Detroit reflects on Mike Duggan’s tenure as his final days in the mayoral office near

Associated Press
When Mayor Mike Duggan announced his plan to run for Michigan governor, he did so from a tower in the iconic but aging Renaissance Center overlooking Detroit. It’s not the same city that Duggan inherited in January 2014. No longer defined by blocks of vacant houses, empty downtown storefronts, rampant crime and scores of broken streetlights, many believe Detroit is finally experiencing its renaissance.
Related: Detroit Mayor Duggan reflects on big projects, why tax plan failed

Long-awaited groundbreaking for $1.5B District Detroit gets date

Bridge Detroit
The wait may soon be over for the first groundbreaking for the $1.5 billion District Detroit megadevelopment that was approved back in spring 2023. But timing for the other projects in the 10-project bundle remains an open question. Executives with the development’s codevelopers — the Ilitch organization’s Olympia Development of Michigan and New York-based The Related Companies — said on Tuesday night, Dec. 9, that they plan to start construction on the first of the 10 new buildings and building rehabs in March.

Whitmer poised for national Democratic leadership role

MLive.com
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to be elected this weekend as vice chair of the Democratic Governors Association, according to an official with the organization. In this new national leadership role, the second-term governor will be tasked with helping elect and re-elect Democratic governors across the country. It’s not an unfamiliar role for Whitmer, who most recently helped Democratic U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill win the New Jersey governor’s race last month.

Slotkin forms legal defense fund amid Trump attacks, FBI inquiry

The Detroit News
Michigan U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin has formed a legal defense fund as she braces for a possible federal probe following her video last month reminding members of the military and intelligence communities they may refuse illegal military orders. The move by the Holly Democrat follows news that the FBI’s counter terrorism division has apparently launched an “inquiry” into Slotkin and the five other Democratic lawmakers who created the video, with the agency requesting voluntary interviews with each member.

Michigan Senate OKs tax capture bill eyed for RenCen redevelopment

The Detroit News
The Michigan Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would more than double the amount of tax withholding that state officials can allow developers to keep for projects, including, potentially, a massive overhaul of the Renaissance Center in Detroit. The measure would increase the total amount of taxes developers can capture through the state’s eight-year-old transformational brownfield program from the current cap of $1.6 billion to $3.5 billion. Supporters see the tool as a way to entice the resurgence of problem or contaminated properties by allowing businesses to keep a portion of the new tax revenue they generate on the sites.