Declaration Detroit asks signers to commit to changing Detroit

On Tuesday Detroit Mayor Dave Bing will give his state of the city address. Also on Tuesday the Detroit Declaration is asking its 2,700 signers to join them to watch Mayor Bing lay out Detroit's future. Sign up here, as it is part of our speaker series.

Excerpt from the Detroit Free Press:

In about two months, 20 Detroiters have recruited 2,700 people to sign a declaration that asks them to commit to the city's future.

The declaration lays out 12 principles aimed at creating prosperity for the city and its residents. Some would be obvious goals for any community: Prioritizing education, demanding government accountability and developing transportation alternatives.

But they are a poignant list of priorities for a city whose school district graduates only 58% of its high school seniors, which has seen public officials convicted of corruption and has struggled to move on a mass transit plan for years.

"When it comes time to vote, or make an important decision, hopefully people will use these principles as a checklist for how they determine what's right for the city," said Kirsten Ussery, 31, who lives in Detroit's West Village neighborhood.

On Tuesday, the Detroit Declaration's drafters are to take their first major step to turn signatures into action by inviting signers to watch Mayor Dave Bing's first state of the city address.

The declaration is creating buzz online with more than 10,500 Facebook fans, and it is receiving praise from the city's business and political leaders.

Read the entire article here.