Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Detroit's Great White Hope Removed From The Mayoral Ballot

Mike Duggan, the only white contender, and indeed forerunner for mayor just ordered removed from the Detroit mayoral ballot by Wayne County Circuit Court.

The Detroit Free Press: Judge orders Mike Duggan off Detroit mayoral ballot

The case was filed by a long-short (and black) contender for mayor, Tom Barrow, and "labor activist" as described in the article Robert Davis. Do note that Robert Davis is currently being charged with multiple felonies for allegedly stealing $125,000 from the Highland Park School District when he was on the school board there - apparently being an accused felon who goes around filing stupid lawsuits makes one an activist. Too bad the Freep saw fit to fail to mention this tidbit of news.

Sadly, the court agreed with their argument that Duggan had not been a resident for one year before he filed for mayor, rather than considering the qualifying period as being a resident for a one year period before the filing deadline. Thus, while the filing deadline was May 14, Duggan filed for mayor on April 2, rather than waiting until after April 16 when he would have been a resident of Detroit for one year (he moved there April 16) and the whole claim wouldn't have been even arguable. So he was kicked off the Democrat primary ballot for mayor, which is to say he's off the ballot for mayor period for bad timing. He will probably appeal this decision.

Considering that Duggan is the most capable of all the contenders for mayor, and likely Detroit's last, best, hope for competent government, this ruling is yet another nail in Detroit's coffin.

2 comments:

Murphy's Law said...

Ah, Detroiters. The only work they seem willing to do is digging themselves deeper every time anyone says that the city has hit bottom.

Aaron said...

Yep. Not to say Duggan is perfect, but he's the best of a pretty sorry lot - and at least he has a track record for getting things done.