{"id":644,"date":"2018-08-02T17:41:46","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T22:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/?p=644"},"modified":"2023-08-01T13:55:36","modified_gmt":"2023-08-01T18:55:36","slug":"town-hall-meeting-addresses-job-opportunities-public-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/town-hall-meeting-addresses-job-opportunities-public-funding\/","title":{"rendered":"Town hall meeting addresses job opportunities, public funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

By SIERRA PORTER<\/span>
\n<\/span>NABJ Monitor<\/span><\/p>\n

The topic of a \u201cNew Detroit,\u201d job opportunities, inclusiveness and the issue of the city\u2019s use of public funds to rebuild downtown were boiling points for attendants of a town hall meeting hosted by the Detroit Chapter of the National Association of Black Journalist at the City Theater on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The two-hour discussion, moderated by Wayne State University\u2019s Associate Director of Communications Darrell Dawsey, became tense and even erupted in uproar at times as people voiced their opinions on the investment of public dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many Detroit residents in the town hall meeting said the issue is compounding racial tension between whites and blacks. They claim that many of the entrepreneurs and business owners benefitting from the city\u2019s redevelopment are largely white.<\/span><\/p>\n

NABJ Detroit Chapter President Vince McCraw said racial tensions boils down to respect for the Detroit residents who have been here. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are moving in thinking that they\u2019ve got a better idea than what was there before and doing your thing without respecting what was built here and there are some tensions,\u201d McCraw said. \u201cIf you’re in the neighborhoods in some spaces downtown and midtown or if you’re just with your friends, you\u2019ll hear that discussion. And we need to be cognizant of the city as a whole and with government and developers and all that so that it doesn’t become something that it shouldn’t be.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

According to the 2010 U.S. Census report, 673,104 people live in Detroit. Eighty percent of Detroit\u2019s population is black, while 14 percent of residents are white.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Dawsey oversaw a panel discussion that included City of Detroit City Council Pro Tem Mary Sheffield, City of Detroit\u2019s chief storyteller Aaron Foley, real estate developer Eric Means and Detroit News columnist Nolan Finley.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of Dawsey\u2019s questions to the panel included one directed to Sheffield about public money being used to build stadiums and other facilities. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t agree with it, but I do know, in most projects, some type of funding is needed to make the project feasible,\u201d Sheffield said. \u201cIf you\u2019re talking about the arena, most arenas have some type of public finance attached to it. The issue for me is whether the development is equitable and if the community is actually benefiting from the project.\u201d <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Sheffield said that as an advocate, she is committed to make sure \u201cany program or policy that comes before me, that we\u2019re ensuring that Detroiters are hired on those particular jobs and included in programs,\u201d when developers come to the city of Detroit. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sheffield\u2019s desire to get more of the city residents jobs is not too far from Mayor Mike Duggan\u2019s Detroit At Work plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Jeff Donofrio, executive director of the mayor\u2019s Workforce Development Team, the mission of the program is to get 40,000 more city residents jobs in the five years. <\/span><\/p>\n

With programs, opportunities could possibly arise. Creating access and opportunities aligned with the topic on inclusion and diversity for people of color. <\/span><\/p>\n

For Means, opportunities must go to the root of keeping parents in the household to set a positive example for their children. Means\u2019 company, which is black-owned and military-owned, is one of the largest minority developers in the city.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to keep papas out of prison, mamas focus on raising these kids,\u201d Means said. \u201cThese kids are like sponges mimicking everything we do. We have to work strengthening that up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As Detroit continues to progress in inclusion and diversity in jobs and homes, Finley stands firm on efforts of the residents and politicians for inclusion to thrive and end the tale of two cities. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf not we\u2019re going to have the same sort of divisions and feeling that there is a black Detroit and a white Detroit,\u201d Finley said. \u201cI believe that we have an obligation that the people in this city take advantage of opportunities with inclusion in skill training and investments.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

While money and programs are being poured into and implemented in the Motor City, Detroit has many ways to go to deal with the city\u2019s issues. <\/span><\/p>\n

Foley, against Detroit being called a comeback, said work is being done for a full recovery.  <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDetroit has always been here,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re up against a lot of systemic things, and we have to take care of all these people and work day by day to implement these programs to make sure that people have paying jobs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By SIERRA PORTER NABJ Monitor The topic of a \u201cNew Detroit,\u201d job opportunities, inclusiveness and the issue of the city\u2019s use of public funds to rebuild downtown were boiling points for attendants of a town […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-644","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-archives","8":"category-nabj-business"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":852,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644\/revisions\/852"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabjmonitor.com\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}