Detroit, MI
Detroit Mayor Sheffield loved these 2 items in Whitmer’s speech
Watch Mary Sheffield sworn in as first female Detroit mayor
Mary Sheffield officially became Detroit’s 76th mayor during a public ceremonial swearing-in.
LANSING — Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield said she was both excited and inspired by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s State of the State address Feb. 25, especially the plans Whitmer announced related to literacy and housing.
Sheffield spoke to the Detroit Free Press just outside the House chamber, immediately after Whitmer’s final State of the State as governor and Sheffield’s first as mayor of Detroit.
Sheffield said the governor hit on many “kitchen table topics that matter to not just Michiganders, but everyday Detroiters as well.”
Whitmer has made literacy a key topic for the last year of her final term, proposing in her recent 2027 budget a record investment in literacy coaches, new school curricula, and other initiatives, supported by a one-time $645-million surge in literacy funding.
“The literacy piece is big because Detroiters want a mayor that focuses more on education,” Sheffield said.
She said she wants to see more after-school programming and safe spaces where Detroit children can read.
On housing, Sheffield said she wants to build 1,000 new single-family homes in Detroit and she supports Whitmer’s proposal to ease zoning restrictions and streamline construction regulations.
“Her wanting to expedite and remove regulations to build housing something quicker is something I was very, very interested in,” Sheffield said.
Sheffield also attended President Donald Trump’s Feb. 24 State of the Union address.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com.