New mayors in Westland, Inkster outline their priorities

The newly elected mayors of Westland and Inkster are preparing to take office next week and have set priorities of economic development and budget balancing in their respective Wayne County communities.

In Westland, State Rep. Kevin Coleman handily defeated Interim Mayor Mike Londeau with 59% of the vote to Londeau's 41%, according to unofficial results from the Wayne County Clerk's Office. Londeau was chosen by the City Council in January to replace former longtime Mayor Bill Wild, who left office to take a job in the private sector.

In Inkster, former Mayor Byron Nolen easily topped current Mayor Patrick Wimberly, who is facing a bribery criminal charge from federal authorities. Nolen prevailed 58%-40% in the unofficial results. During the campaign, Nolen focused more on the city's budget deficit than the incumbent's federal bribery charge that became public last month.

Coleman expects to take office next week and has set priorities.

Mayor-elect Coleman said Wednesday he wants to begin finding a way to revive the increasingly vacant Westland Shopping Center, a fading icon in this city of 84,000. But as the mall steadily loses shops, it has become of symbol of the many underused retail and commercial spaces that dot this city.

"Economic development is on the top of my list. Many of the people I've talked to these past months say it is on the top of their list," Coleman said Wednesday. "Westland mall is still a hot topic. I want to make progress on that as quickly as I can."

He said he intends to meet with the private owners of the mall, along with other potential investors.

Like any new mayor, he will create a transition team, identify key members of his future administration as well as meet with City Council members to discuss priorities, Coleman said.

The victories of Coleman and State Rep. Lori Stone in Warren are set to temporarily erase the thin majority Democrats have held in the Michigan House of Representatives for the past 10 months. When Coleman and Stone vacate their seats, the House will have a 54-54 tie, although Rep. Joe Tate, D-Detroit, will remain the House speaker. Coleman supports Gov. Gretchen Whitmer calling a special primary election as soon as January with a general election to follow.

In Inkster, Mayor-elect Nolen plans to focus on the city's $3.4 million deficit this community of 26,000 residents has accumulated under Wimberly. When he departed the mayor's office in 2019, Nolen left the city with a $2 million surplus, he said.

Nolen said Wednesday he is eager to find out how to save taxpayer money.

"It's time to jump in," he said. Along with City Council, "we'll have a look at the budget to see how much money we spent. . . this year and assess the situation. I may have to make some major changes at the department head level and make sure the staff is ready to go because we ask a lot of them."

It was too soon to give a timeline when cuts may be made, Nolen said. "It's just a matter of evaluating and knowing where we're spending money."

The city has come close to financial disaster in the recent past. It had to negotiate a consent agreement with the state of Michigan more than a decade ago to work off a $3.5 million deficit the city had accumulated by 2012, which put it in severe financial stress. It exited the agreement in June 2016.

The loss means Wimberly will have to leave office while facing an accusation from the U.S. Attorney's office that he accepted $50,000 from an unnamed party seeking to buy city-owned property. If convicted, he faces up to a decade in prison and a $250,000 fine, but he is out on a $10,000 bond. He entered a plea of not guilty during his arraignment.

laguilar@detroitnews.com