Detroit inspector general probe sparks recall effort against Mayor Mike Duggan
The investigation into whether Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan gave preferential treatment to a local medical program has spawned a recall effort against the mayor.
Government agitator Robert Davis and Brenda Hill, who called herself a "political actionist," have coordinated on recall petitions filed on Monday against Duggan. The petitions are worded differently but they both seek to kick Duggan out of office based on an ongoing investigation by the Detroit Office of Inspector General into the city's support of the Make Your Date organization.
Dr. Sonia Hassan, an associate dean at the Wayne State University School of Medicine with close personal ties to Duggan, runs Make Your Date, which aims to fight preterm birth.
A Free Press investigation earlier this month showed the city directed more than $358,000 in federal grant money to Make Your Date between 2015 and 2017. Duggan also ordered the city's chief development officer to help raise money for Make Your Date in 2017.
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Duggan was seen late last year arriving after hours at the same suburban residence as Hassan in an edited surveillance video taken by a private investigator. She was handpicked by the mayor to lead Detroit's efforts to reduce preterm births in Detroit.
Detroit Inspector General Ellen Ha opened her investigation days after the Free Press detailed the city's support to Make Your Date. Both the administration and Wayne State have repeatedly denied any conflict of interest due to the personal relationship because the program is administered by the university, they say.
"Mike Duggan has been no friend to the citizens of the city of Detroit," Davis said. "He is by far one of the most corrupt, inept public officials this city has ever elected."
This is Davis' second attempt to recall Duggan. His first petition was approved in 2016 but he said he collected no signatures. This time is different, he said, because he has $50,000 committed from Detroit businessmen, whom he would not name.
Duggan's Chief of Staff Alexis Wiley said in a brief statement, "As was the case in 2016, a recall is still a right provided under the City Charter." There was no other comment from city officials.
Davis' petition language references Duggan's ties to Hassan, the inspector general investigation and "whether Mayor Duggan and/or any city officials potentially abused their authority by providing preferential treatment to the Make Your Date nonprofit organization, which is run by Dr. Sonia Hassan."
Hill, who filed the second petition to recall Duggan on Monday, said she's been displeased with the mayor since he was first elected. Hill has long been active in Detroit politics and recently worked on Coleman Young II's failed bid against Duggan for mayor in 2017.
"Time after time, we've found that he hasn't done what's in the best interest of the majority of Detroiters," Hill said. Former mayor "Kwame (Kilpatrick) didn't steer grants toward his alleged mistress. Duggan's doing that."
The Wayne County election commission will review the petition language in the coming weeks at a hearing that has yet to be scheduled.
If either petition is approved, Davis would have to collect valid signatures equal to at least 25% of votes cast for governor in Detroit last year.
According to Michigan law, recall petition language must be submitted to the county clerk in the county where the elected officer resides before a recall petition may be circulated.
Davis filed recall petitions in September 2015 against Duggan, citing his hiring of two top administrators who have since left the city — former Department of Neighborhoods Director Charlie Beckham and Corporation Counsel Melvin Butch Hollowell — despite their brushes with the law.
Wayne County Clerk spokeswoman Lisa Williams-Jackson said petition sponsors have 180 days to collect signatures once their petition is approved.