Mary D. Waters
Member of the Detroit City Council At-Large
Assumed office
January 1, 2022
Preceded byJaneé Ayers
Member of the Michigan House of Representatives
from the 4th district
In office
January 1, 2001 – 2006
Preceded byEdward Vaughn
Succeeded byColeman A. Young II
Personal details
Born (1955-08-27) August 27, 1955
Alabama
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of Michigan (BA)

Mary D. Waters (born August 27, 1955) is an American politician from Detroit, Michigan. She is a member of the Detroit City Council.[1] Previously she served for three terms as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives, where she was Michigan's first African American minority floor leader from 2003 to 2006.[2][1]

Early life and education

Waters was born in Alabama on August 27, 1955. While in gradeschool she picked cotton in Greenville Alabama, but moved to Detroit as a teen, when her father found work with the auto industry.[2][3] Waters attended the Detroit Business Institute. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan, where she studied communications and behavioral sciences.[2]

Career

On November 7, 2000, Waters was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives where she represented the 4th district from January 10, 2001 to 2006. Waters served as the Minority Floor Leader for the state House from 2003 to 2006, being the first African-American woman to serve as Democratic floor leader in the chamber.[2] Waters left office in 2006 due to term limits.[2]

While in the Michigan legislature, Waters worked with Gretchen Whitmer who later became Michigan's governor. She often reminded her former colleague to take poverty-related issues like job training, insurance redlining and other maters related to Detroit seriously.[4] She also backed candidate Whitmer by introducing her to Black church congregations in Detroit.[5]

In 2021, Waters won an at-large seat on the Detroit City Council.[6] While on the City Council she proposed establishing gun-free zones in the city's downtown area.[7] She also opposed the sale of occupied, city-owned houses, calling it "Putting profit ahead of people."[8] In October of 2023 she proposed eliminating all property taxes in Detroit.[9][10]

In October 2010, Waters pleaded guilty along with her former campaign manager, Sam Riddle, for their roles following allegations they conspired to bribe a Southfield, Michigan City Councilman, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Michigan. In May 2010, Waters pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of filing a false tax return. Later that year, she was sentenced to one year of probation on claims she received a $6,000 Rolex watch from a Southfield jewelry store. She later attempted unsuccessfully to withdraw her plea, and has since said that she was railroaded by "overzealous federal prosecutors" who really wanted Sam Riddle, her campaign manager.[11] Riddle also pleaded guilty to conspiring with, then, Councilmember Monica Conyers, and other individuals, to disrupt commerce by extortion.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 Burke, Melissa Nann (November 14, 2023). "Detroit councilwoman mulls U.S. House bid against Thanedar". Detroit News. Detroit, Michigan. Archived from the original on 2023-11-29. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Legislator Details - Mary D. Waters". Library of Michigan. Archived from the original on 2023-11-29. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  3. ↑ Waters, Mary (December 19, 2018). "WHAT A STATE OFFICE OF POVERTY ELIMINATION NEEDS". The PuLSE Institute. Archived from the original on 2023-12-08. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  4. ↑ Thompson, Bankole (November 7, 2018). "Bankole: A charge to governor-elect Whitmer". Detroit News. Detroit, Michigan. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
  5. ↑ Thompson, Bankole (July 10, 2019). "Bankole: Paradox of Whitmer's first six months in office". Detroit News. Detroit, Michigan. Archived from the original on September 25, 2022. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
  6. ↑ Rahal, Sarah (January 4, 2022). "New Detroit City Council sworn in, picks Mary Sheffield as president". Detroit News. Detroit, Michigan. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-29.
  7. ↑ Kinchen, Dave (April 18, 2023). "Detroit city councilwoman proposes designating Greektown, Riverfront, other areas gun-free zones". Fox 2 Detroit. Detroit, Michigan. Archived from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-01.
  8. ↑ Robinson, Samuel; Guillen, Joe; Frank, Annalise (March 27, 2023). "Council member opposes sale of occupied houses". Axios Media. Archived from the original on 2023-12-20. Retrieved 2023-12-22.
  9. ↑ Mondry, Aaron (October 11, 2023). "This week in Detroit development: Planting 4,000 trees, Brush Park new build and a wild tax plan". Detroit Outlier Media. Archived from the original on 2023-12-08. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  10. ↑ Oosting, Jonathan (November 28, 2023). "Michigan anti-property-tax group seeks to get on 2024 state ballot". BridgeDetroit. Archived from the original on 2023-12-05. Retrieved 2023-12-08.
  11. ↑ Dickson, James David (2021-10-12). "Scandals plague two Detroit at-large council candidates as election looms". Detroit News. Archived from the original on 2021-10-12.
  12. ↑ U.S. Attorney’s Office (May 20, 2010). "Samuel L. Riddle, Jr. and Mary Waters Plead Guilty to Corruption, Conspiracy, and Related Charges". fbi.gov. Archived from the original on 2023-04-19.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.