Cranstana Anderson - Candidate for City Council - District 3 

1) Federal policies often shift in ways that impact cities’ ability to provide essential services and maintain stability, especially in today’s political climate. What are the key federal programs you believe most directly affect Detroiters, and how would you advocate to preserve or replace these supports?

Response: Education, Food Assistance (Snap), Employment (Fair Wages), Health Care (Medicaid) and Affordable Housing are the primary essential services that help maintain stability in Detroit and includes business opportunities (grants) for our innovative entrepreneurs; owning our own businesses helps us, help our communities.

This would include engaging the residents, advocacy groups, non-profit organizations and engaging local businesses, as well as encouraging private investors to collaborate on new effective programs that not only assist low income-citizens but also sponsor programs that help advance residents out of poverty. I would advocate on citizens behalf to receive a living wage that allows them to thrive in places of employment, by working with companies and unions to negotiate a fair and living wage, with focus on innovative business ideas for individual entrepreneurial endeavors. I will strategize with Federal, State and Local policymakers to substitute any loss of federal funding for essential services and consider all new creative ideals to help citizens in need of basic life essentials such as affordable housing, education and health care.

2) With the challenges posed by economic uncertainty, rising inflation, and evolving federal policies, what will be your approach to collaborating with local, regional, and national leaders to protect Detroit’s progress? What specific area—such as housing, education, or economic development—will you prioritize?

Response: I will constantly observe and utilize the findings with research and data to develop strategies to address all current policies and introduce language for new policies that spearhead potential risk factors while monitoring the progress. I will engage with lawmakers and join advocacy organizations that have a vested interest in supporting Detroit and Detroiters. I will keep the community involved through community engagement and continuous outreach and use that feedback to collectively represent the concerns surrounding any decisions made on our behalf. I would make housing a priority by establishing strong partnerships and developing an alliance with other officials and government initiatives and/or introduce supportive initiatives to combat all our issues, while seeking continuous input and backing from other community and city leaders; There will be an open line of communication to any office I hold to coordinate efforts encouraging Detroit residents and leaders to take part in all the conversations and decision-making processes. The infrastructure of the community does not work, one without the other, so a robust system within our education system must be established and adhered to, to further the progress of Detroit. I will use all resources available to obtain a positive outcome for both my district and Detroit as a whole, to ensure that we continue and create economic growth with policies that require business generated in Detroit to adequately give back.

3) A review of the City of Detroit’s Economic Outlook 2024-2029, dated February 2025, states that:

“Detroit’s economic recovery has encountered significant headwinds over the last eight months, but we expect it to regain its footing this year as the macroeconomic environment becomes more favorable. We note, however, that there is substantial uncertainty surrounding our forecast, particularly regarding policy changes with the new presidential administration, as well as with the pace of inflation and the Federal Reserve’s response.”

The report further states that the gains made in the number of jobs in the city and the number of Detroiters employed have declined since mid-2024. With this sobering background information and the instability caused by the tariff policies and the anticipated gutting of federal programs, what will your strategy be to:

A. Monitor the general fund for impacts, identify the trigger for a reduction in revenue that would necessitate scaling back services or triggering layoffs, and/or slow down the pace of service delivery?

B. Engage other levels of government to arrive at a plan of action?

Response:

A. I would first encourage regular detailed financial reports of our general fund, pay close attention to our streams of income, so that any potential financial hardships are recognized in advance; however I would proactively work with a task force to establish a system to identify triggers by creating metrics that allow us to rapidly respond to any change that requires us to redirect and/or generate other means of revenue. I will work with other council members, the mayor and staff members to identify multiple scenarios of our economic health and prepare for any negative impact it causes on our continued growth. While strategizing how to continue providing necessary services to the public without scaling back using all our resources efficiently.

B. It would be my objective and in our best interest to develop agreements with other surrounding governmental entities to share resources in the event our revenue funds are not adequate to maintain stability standing alone; supporting each other provides us with a sense of unity and demonstrates our efforts to also support our own surrounding localities. I will continuously advocate for policies and programs that support Detroit’s economic stability, by collaborating with planning and development agencies from around the region. Making sure we keep direct focus on housing, education and economic development; this will ensure we have order and civility.