Tom's Vision for Detroit

Diversity and creativity can boost our economic recovery right here in Detroit and re-circulating our city contract dollars within the city is a key element to our success.

As Mayor, Tom Barrow will create Detroit jobs by not only attracting leading companies and diverse industries to Detroit such as technology and energy-based businesses, but by creating a clear nexus between the city’s army of vendors and the job training programs which train Detroiters for the next generation of jobs!

But there’s more, another “will work” example is Tom’s plan to bring jobs to Metro Detroit by increasing the number of Detroit-based small businesses. Tom will establish special economic incentives at the local level to create and build these small businesses.

Tom Barrow knows and understands that all businesses, but especially a small business, needs open access to financing and capital and will see to it and help! That’s right, Tom knows that every business’s chance for success is greatly enhanced when they start with a formal structure, an accountant, a lawyer, realistic financial projections and a viable business plan. As your future Detroit Mayor, a Mayor Barrow will help you create and grow your successful small business right here in Detroit !

Tom Barrow understands what makes for a successful business and has a plan to attract other viable industries to southeastern Michigan.

If economic stability in Detroit is important to you and your family and if you want a Mayor to work aggressively to bring jobs to Detroit, then join most Detroiters and vote the only candidate who will bring Real Change for Detroit - VOTE TOM BARROW FOR MAYOR!

A safe neighborhood is paramount to living working and raising a family in Detroit. As Mayor, Tom Barrow will establish "Family Safe Zones" throughout Detroit's many key neighborhoods.

Family Safe Zones are protected neighborhood zones with a heightened police presence. Promising to increase the ranks of the City’s police force by more than 300 police officers,  adding 150 new one man patrol cars to patrol neighborhood, and implementing new information and communication technologies will speed up police response time, and make Detroiters not only feel safer but actually be safer in the years ahead.

The protected Family Safe Zone created by a “Mayor” Tom Barrow will be the first in the Nation and finally get rid of that anxious day-to-day, unsafe feeling and let our citizens have the peace of mind to enjoy our great quality of life here in Detroit. 

If you care about the safety of your family and want a Mayor to work aggressively to bring Family Safe Zones to your neighborhood, then join most Detroiters and vote the only candidate who will bring Real Change for Detroit - VOTE TOM BARROW FOR MAYOR!

We need expert eyes on our finances and a Mayor who is trained to manage the kinds of complex financial dealings which are at the core of the crisis we are experiencing.   The city’s deficit is growing daily.

Barrow obtained a copy of the city’s 216-page Comprehensive Annual Financial Report directly from the State of Michigan.   In the report, Barrow points to page 29 where the Governmental Activities Deficit as of June 30, 2007 was in excess of $603 million.
Barrow knows that the city’s current leaders are, in effect, hiding the true governmental operations deficit, falsely blaming it on the city employees and deferring the inevitable crash down the road. 

As further proof, Barrow pointed to pages 69-70, where buried in footnote “B” was nearly $60 million in departmental budget overruns.    It can’t be the city workers which are causing the problem.  Its abuse, lack of leadership, discipline and theft allowing nearly $60 million in budget overruns. No wonder outsiders want to take our Cobo Hall; we look as if we can’t run anything correctly, least of all Cobo Hall.

Mayor Bing is really a caretaker.  As proof, he reappointed Kwame Kilpatrick’s financial team headed by Norm White, who is still years behind with the City’s audits.   Tom Barrow, an accountant and municipal finance expert since 1973, is more than qualified to examine the books with an expert eye.  He’ll not re-shuffle the deck; he will unwrap a whole new deck with new faces. New energy and a fresh approach to the city’s finances.

If economic stability in Detroit is important to you and your family and if you want a Mayor to be vigorous in setting our books straight so we can enjoy public services again, then join most Detroiters and vote the only candidate who will bring Real Change for Detroit - VOTE TOM BARROW FOR MAYOR!

Tom Barrow was born right here in Detroit in the city's old "Black Bottom" and has never left. He understands and advocates preserving Detroit’s assets for future generations of Detroiters just like him.   Looking to privatize and sell-off valuable City assets will not only take away these assets from the City, it will skyrocket layoffs and diminish wages as private companies seek the lowest paid, least experienced workers to replace veteran civil servants.  That’s Tom’s position and it is clear.

Tom will not give away its profit centers like Cobo Hall, Public Lighting or Water & Sewage Departments to outsiders.  We just need to run them like what they are…profit-making proprietary businesses. Detroit needs to implement new, entrepreneurial thinking in the city’s departments.   A Barrow administration will appoint energetic, fresh leadership in each department and give them a sense of urgency and a clean slate to run their department as if it was their own business.   Barrow will then make them accountable.  Detroit doesn’t need outsiders to take over.   We simply need a strong business-minded approach to managing resources and assets.

If keeping Detroit’s assets for future generations is important to you and your family and if you want a Detroiter as Mayor who will work aggressively to keep our city’s jewels, then join most Detroiters and vote the only candidate who will bring Real Change for Detroit - VOTE TOM BARROW FOR MAYOR!