Duggan's Election Challenger Likens Him To Kwame, Infers He's Corrupt
DETROIT (WWJ) In his harshest attacks to date in the contest for mayor of Detroit, the challenger, state Sen. Coleman Young II, is questioning the integrity of incumbent Mayor Mike Duggan.
WWJ Lansing bureau chief Tim Skubick says Young accused Duggan of bid rigging and colluding on contracts.
"Every time that my opponent Mike Duggan handles money there's been a federal investigation," Young told Skubick. "That's really what I believe. Not only is this about the issues, about the neighborhoods, about putting back to work. This is about righteous vs. corrupt, that's really what this is."
Skubick asked if Young was calling the mayor corrupt.
"Is the shoe fits," Young replied.
In the same discussion, he drew a parallel between Duggan and disgraced former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who is serving a 28-year prison sentence for financial misdeeds in office.
For his part, Duggan said attacks like this are to be expected, adding "he's been in Lansing for eight years and has no accomplishments to point to. He doesn't have any strategy except to spew hate."
The city's demolition program is the subject of a federal investigation, and that's what Young is alluding to.
"My thoughts are 'this is exactly what I expected,'" said Duggan, who ushered Detroit out of bankruptcy and is credited by many with setting it on a path of success.
Duggan added "we're going to listen to him spew hate for the next four months."
Young II, the sole son of Detroit's first black mayor Coleman A. Young, declared his run for mayor last month. Duggan is seeking a second, four-year term.