Esther Yvette Haugabook - Candidate for City Council - District 5

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:

Key Federal Programs & How I’ll Protect Them

As a 30-year Real Estate and Community Planning & Development professional, I have seen three programs move the dial for Detroiters more than any others:

• Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) & HOME – backbone funding for blight removal, senior home repairs, and mixed-income housing.

• Housing Choice (Section 8) & RAD conversions – 18,000 low-income households in Detroit rely on vouchers or RAD-preserved units to stay housed.

• Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act (IIJA) grants – now rebuilding lead-lined water mains and upgrading DDOT bus depots.

On Council I’ll use the powers of budget adoption, resolution, and oversight hearings to (1) keep local match dollars in place so we remain competitive, (2) require public dashboards that show project outcomes—because transparent results build the bipartisan support we need on Capitol Hill, and (3) convene our Congressional delegation quarterly in Detroit, not D.C., to spotlight projects at risk. If Washington retrenches, I’ll lead a coalition of the Great Lakes Urban Caucus to push for replacement dollars in the Farm Bill housing title, FEMA’s BRIC resilience pot, or Treasury’s CDFI Fund so Detroit families never feel a funding cliff.

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: Detroit can’t out-spend macroeconomics, but we can out-organize them. My playbook:

1. Regional Early-Warning Table – Within 60 days of taking office, work with colleagues to seat a monthly call with Detroit City Council, Wayne County Commission, SEMCOG, and our state legislative caucus to track inflation, job losses, and federal rule changes.

2. Federal Relay Team – Assign a Council policy analyst to “shadow” each key agency (HUD, DOT, DOE) and alert the table when rules shift.

3. Public–Private Response Fund – Build on the Strategic Neighborhood Fund model to leverage philanthropy when gaps appear.

Priority Area: Workforce & Affordable Housing. Stable housing is fundamental for every other metric—school attendance, small-business survival, and neighborhood safety. I will streamline land disposition, expand Detroit’s 0% Home Repair Loan, and pair IIJA broadband dollars with Habitat’s Critical Home Repair program so families keep roofs, internet, and jobs.

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:

Guarding the Budget & Jobs Amid Uncertainty

A. Monitoring & Triggers

• Adopt a three-tier fiscal dashboard—green/yellow/red—updated monthly by the CFO and reviewed in Council committee.

• Red flag when income-tax or wagering revenues fall 3% below quarterly trend or State Equalized Value drops 5%—the point at which service cuts would outpace rainy-day reserves.

• Pre-authorize a hiring chill and deferred capital spend, not blanket layoffs, when we enter the yellow zone; keep police, fire, and trash at full strength.

B. Intergovernmental Action

• Work with the mayor to activate the Detroit Recovery Cabinet—Mayor, Council President, school district, and county exec—within 48 hours of a red-zone trigger.

• Request an emergency revenue-sharing advance from Lansing using the same statutory mechanism applied after the Great Recession.

• Push Congress for a Detroit carve-out in any new federal relief, citing our compliance record on ARPA.

• Broker industry-specific tariff mitigation by partnering with the U.S. Conference of Mayors to lobby Commerce for temporary duty suspensions on auto-supply components critical to District 5 employers.

My goal is clear: keep garbage collected, buses running, and paychecks in workers’ pockets—because every Detroit comeback in history has started by protecting basic services and the people who provide them.