Detroit City Council Formal Session

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This meeting is held as per usual at 2 Woodward, Coleman A. Young Municipal Center (CAYMC) in room 1340…you can attend live or via remote options. Agenda & remote access info available here 👇🔗
pub-dehttps://pub-detroitmi.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=f14a6aaf-12cf-42ac-8bad-47d112b739a3&Agenda=Agenda&lang=English

Note that the online agenda has active links to supporting documents 🥳🕺… also note that the meeting often starts a few minutes late, so don’t worry if you cannot log in right at 10 AM

You can check out last meeting coverage by Alex Klaus @mostlikelyalex.bsky.social right here👇🧵
www.dohttps://www.documenters.org/documents/none-192679/thread/

Sooo....it is 10:03 AM and ‘recording in progress’ but just this screen; shouldn’t be too long, though, before we are underway

They just started at 10:09 AM @detdocumenters.bsky.social #DETDocumenters but the Zoom just began in the middle of something & not sure what…Council President Mary Sheffield (D-5) thanking Councilmember Angela Whitfield Calloway (D-2)

Now doing invocation…if you get chance, check out the transcript or recording of meeting…one of the best invocations I have heard!

I only see the 5 women members…and Calloway (D-3) notes to audience, addressing the public in attendance, especially young people from schools, that there are 4 members who are men and members of council…they’re just not here.

Not sure if that is as reassuring/inclusive as she intends 😆

This meeting may be shorter than normal as “everyone” is travelling to the Mackinac Policy Conference…
https://www.detroitchamber.com/mackinac-policy-conference/2025-mackinac-policy-conference/

They move to public comment…first is a Betty Lyons and I hear an exasperated “Oh, gawd…” (inadvertently?) let out by, well, someone…🫤

A rep from a towing company is present to complain about losing contract with the City of Detroit…was not able to pick up the name of the company

Now we have someone asking about getting a response from the Council on pollution from Stellantis…tired of continuing to complain without results

And we have a person asserting wide-spread absentee ballot fraud being practiced by City Council

Another person references history of Brewster Projects and suggests RenCen be repurposed along a similar model

We have a person speaking remotely, I believe for Coalition for Property Tax Justice, asking that Council move to see foreclosure protections are implemented/used
https://www.illegalforeclosures.org/

Another person speaks out with concern for high rates of infant mortality in Detroit

Melissa Love calls in to continue with her, well, I’m not quite sure what…I so not have the background info, but something about not having voted but being on the voter rolls…it feels like overhearing a long-standing conversation

A ‘Galaxy Tab A’ is on Zoom speaking about lack of cleanliness at a specific bus stop and expresses support for Sheffield’s (D-5) run for mayor

Transportation advocate and local hero Michael Cunningham on Zoom to give current account of activity

Another remote comment–calls on people to check out Detroit Solar Scam 👇🔗
www.dehttps://www.detroitsolarscam.com/

A call-in ‘calls out’ the overheard exasperated ‘Oh, gawd’ let out after announcing the first public comment

Another remote call in notes contradiction between City’s inability to adequately address homelessness while still allowing for housing evictions

Another person calls in for comment…continues “conversation” going on between council and Melissa Love, who he connects to a Lorenzo Sewell…hmmm

Then I got this…

Another call in speaks to supporting only those projects that bring jobs to Detroit/Detroiters

Last caller asking for specifics on the City’s plans for Juneteenth and status of in-fill houses around Conners and Navajo/ Tennessee and Kitchener area…they were built during Coleman Young era

Public comment has come to a close and Councilmember Fred Durhall (D-7) has arrived

Onto resolutions…17.1-17.3 all approved…waiver for 17.2 rejected, and 17.4 postponed for next week

Items 18.1-18.3 all approved…these are various appointments

Councilmember Coleman A Young II (At-Large) has arrived…18.4 approved for staffing services for elections, and all lawsuits except 18.9 (which is objected to by Gabriella Santiago-Romero, D-6) are approved

It appears Councilmember James Tate (D-1) is now present…they are moving quickly now, and approving, well, it seems like everything 😆

Some of these would be nice to hear about…like 20.6’s ‘Detroit Charge Ahead’ thingee…sounds exciting!
https://detroitmi.gov/government/mayors-office/office-mobility-innovation/detroits-ev-charging-future#/analyze?region=US-MI&fuel=ELEC&show_map=true

And how about 20.7…what is being swapped?

Oh…here it is. But how about a little more on why? All so mysterious
https://pub-detroitmi.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=218603

They are now discussing some item in section 20…a redevelopment project that would affect a building that housed one of the original African-American owned printing presses in Michigan

Concerns of safety…building is deemed unsafe by LaJuan Counts, although she does say that given enough time and $$$ it could be saved/preserved

The current plan for demolition is framed by ARPA funding backing the project…to switch gears and look to preservation is an entirely different process…I believe it is Tate (D-1) who is looking for alternatives…apparently this has been postponed for a long while

Conversation is continuing and they have brought Terri Daniels from Chief Financial Officer’s office into the conversation…how would they go about analysis, how would they find funding, how does changing direction affect ARPA dollars, etc…

Question has to do with the classification of contracts under ARPA and dating of original contract…if any contracts exist for historic preservation, they may be encumbered by being tied to specific locations

Young (At-Large) chimes in with a host of relevant questions…are we rebuilding another building? Is it structurally possible to do…has an engineering study been done? Would it be better to just do a historical marker…is that even possible if it is not on federal list of historical buildings?

So 21.2-21.10 approved & 21.1. still on hold

Councilmember Whitfield-Calloway wants to have discussion about 21.7, which is a $6 million contract…but it was approved with a waiver, so while they can talk about it, it is moving forward…this is contract 👇🔗
pub-dehttps://pub-detroitmi.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=218483

Moving back to 9.5…Calloway (D-2) has questions about Tuskeegee Airman statue…only feet remain (?) and wondering about status of finding the body of the statue. (This is very strange)

21.7 and 22.1 are postponed and they move on to two walk-on items…11.11 which is a public hearing for date TBD for amending City Code by adding Sections 29-3-14 and 29-3-15 to provide for a superseding curfew for all minors beginning at 8:00 p.m. on Monday, June 23, 2025…asks for public hearing

They are now on to member reports…which will be suspended, but Santiago-Romero gives thank you to Bedrock Development for $1 million support for affordable housing in D-6 under the community benefits portion of their project

They approve remaining items…8 testimonial resolutions…announce cancellation of standing committee meetings for the week and adjourn meeting at 11:56 PM

As they used to say on the Looney Toons, ‘That’s All, Folks!’…as in, that is my coverage of this (somewhat abbreviated) Detroit City Council Formal Session meeting for 5/27…as always, some things to mull over. In no particular order👇👇👇

• Whitfield-Calloway seems very focused on Agenda item 21.7, Contract No. 6007138…she has brought up her frustration in previous meetings about lack of Detroit contractors for big contracts, & this is$6 million…contractors are Ajax Paving and a Fort Wayne Contracting

Ajax Paving appears to be Troy-based & Fort Wayne…is a slight mystery. Listed as a Detroit business, but with no working website…although there is this D&B listing, FWIW
https://www.dandb.com/businessdirectory/fortwaynecontractinginc.-detroit-mi-18886338.html

• What’s up with the missing Tuskegee Airman statue? It Stolen in 2024–apparently for the bronze–then recovered. But, where is it now?

It was a big story, everybody congratulating themselves…how about at least a sign saying it is in process of being restored??si=eMvCFRmb_k_hZoRx

• On a related sidenote–Mayor Duggan says there have been lots of instances of Detroit outdoor works of art/decorative architecture that have been stolen. Here is a story idea, @detdocumenters.bsky.social…how about a list of what & when & status of return or restoration?

• Related to this, Duggan said the recovered(ish)–as in, where is it?–statue is evidence of a new Detroit Police. Can we have instances of where the ‘old’ Detroit Police either would not or could not do its job?

Just curious. What years were those? Who was impacted? 🧐So many questions…

• The idea of Detroit RenCen becoming a huge housing development was brought up & I have to say on more than one occasion I have been asked why the City does not pursue this…which is also odd, because I am not sure why anyone thinks I would have an answer to this query.

• I suspect there are likely good reasons why this is not practical…but have no idea what they might be as I have no background in construction. As the US continues to drift more & more to an imitation of Brezhnev-era USSR, though, perhaps this will gain traction…Make Brutalism Great Again!

But again, that’s just me.

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