Word: detroits
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...That doesn't sway some of the city's more committed voters. At a recent fundraiser in Palmer Woods, an upscale Detroit neighborhood, Pugh told the crowd of plans to create a room for the city council's president to hold press conferences, modeled largely after the White House press-briefing room. Never mind that Detroit is struggling to resolve a budget deficit of at least $275 million. "P.r. is part of the job," Pugh said. But the host, Mary Ellen Gurewitz, a respected Detroit attorney, pressed him on issues of procedural and financial matters, and was hardly impressed...
...timing was good. Detroit has endured a period of political upheaval, the most notable case being the departure in disgrace of its previous scandal-plagued mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick. The city also likes to root for its own, so much of Pugh's narrative resonates with a certain segment of this city's electorate. The political newcomer won the primary election last August by more than 10,000 votes, beating the incumbent city council president. "Detroiters are so thirsty for leadership," says Mildred Gaddis, a popular Detroit radio host and one of the most astute observers of the region's politics...
...city's jaded voters have had their share of politicians who are more style than substance, and Pugh's talk of bringing change to the city is sometimes vague and simplistic. He has suggested putting teams of volunteers on Detroit's streets to give residents various facts about the city. He has floated the idea of bolstering neighborhood-watch clubs to reduce crime. He has pledged to create a website to improve citizens' engagement with elected officials. "You walk through neighborhoods and people say, 'I've never seen the people I elect around here,' " Pugh observes...
...some respects, Pugh has already made his mark on Detroit. Pugh's rise in this majority-black city moderates some of the popular perception that African Americans are more homophobic than the general U.S. population. On the campaign trail, Pugh rarely discusses what it means to be gay, although some of his critics have made an issue of his sexuality - particularly his unabashed preference for younger men. (Pugh notes that his last partner was a 23-year-old entrepreneur, and says, "No one complains when an older man dates a younger woman...
...been careful not to delve into issues like gay marriage, partly because it typically doesn't figure into a city councilor's portfolio. Still, he recalls one influential Detroit pastor saying, "We like you, but you pose a problem for the clergy: homosexuality is a sin in our book." Yet hardly any ministers have publicly denounced his candidacy. "People have whispered things about Charles Pugh's homosexuality that they wouldn't dare say in public, partly because they don't want to be singled out," says Gaddis...