DETROIT (WXYZ) — For the second time in Detroit's history, a woman has been named the new deputy mayor of the city.
Melia Howard replaces Todd Bettison, who is set to be Detroit's interim police chief.
"It just validated for a lot of people in the community who’ve seen me working for decades. It validated for them that if Melia can do that, we all can do that,“ Howard said. “There’s so many people who’ve allowed me to be in this space because if they didn’t lift me up, I wouldn’t be in this space.“
Hear more from Melia Howard in the video below:
Howard has a long history of serving Detroiters in various roles including director of Community Engagement and advising the mayor on neighborhood economic development. Prior to formally working for the city, she was a familiar community organizer and says she's always loved serving her neighbors.
"Just being able to connect with people and just being able to give them the attention they need and deserve and allowing them to say their piece but being solution-oriented and getting them the help they need,” Howard said about her passion for connecting people to help.
She's credited with helping build community support for many of the city’s marquee development projects by making sure they had a voice in the process and a role in shaping each project’s community benefits agreement.
Prior to that, Howard was director of Special Projects and also served as Department of Neighborhoods manager for District 5.
She spearheaded the Saturdays in the " job training program, which partners with the university of Michigan to support adults and high school students.
"I loved going out on Saturday mornings and somebody would call and be like, Miss. Howard, I need help, and I would be like OK, here I come,“ Howard said. of her time as neighborhoods manager.
Howard grew up on the city's east side near 8 Mile and Ryan roads and still lives in the city.
“I’m a daughter from the east side. We love each other hard. We always support our neighbors,” Howard said.
Her future plans include supporting the mayor's initiatives like the expansion of Community Violence Intervention programs, providing opportunities for job skills programs, supporting investments and progress in affordable housing and improving the quality of life for Detroiters.
"People need to be heard and not just heard. They need to see the action behind all the communication and all the intentionality behind what you bring to the space, so that’s what I do,” Howard said.
She prefers to be on the ground building relationships.
"I’ve always been everywhere. I have a history, grassroots history knocking doors, campaigns. I’m all over the city at any given moment, so people will see me at their doorstep,” Howard said.
Howard is also a big fan of Godzilla and B-horror movies and even as a child wanted to be a lawyer, politician, mortician or forensic pathologist.
“I grew up in front of the TV and I loved watching Quincy and so when I was little, I was like I’m gonna to be Quincy when I grow up,” Howard said.
She credits her grandfather introducing her to horror films and her grandmother for her interest in politics.
“My grandma, growing up was very involved in politics, so every day WWJ played all day,” Howard reminisced.
