Detroit mayor-elect Mike Duggan made his first visit to the state Capitol since he won last week’s election to run Michigan’s largest city.
Duggan says he was looking to build relationships and renew old acquaintances from decades working in politics and government.
But Duggan says he did not come with any specific requests for the city. One reason is he still does not know how much authority he will have.
“The emergency manager’s going to be there,” he said. “The question is, does he issue an order delegating some or all operational control of the city to me, and that’s a question we’re going to have to work through.”
Duggan has already met once with Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr since the election and expects to again later this week.
“First thing to be done is we have to make an arrangement with the emergency manager or not that I have the authority to run the city. The point at which that’s worked out, then I’ll go on to these other steps, but there’s no reason for me to get ahead of myself.”
Duggan’s Lansing itinerary included meetings with members of Governor Rick Snyder’s staff and legislative leaders. House Speaker Jase Bolger says he was interested to hear what Duggan had to say.
“I think we very much have a shared vision of a city that works for its citizens, a city that’s prosperous. I firmly believe that to have a healthy Michigan, we have to have a healthy Detroit, and he certainly shares that vision.”
Bolger says no requests were made for more state funding, and none was offered.
