Critics: Members avoid responsibilities

Creation of districts could give residents responsive lawmakers

“You need a good plan, but you also need leadership ... The Council’s oversight functions have been neglected.” George Ward “A lot of good candidates I think get frightened away by the viciousness of campaigns and council.” Cliff Russell “Some council members are just along for the ride ... They talk a lot, but they don’t really do their homework.” Mel Ravitz

By Cameron McWhirter / The Detroit News

    DETROIT — Part of what’s wrong with the City Council is that several of the members have abdicated their responsibilities simply because they can, according to those who have worked on or with the council and even one of those who drafted the significantly revised Detroit City Charter of 1973.

    “You need a good plan, but you also need leadership,” said George Ward, a former assistant Wayne County prosecutor who served on the Charter Commission in 1973. “Between the two, the latter is more important. ... The council’s oversight functions have been neglected.”

    City Council elections every four years are cattle calls often featuring more than 100 candidates. Incumbents and newly-elected members often win on name recognition alone, not accomplishments, according to Tony Bradford, a campaign official for former governor and current gubernatorial candidate James Blanchard and who once served as a clerk for Councilman Clyde Cleveland.

    “The structure just doesn’t work,” Bradford said. “It’s name identification. ... Their names alone are the reason they were elected. Nobody knew anything about them.”

    Bradford added: “The city doesn’t get better until they fix this council problem, and it’s a problem. For all practical purposes, we don’t have a legislative branch in the city of Detroit. The ultimate function of any government is to respond to the needs of its citizens. That is not happening here.”

    Ward said one solution could be the creation of districts so that each council member would have a specific section of the city to represent.

    Charter commissions — most recently in 1993 — have proposed partial or total district systems, but the proposals have been voted down in referendums, he said. Although Ward acknowledged that the city charter may bear some responsibility for the city council’s weak role in civic affairs, he said the council also lacks leadership.

    Cliff Russell, a longtime radio commentator on Detroit politics and Mayor Dennis Archer’s first press secretary, said he has heard persuasive arguments for both the at-large and the district systems. An at-large scheme tends to reduce the chances for corruption, but districts provide more local accountability for residents.

    Whichever system ultimately is chosen, a better crop of council candidates is needed, Russell said.

    “A lot of good candidates I think get frightened away by the viciousness of campaigns and council,” he said. “And we need top-notch people, no matter how they are elected.”

    Not everyone agrees that altering the structure of at-large council members with no committees would solve the problem, but most agree there is a problem.

    Mel Ravitz, who was one of the most outspoken council members before he retired in 1997, said the problem with the council isn’t the format but rather the people holding office.

    “Some council members are just along for the ride,” he said. “You could name them. They talk a lot, but they don’t really do their homework.”

    His solution is simple: “Elect thoughtful people.”

You can reach Cameron McWhirter at (313) 222-2072 or cmcwhirter@detnews.com .