Detroit’s skyline at night (photo: Sagittariuss via Flickr.com)

With almost six weeks until the Feb. 24 primary, the mayoral race in Detroit is finally heating up. There were three debates over the past week, and two more are planned for the next two weeks, so Detroit voters will have ample opportunity to get to know where the candidates stand on issues. And judging from the high turnout at these debates, the people are seizing the opportunity.

Tuesday night’s mayoral debate, sponsored by the Fannie Lou-Hamer PAC (a branch of the Detroit NAACP) and held at Fellowship Chapel, drew approximately 800 people.

The crowd was standing-room only, much like last week’s debate at the Northwest Activities Center sponsored by the Call ‘Em Out grass-roots coalition. If nothing else, the intense community interest is a sign that the primary should see good turnout.

Some of those in the crowd already knew whom they were supporting, wearing bright yellow T-shirts that said “Ken Cockrel Corps” or wearing red, white and blue Freman Hendrix pins.

The five candidates at Tuesday night’s debate were selected by Wendall Anthony, pastor at Fellowship Chapel. The lineup included Hendrix, Coleman Young II, Sharon McPhail, Warren Evans and David Bing. Interim Mayor Kenneth Cockrel Jr. was slated to appear, but he showed up just as the debate ended, saying he “ran late” because of obligations related to the auto show.

The debate focused on the selling of city assets, such as COBO Conference/Exhibition Center and the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, and also touched on the city’s $300 million deficit, as well as issues like population growth.

The candidates seemed to revert to topics they were most comfortable with. Young framed a lot of his answers around his intention to create more city jobs. McPhail promised to re-install residency requirements for city workers. Evans promised to be tougher on crime, while Bing focused on his experience in the business community. Hood frequently revisited education, specifically charter schools.

While the debate was energetic and included a rift between Bing and Hendrix on selling the water department, many in the audience felt the candidates lacked original ideas.

“No, to be honest, no one stood out,” said Ronald Grant, 26, of Detroit. “I liked some of what I heard, but every one of them does the same pitch over and over, and that alarms me.”

District Judge Willie Lipscomb, 56, left the event disappointed. “The debate as lively, but I was looking for a transformational person for the city,” he said. “I didn’t see that tonight.”

Lipscomb said he had hoped to hear more about growing small industry in Detroit, such as legalizing street racing and developing it into an industry that attracts young people to the city and generates revenue. “I just want to hear something different,” he said.

One candidate, Stanley Christmas, decided to show up despite the fact that he was not invited. The last debate he appeared in was televised on WADL (TV 38), which selects its participants by random drawing. “At least WADL had the decency to give everyone a chance,” he he told Michigan Messenger. “But the media and the churches continue to pick candidates for us.”

Sherry Wheeler, a Detroit voter who plans to run for City Council, said she was also disappointed at the exclusion of certain candidates. “You gotta represent everybody,” she said. “You can’t just select who you want to hear. It should not be like that.”

Another voter, Edward Franks, 61, said he couldn’t support any of the candidates because they did not clearly address how they would deal with the city’s $300 million deficit and the fact that city bonds are deemed “junk” by trade giant Standard & Poor’s rating service.

Though each candidate was asked to address the deficit, none of them had a solid plan. Hood seemed to have the most specifics, proposing to target city employees’ benefits and pay, including those of the mayor and council members.

“I can’t support anyone that can’t tell me their deficit reduction plan,” said Franks. “People will support someone with no deficit reduction plan and wonder why this city is in such bad shape.”

The next community debate will be at 6 p.m. Jan. 22 at the Coleman A. Young building downtown. The next televised debate will be on WADL at 8 p.m. Jan. 27.