DETROIT – A community group launched a campaign Saturday against Proposition N.
While most Detroiters want to see blight removed from their city, a new bond has some uneasy. The group Call 'Em Out is trying to get residents to vote against the new bond set to be on the ballot in November.
Proposition N is a $250 million in investment bonds that will be used to demolish 8,000 vacant homes and renovate 8,000 others, but Call 'Em Out is skeptical due to audits on how Detroit has used federal money in the past.
“They have double bookings, they have mismanaged money, they have paid vendors who were not on the approved vendors list,” Agnes Hitchcock said. “They have done so many things with the money they already had.”
When reached for comment, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan pointed Local 4 to Sen. Adam Hollier, who is behind the push for the bond. Hollier lives in Detroit and said his neighborhood has blight too.
“There’s this vacant house -- that’s been dangerous -- is finally going to come down,” Hollier said. “They’re able -- at no tax increase -- to provide the revenue necessary to knock these things down and to save some.”
Hollier said he understands the distrust in Detroit leadership.
“They haven’t worked in the past and that’s why it’s so important for us to get it right now,” Hollier said.
Call ‘Em Out said they’re already running advertisements telling residents to vote no.
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