thieves to use them for illicit purposes by storing yours in a garage. The harder it is for a thief to break into your home, the more likely they will be to try.