Helena Scott - Candidate for City Council - District 2

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: Detroiter’s rely on several federal programs that support affordable housing, healthcare, education and economic mobility. Programs such as HUD, CDBG, Medicaid, SNAP, Pell Grants and Headstart serve as a critical safety nets and investment in our city’s future. As federal funding shifts I would advocate for continued investment using my established relationships in the state house to assist in helping to generate local funding to the city.

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: To address the challenges posed by economic uncertainty, my approach will be to collaborate with local, regional and national leaders to have proactive engagement, coalition building and a shared commitment to equitable development. Detroit’s unique strengths, its people and history of innovation and resilience deserve polices that protect our progress and expand opportunity for all. Locally I will prioritize partnerships with city officials, community organizations, small business leaders. I will work to advance neighborhood level solutions, from affordable housing to job training programs, while securing city resources for underserved communities.

Additionally, I will work with leaders regionally and nationally and agencies to bring critical resources to Detroit.

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 feel that we should implement a designed phase response plan: first we should slow discretionary spending, reduce travel/training and implement soft hiring freeze. Also consider delaying capital projects and renegotiate vendor contracts. We could additionally offer early retirement incentives, explore temporary furloughs. We should consider using a 3-5 year projection to anticipate budget stress points. We should also regularly convene department heads and union leaders to identify cost-saving measures prior to potential layoffs. By combining data driven analysis and early collaboration we can protect core city services avoid abrupt service cuts and maintain public trust.

B. Engaging other levels of government: county, state and federal is essential to building a strong coordinated response to economic challenges and ensuring Detroit receives the support it needs