Former Detroit Hospital CEO Throws Hat into Mayoral Ring

CHICAGO - Mike Duggan, former CEO of Detroit Medical Center, Michigan’s largest safety-net hospital, is expected to formally announce his bid for mayor Tuesday night.

His announcement comes days before Gov. Rick Snyder will decide whether to appoint an emergency manager to take over the troubled city, which a state review team found to be in a state of fiscal emergency last week. If Snyder does appoint an EM, as many expect, the move would render the mayor’s office largely powerless. 

Duggan has said he is against the appointment of an EM and that the city can turn itself around with new leadership. He said if an EM were appointed, he would work to limit his or her tenure as much as possible.

“The governor can choose to trust Detroiters to bring about their own change and spend the rest of this year helping,” Duggan wrote in a recent guest column in the Detroit Free Press. “Or he can decide the Detroit voters can’t be trusted and he can effectively nullify the 2013 elections by imposing an emergency manager now.”

Duggan, who is 54, informally launched his campaign last year, moving into the city from the suburbs and holding a series of gatherings and meetings to gauge interest.
 
Duggan was CEO of Detroit Medical Center from 2004 until late 2012. He helped bring the eight-hospital system back from the brink of bankruptcy. He oversaw its $1.5 billion sale in 2010 to the for-profit health company Vanguard Health Systems Inc. He is also a former Wayne County Prosecutor and county deputy executive.

A primary election will be held in August. The city’s mayoral and city council election -- which will for the first time in decades elect council members based on districts -- will be held in November. Current Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has not yet said whether he will run.

Others have thrown their hats in the ring, including Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon.

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Michigan
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