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Mayor Mary Sheffield (Deadline Detroit photo)
The newly minted Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield delivered an upbeat State of the City address last week, filled with lofty goals, leading Detroit Free Press columnist M.L. Elrick to ask whether she can deliver on her “pricey promises.”
Talk is cheap. But when it comes to politicians' promises, it can be pricey. And dicey.
Elrick lists some of the promises including:
$30 million to hire new bus drivers
$11 million in down payment assistance to help Detroiters buy homes
$8 million to repair sidewalks
$4 million for affordable housing initiatives
He goes on to write:
That's a lot of cheddar — especially in a city where coots like me remember when some residents lined up for free government cheese, and whippersnappers recall how Detroit made history as the largest municipality in America to file for bankruptcy.
It's also a cause for concern after Sheffield, as a candidate for mayor, warned that revenues would likely go down in the near future.
