Detroit, Michigan

Law and government

See also List of mayors of Detroit, Michigan

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The city is run by the mayor and a nine member city council, elected at large on a nonpartisan ballot. Municipal elections are held every year congruent to 1 modulo 4 (e.g., 1993, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009).

Related Topics:
Election - Modulo

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In addition to property tax, the city levies an income tax of 2.65% on residents, 1.325% on non-residents, and 1.6% on corporations. The city has a looming budget deficit estimated at $214 to $400 million. Financial default or raising of taxes is expected.

Related Topics:
Property tax - Income tax

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Politics

As with most large urban centers in the United States, Detroit consistently supports the U.S. Democratic Party in national and state elections. Its city elections are non-partisan, though mayors for the past four decades have been open about being members of the Democratic Party.

Related Topics:
U.S. Democratic Party - Democratic Party

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Considered by some to be a rising political star when he won election in 2001 at age 31, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has been dubbed by wags as "America's hip-hop mayor" because of his fond appreciation for youth culture, flashy dress, and a diamond stud earring as well his sponsorship of a "hip-hop" summit.http://www.forrelease.com/D20030418/def008.P2.04182003171023.18422.html Since taking office, however, the mayor and his administration have found themselves dogged by accusations of scandal and impropriety. Detroit's major media have relentlessly pursued the stories, including reports of wild parties involving strippers at the mayoral mansion http://www.freep.com/news/locway/probe15_20030515.htm. The mayor has strongly denied accusations of wrongdoing.

Related Topics:
2001 - Kwame Kilpatrick - Hip-hop - Diamond - Earring

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In 2004, following scandals and legal decisions, a court-ordered reorganization of the Detroit Police Department was implemented under the supervision of the FBI.

Related Topics:
2004 - FBI

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Crime

Listed as the second most dangerous city by the Morgan Quitno Corporation's statistics http://www.morganquitno.com/ (after Camden, New Jersey), Detroit has been one of the most crime-ridden cities in the United States. Many of these problems can be blamed on the widespread middle-class flight (which has contributed greatly to urban decay), poverty, de facto segregation of the region, and unemployment.

Related Topics:
Camden - New Jersey - Crime - Segregation

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An analysis of crime in downtown Detroit by the Michigan Metropolitan Information Center at Wayne State University found crime rates in the central city lower than rates for the entire nation, state and other large Michigan metro areas ? and improving. Detroit also includes many middle-class neighborhoods in which crime is far less prevalent than in more impoverished areas of the city.

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Many of the suburbs, in contrast, are among the 25 safest cities in the United States with a population of 75,000 or above. They include Livonia, Troy, Farmington Hills, and Sterling Heights. All four are predominantly white (though some include sizeable black and Asian minorities) and boast much higher household income levels than the city of Detroit.

Related Topics:
Livonia - Troy - Farmington Hills - Sterling Heights - White

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The city faces hundreds of arsons, often in the city's many abandoned homes, each year on Devil's Night, the evening before Halloween. The Angel's Night campaign, launched in the late 1990s, draws tens of thousands of volunteers to patrol the streets during Halloween week. The effort has largely squelched Devil's Night arson: In 2002, there were just 110 fires during the October 29–31 period, according to city officials, representing a 30 percent decline in total fires and a 41 percent decline in suspicious fires. In 2003, the three-day number was 117.

Related Topics:
Arson - Devil's Night - Halloween - Angel's Night - 1990s - 2002 - 2003

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