Re-elected to Detroit City Council in the new position of representing District 1 on November 5, 2013 with 15,615 votes (68%).
His official bio from the City website, annotated :
Lifelong Detroiter James Tate voluntarily left his position as 2nd Deputy Chief of the Detroit Police Department (DPD) in 2009 to run for elected office as a member of Detroit City Council because he believed Detroit lacked adequate Council representation that would initiate the turnaround that our city so desperately needed. A graduate of Wayne State University, Councilman Tate brings a wealth of management, organizational and leadership skills - having also served as an Emmy Award winning Assignment Desk Editor at WXYZ-TV (Channel 7) and as the Commanding Officer of the Detroit Police Department’s Office of Public Information.
Understanding that the laws enacted and the issues addressed today will affect the future of all Detroiters, Councilman Tate has worked hard to make sure that the legislative and community-related issues that crossed his desk received the scrutiny and due diligence that the residents of Detroit deserve. He has also continued his devotion to serving, empowering and motivating others, especially our youth. Using a holistic approach with the understanding that in order for the community to heal and grow, city leaders must work both “at the table” and in the community, he is molding his passion for helping youth reach their fullest potential into a movement.
“I am blessed to have had the work experiences I had before becoming a Council member. My tenure with Channel 7 and the DPD allowed me to see first-hand the many levels of despair, dysfunction and destruction that exist in our community. It also showed me the possibilities for success and what areas we need to attack if we want to save our youth from failure."
His mission and the main focus of his Better Detroit initiative is to: develop community-based strategies that unite individuals, institutions and organizations to generate a renewed sense of responsibility towards resolving the many concerns facing the city of Detroit. The goal of his Teen Pregnancy Prevention Collaborative (TP2C), a Better Detroit program currently in two high schools, is to reduce the teen pregnancy rate while raising self-esteem levels and personal health awareness. Later programs will tackle the issues of the lack of solid youth mentoring and the high level of illiteracy among our children.
Councilman Tate is also the Co-Chair of the Teen Violence Prevention Task Force. The task force seeks to bring together community/business leaders, educators, law enforcement, parents and young people to develop strategies for dealing with the root causes that lead our youth to commit acts of violence.
