The second of a multi-part series, in which our intrepid lit editor spends a little time visiting the campaign headquarters of the mayoral candidates and shares his observations. (For part one on the Hendrix campaign, please click here.)

Something special is happening on the third floor of the Marquette Building in downtown Detroit. With only a laptop, a telephone, and some Post-it notes Stacey Rieberger is managing and mobilizing the campaign to elect Hansen Clarke as the next Mayor of Detroit. Rieberger knows that her candidate joined the race late. She knows that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has a well-oiled campaign machine and fellow candidate Freeman Hendrix has a large following just because he's not Kilpatrick. In addition to this, she knows that her candidate will also have to overcome other incredible obstacles in the next two months. She knows all of this, yet she still believes.

Rieberger takes the Amtrak train every morning from her house in Saline, Michigan. She leaves behind her three children and her studies for her geriatric fellowship at the University of Michigan. She makes these sacrifices because she thinks that someone who is, in her view, as genuine and noble as Clarke should be the next Mayor of Detroit. She also believes that the city of Detroit has the potential to be a miraculous metropolis. She wants a safer Detroit, where her kids can discover different cultures and get a taste for the various arts. She has no doubt that Clarke can make the city a place where you can raise your kids and not worry about the prospect of crime lurking around every corner. When she first started working on the campaign Stacey found that the city had a "vibe" like no other. She was sure that if Clarke got into office he would make this city just as inviting as Chicago or New York.

When asked about how Clarke intends to go about changing Detroit, Rieberger points to his record. "Hansen Clarke has always voted for the people of Detroit in the State Senate. He loves this city and believes in it and its people. You can put his record against any of the other candidates and see that he is genuine and the real deal. That's why I would have no problem giving up my geriatric fellowship at the University of Michigan if it came between my working on his campaign."

Stacey Rieberger is no fool about the difficult task ahead. But the future that is at stake keeps her and the other hard working folks behind the Hansen Clarke campaign persevere. Together they are all volunteering their time and energy to ensure that by the primary in August that the citizens of Detroit know Clarke's name and share his belief that your city, his city, Stacey Rieberger's city is and will be something special.