COLEMAN A. YOUNG (1918 - 1997)
Beginning of the end for Coleman Young
by Morris Gleicher
originally published 5/1/91 in the Metro TimesThe special election held last week signals the beginning of the end of Detroit's longest reigning mayoralty. Widely regarded as one of Michigan's shrewdest, toughest, and most successful politicians, Coleman Young took a licking April 23.
The mayor had thrown huge resources--political and financial--behind Proposal A, the question of whether to preserve publicly owned land rather than make it available for private development. The issue had been put to a vote as a result of a citizen-led petition campaign. Also before the voters was the choice of a ninth Detroit City Council member to fill the seat vacated by Barbara-Rose Collins, who was elected to Congress.
Mayor Young's personal sponsorship, his campaign team and his as yet undisclosed financial backing was pitted against a small, loosely organized group of politically inexperienced and underfinanced citizens. Proposal A upset most of the pundits' predictions, with a solid 54 percent of Detroit voters rejecting the mayor's plan to rezone the riverfront site for commercial development.
The Young-endorsed candidate for Council, state Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick ("I'm on a mission from God"), beat her 22 opponents, but captured less than 25 percent of the total vote in that race. She will square off with Detroit School Board member Kay Everett in a final election to be held June 4.
Until late in the campaign, the election had attracted little media attention, and political experts were predicting voter turnout as low as 15 percent. Partly because of the mayor's increasingly intense campaigning, more than 18 percent cast ballots. For the mayor, Proposal A involved more than the fate of Ford Auditorium. Rebuffed in his effort to provide Comerica and the Hines interests development group with a sweetheart deal for their riverfront project, he was determined to retain control over the property which had been given to him by a 5-3 decision of the Council. His push for a "yes" vote on Proposal A won support from all the organizations, churches and political groups which had supported him in his last mayoral election. These included the 1st and 13th Democratic districts, the black Baptist ministers' groups, every major trade union council and the Shrine of the Black Madonna.
His last minute--some said desperate--announcement of plans by the Hilton Hotel Corp. to build a major hotel on the site failed to persuade many voters. Jobs, he stressed, were the most urgent need for the city. Council member Mel Ravitz responded that the Hilton proposal was "a promise without even a prayer to support it. No financing plan, no feasibility study, no architectural sketch, no indication of the city tax dollars that will be taken from the general fund to subsidize the developer, in short, no plan at all."
Accusing "naysayers" of impeding Detroit's progress, Mayor Young also attacks "suburbanites" for leading opposition. Council member Keith Butler responded, reminding the mayor that more than 16,000 Detroiters had signed the petitions which put the issue on the ballot. Moreover, Butler said, "it is only Detroiters who can vote on the matter."
The Michigan Chronicle, the largest black-owned weekly in the state, published an unprecedented "Extra" edition, which was distributed free of charge the weekend before the election. Chronicle Publisher Sam Logan explained that his paper had endorsed the proposal. Jobs and hotel space, he stressed, justified publishing the only "Extra" in the history of the paper. He would not reveal the actual cost of printing and distributing the 10,000 copies, except to say that the Chronicle's policy was always to be certain that the costs of plublication were covered. The edition contained no commercial advertising, but did include a full-page ad for Proposal A--the same ad which had been run in the regular edition of the Chronicle as well as in The Detroit News, with a message and information about the candidacy of Kilpatrick.
"We are interested in our image in the community and increasing our circulation," Logan explained. "Everything in our community starts and ends with our churches, and the city's ministers were glad to assume the major role in distributing this special edition."
Politically, this election setback is probably more significant than a similar defeat over casino gambling. In that effort, however, the mayor did not have the support of many of the churches. The following year, he was again unable to prevail on Proposal N, the vote which gave City Council the authority to override his budget vetoes with six votes instead of the seven requrired by the city charter. And, although the mayor won handily over Tom Barrow in his 1989 re-election campaign, he failed to carry with him his choice for Council president. The message is clear: his support base is shrinking.
His next test will be the Council runoff in June, when his endorsed candidate will have to win at least half of the votes cast for the 21 losers in the primary. This contest is shaping up to be more of a vote on the mayor's popularity and influence than a measure of the candidates' qualifications. The outcome will be significant, especially to those looking toward challenging him in 1993--if he chooses to go for a sixth term. With the impending trial of his former police chief, the continuing high levels of crime and violence, the loss of population and serious city budget problems, one wonders why he even wants the job any longer.
At the time this was published, Morris Gleicher was a veteran Detroit political consultant whose column appeared regularly in the Metro Times.