Detroit gets its first new mayor in a dozen years, as 38-year-old Mary Sheffield is sworn in. Sheffield also becomes Detroit’s first woman mayor.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
This week, Detroit gets its first new mayor in a dozen years as Mary Sheffield is sworn in. She is 38 years old. She’s a Democrat, and she’s taking over a city with a newly vibrant downtown and a rising national reputation. But she’s got big challenges ahead, like spreading those wins across the city’s many neighborhoods. NPR’s Don Gonyea reports.
DON GONYEA, BYLINE: Mary Sheffield takes office having been the overwhelming choice of Detroiters in the fall election, winning 77% of the vote. In her victory speech, she evoked the city’s history, citing Motown and the Motor City.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
MARY SHEFFIELD: Let’s not forget who we are.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Yeah.
SHEFFIELD: We are a city of innovators, of champions, of changemakers.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: That’s right.
SHEFFIELD: We put the world on wheels.
GONYEA: She spoke of Detroit’s role in the labor movement and in fighting for civil rights, and she highlighted her family connection to all of that. Her father is a pastor and community activist. Her grandfather was an early United Auto Workers organizer and union leader who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Detroit.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SHEFFIELD: My grandfather, Horace Sheffield Jr…
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Yeah.
(CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Yeah.
SHEFFIELD: …Stood on the front lines…
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Front lines.
SHEFFIELD: …During the Walk to Freedom, demanding jobs, dignity and justice for every Detroiter.
GONYEA: Sheffield certainly has a mandate, but she’s also got a tough act to follow. Outgoing Mayor Mike Duggan is very popular and leaves office after a dozen years. Early in his tenure, the city emerged from bankruptcy. He brought in new investments and oversaw a resurgence in Detroit’s downtown. But Mayor Sheffield can also claim a share in that success, having served on the city council for 12 years, the past four as council president.
Detroit’s population is growing and crime is down, but poverty remains a major challenge. There’s also a long-standing tension between downtown and the city’s neighborhoods, which still feel neglected despite downtown’s resurgence. Political analyst Mario Morrow notes that Sheffield campaigned heavily in neighborhoods.
MARIO MORROW: She invested a lot of her time and platform on neighborhood development. So she’s going to have to sit down and I guess have a come-to-Jesus meeting with the corporate leaders in Detroit to figure out how she’s going to be successful with her goals and that big push to make neighborhoods viable.
GONYEA: Reverend Charles Williams’ church is in one of those neighborhoods. A Sheffield supporter, he says she needs to find partners in state and federal government. But dealing with the Trump White House, he says, is like walking a tightrope, especially given conflicts over National Guard deployments and immigration enforcement.
CHARLES WILLIAMS: This is some of the political gamesmanship I guess you just got to have. Do we want to get in a fight with Donald Trump? No, not really. Do we want to get resources from the federal government so that we can continue on the prosperity and bring more prosperity to Detroit neighborhoods? Absolutely.
GONYEA: Mayor Sheffield is Detroit’s first ever woman mayor. It’s a milestone many residents are applauding. She’s also the first African American mayor in Detroit in a dozen years. Charlize Spanish is a student at Wayne State University in Detroit. She says both of those things are important to her.
CHARLIZE SPANISH: As Black women, we have a bit of a struggle in society. So I feel like her being in this role would help bring up the Black woman and bring us together.
GONYEA: With this new mayor in office, Spanish says she’s hoping to feel seen and that the new administration can deliver for neighborhoods like hers. Mary Sheffield officially takes over as Detroit mayor on January 1, with a public swearing-in ceremony set for next week.
Don Gonyea, NPR News, Detroit.
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