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• "Get My Loot": The Argument for Proposal D in Detroit, Darrell Dawsey for Time Magazine, September 2009

When I first heard about the hotly contested Proposal D — a ballot initiative that, if passed, would permit Detroiters to elect the majority of its City Council by district rather than to at-large seats — I had doubts. We can all imagine boogeymen behind any number of political ideas, and when it came to Prop. D, I had visions of newly minted ward bosses running amok. In a city where name recognition alone has won votes for the likes of disgraced ex-council president Monica Conyers and current councilwoman/R&B barnstormer Martha Reeves, it's not hard to imagine Detroit council districts being turned into a ward heeler's ball.