Detroit mayoral forum roll call: Who’s been present and who skips class

Over the past two months, mayoral forums have been held around Detroit so that community members could learn where each candidate stands on issues that matter to them. Michigan Messenger was informed about eight community forums; here’s a list of candidates who showed up at each of those events.

I. The first mayoral candidate event of the season was a debate sponsored by the Booker T. Washington Business Association and held at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American history Nov. 20.

The “top seven” candidates, meaning those with the most established names, include Dave Bing, Freman Hendrix, Sharon McPhail, Coleman Young Jr., Warren Evans, Nick Hood and Kenneth Cockrel Jr. All of them attended the Booker T. Washington Business Association debate. Cockrel left an hour into the debate for another engagement.

II. The second candidate event was a forum held later that same day at Second Ebenezer Church in Detroit and focused on small businesses in Detroit. Bing, Evans, Hood and McPhail returned for the second debate and joined lesser-known candidates Joseph Holt, business consultant Duane Montgomery and business consultant Jerroll Sanders.

III. The third event was a forum held at University of Detroit Mercy, and all of the top seven candidates attended along with some others. Confirmed candidates included Bing, Cockrel, Evans, Hendrix, Hood, Young, Joseph Holt, Duane Montgomery, Sanders and D. Etta Wilcoxon. McPhail did not attend.

IV. The Detroit News held a forum on Feb. 4 called Hold The Onions at a local Detroit Coney Island and invited major candidates. Hood, Evans and Hendrix joined Detroit News writer Charlie LeDuff in a discussion. Cockrel and Bing declined invites to the discussion. It is not clear whether McPhail was invited to this forum.

V. and VI. The grassroots community PAC Call ‘Em Out hosted two forums: one to inform the mayoral candidates on issues that concerned members of the community and one to hear each candidate’s response and plan to address the issues.

The first Call ‘Em Out debate was held Nov. 26 and the second Jan. 6. Most of the major and lesser-known candidates attended these debates. Bing and Cockrel were the only two major candidates absent from both debates.

VII. On Jan. 8, the Fannie Lou Hamer PAC sponsored a debate for popular candidates at Fellowship Chapel. Evans, Young, McPhail, Hood, Bing, and Hendrix attended. Cockrel arrived after the debate was over and shook hands with people saying he ran late because of a prior obligation involving the auto show.

VIII. Monday night, at a debate at St. Paul AME Church on Detroit’s east side sponsored by ACORN, eight mayoral candidates came to show their support for those facing foreclosures and to offer their ideas on how to tackle the crisis if elected. Evans, Hendrix, Young, Jeroll Sanders, Duane Montgomery, Donald Bradley, Stanley Christmas and D. Ettta Wilcoxon were there. Cockrel, Bing and McPhail were absent.

The eight debates gave all candidates a venue to show their support and interest in community issues. Of the seven major candidates, Cockrel has had the worst attendance, participating in two of the eight community debates listed above. Bing was second worst, participating four of the eight.

The candidates who have been present at all of the eight community debates are Young and Evans. Hendrix and Hood are a close second, attending seven of the eight debates. McPhail attended 6 of the eight community forums and she sharply rejected an invitation to a televised debate on WADL TV on January 7th.

Cockrel is starting to get some scrutiny over his absence in these debates. His campaign spokesperson Jim Edmondson defended Cockrel’s weak attendance. “The difference between the mayor and everybody else is he’s doing the job,” he told the Detroit News. “The rest of these folks are all just talking.”

Bing’s campaign could not be reached to comment on his community forum attendance.

The next community forum will be held on Wednesday, February 19th at Bert’s in Eastern Market at 6:00 p.m. The forum will be an educational service for voters and candidates to discuss upcoming ballot proposals.