UM-Dearborn teams with DPT and League of Women Voters to help inform Detroit voters

“This election is important for many, many reasons. This is the first election under the financial manager system; and it’s the first election under the new district system for City Council,” said Tim Kiska, associate professor. “The more information voters get about people running for office, the better.”

Members of UM-Dearborn’s journalism and screen studies (JASS) program filmed the interviews for 56 candidates, including mayoral, City Council, clerk and police commission candidates.

Candidates met the film crew and League of Women Voters volunteers at the U-M Detroit Center and answered two questions: How do you see your job while the emergency manager is in place? What is your vision of Detroit in the post-emergency financial manager era?

“Particularly in the council races, people are wondering, ‘Who are these people?’” Kiska said. “We hope the MiVote effort provided some more information and Detroit voters were better informed as they headed to the polls.”

JASS student Tina Nelson served as project manager of the filming. She recruited two UM-Dearborn recent alumni, Mark Rinn and Charles Pelham, to help film and edit.

Nelson said shooting and editing video on deadline gave her valuable experience in a high-pressure situation, trouble-shooting and problem solving on the fly. And as a Detroit resident, she appreciated the up-close view of Detroit politics.

“This was a prime opportunity for me to meet the candidates and learn about them first-hand,” she said. “I have a lot of respect for the people who came; it shows the commitment of the candidate.”