Duggan says vaccines expected to be offered to all in May: 'Let's get Detroit back open'
DETROIT - Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan spoke about COVID-19 vaccine access and stressed breaking down barriers and providing an opportunity for residents in his 2021 State of the City Address. Watch it here or on the FOX 2 Facebook page HERE.
In State of the City, Duggan stressed jobs, vaccines and stopping generational poverty
Mayor Mike Duggan delivered his first virtual State of the City address and focused on opportunities for Detroiters from vaccines to college education and small business owner support.
The mayor said that Detroiters can receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at the Northwest Activities Center later this month and that the TCF Center will still offer the two-shot vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer.
He said that so far the city's health department has given 120,000 vaccines.
"Let's get Detroit vaccinated and let's get Detroit back open," he said, adding that all Detroiters should be able to be vaccinated by May.
Duggan spoke before just a handful of city employees at the new Stellantis Assembly Plant on the city's east side where the eep brand's newest Grand Cherokee will be built.
"We feel like the deck has been stacked against Detroiters for years with a crumbling school system, they watched their stores leave, their jobs leave and their neighbors leave," he said. "Just once I want to see the deck stacked for Detroiters and remove these barriers.
"In Detroit opportunity is rising. I am going to talk in an honest way of bringing opportunity back."
Duggan said when he took office in 2014 unemployment was 21 percent but dropped to 7.6 percent before the pandemic last year.
The mayor, seeking a third term, began talking about job opportunities with Stellantis, which in 2019 the then-FCA which provided 5,000 jobs and gave preference to Detroit residents.
Duggan also spoke about Ford Motor Co. buying and investing in the former Michigan Central Train Station, which will bring 5,000 more jobs to the city as well as GM reversing a decision to leave the former Poletown Plant and re-invest into it as Factory Zero the all-electric vehicle assembly plant.
He added that five companies including Flex-N-Gate have signed agreements to hire Detroiters first for job opportunities.
He also tackled the transportation problem in the city saying that a third of city busses were disabled and sitting in a garage in 2013, but with help from then VP Joe Biden, funds were secured for 80 new busses.
Duggan spoke about Biden saying that the city has a friend in the White House saying he loves Detroit and its grit.
The mayor also spoke about the next move intended to reduce auto insurance rates, which had their first update in years in 2019.
"Once the law passed people saw a 5 to 10 percent savings on car insurance. People who shopped around got a 20 to 40 percent savings because of this law 19 insurance companies are working to be approved in Michigan, so that means more options.
"On July 1 a lower rate schedule sets in and prices will go lower. There should be a single rate for the state and we need to get rid of redlining."
Detroit at Work expanded from three sites to nine, offering employment seeking assistance to residents, Duggan said.
Duggan also spoke about education programs for Detroit students including the Detroit Promise which pays the first two years of community college for children in the city and four-year university scholarships for any student with a 3.0 or higher and 21 on the ACT.
For more on the State of the City Address, watch FOX 2 at 10 and 11 tonight.