Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh

A New Decade, A New Tone, A New Detroit

Posted on Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Council President Charles Pugh

Inaugural Address as prepared for delivery

"A NEW DECADE, A NEW TONE, A NEW DETROIT"

To the Mayor, the Clerk, my Council Colleagues, all other dignitaries and to the Citizens of Detroit, I stand before you today honored and humbled to serve you as President of the Detroit City Council.

Today is possible because of the great giants of service who have come before us. Although the spirits of Erma Henderson, Clyde Cleveland, and Maryann Mahaffey have left us -- they still lead us. This new council is motivated by the tireless work of former council members like Gil Hill, Sheila Cockrel, Reverend Nicklaus Hood II and his son Reverend Nicholas Hood III. Their work not only inform us, but inspires us. Will all former council members please stand at this time to be recognized?

As we enter a new decade, we embrace a new Detroit! With a new mayor, a new police chief, a new charter commission, a new charter on the way, a new DPS administrator, new schools and a new city council and council president, it could not be more clear that we have approached a new day and a new beginning. Detroit has a great opportunity to reinvent how we define ourselves, our city, and our community.

The discussion about our city has really been misleading. We have been led to believe that Detroit is only of local and regional significance. However it is time, and the time is now, for us to recognize that our city has national and global significance; and is ready to embrace the industries, economies and technologies of the future, overcoming our resistance to restructure, in order to, re-engineer ourselves as a smaller, yet stronger Detroit!

We must encourage innovation and incorporate fresh ideas. We must adopt a new city plan detailing how we will re-densify and redevelop our communities to accommodate our shrinking population. We must also change our flawed and outdated budget process. We have to become more proactive when balancing our budget, instead of being reactive.

The challenges we face are real, however, my colleagues and I strongly believe they are solvable. We will work with the Mayor, cooperatively, to ensure that he is serious about firming the financial foundation of our city, and to assure that the interest of all citizens is taken into consideration.

But if we are going to be successful at reviving Detroit again, we will need you, the citizens of Detroit, to be involved. We must all begin to be the change we wish to see, as we are our own best hope! We will be calling on you to volunteer at local schools and shelters. We will ask you to form strong neighborhood community associations. We will encourage you to help keep our communities clean and our streets safe. But most of all we will expect that you will hold us accountable, reminding us everyday that it is you, the People of Detroit, who we serve!

This past election, my colleagues and I heard you loud and clear! You have said you want competent decision-makers with integrity, rock solid ethics, and true transparency. And I promise that is exactly what you will get!

Will all my fellow council colleagues please join me at the podium. Here we stand united, not as five, but nine standing as one! So we are honored, humbled and eager to serve you.

In this new decade, we are serious about setting a new tone and working toward creating a new Detroit. So on behalf of all my colleagues, let me boldly say, all the madness of the past ends today!