Detroit Mayor's Jobs Program Starts With His Office Payroll

Before being convicted on charges related to bribery and kickback scandals, former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had as many as 108 full time staffers on his payroll. After he left the number of full time equivalents (FTEs) working in the mayor’s office fell to just 22 in 2013.

According to a new audit, current Mayor Mike Duggan had 75 FTEs on the mayoral payroll in 2016. This is up from the 56 full-time equivalent staffers that Duggan employed in 2015.

The surge comes even as the city’s overall workforce has been severely downsized. The number of Detroit city jobs is down 38 percent since 2007, from 9,815 FTEs to 6,077 in 2016. The city didn't respond to an email seeking comment.