Letitia Johnson present Councilmember Gabriela Satyako Romero present Member Mary Walters present Councilmember Angela Whitfield Collarway Councilmember the second Council President Pro Tim James Tate and Council President Mary Sheffield present.

We have a quantum present, Madam President.

All right, thank you.

There being a quorum present, we are in session.

Welcome back, everyone.

Um hope everyone had a great uh summer recess and we are back in action.

Uh and we will start off as always with our invocation.

We have joining us Deputy Chief Chaplain Deshante Irvin, who is on virtually.

Good morning.

Good morning, ma'am.

Everyone will bow their heads.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day, and we thank you for this time that you have allowed us to gather in these chambers.

Father, we ask that you will touch the minds and the hearts of all the council members on today, led by our council president, that you would allow them to uh handle business according to your will and according to the best interest of our city.

Father, we speak a best special blessing upon our city and ask that you cover it with peace on today and that you allow this meeting to go forth according to your will and your plan in Jesus' name we do pray.

Amen.

Amen.

All right, thank you so much, uh chaplain, and please feel free to stay on as long as you can.

Yes, sir.

If not, we'd understand.

Thank you for being here.

The clerk with no member Callaway has joined us as well.

The clerk was so no.

All right, the journal of the session of Tuesday, July the 22nd will be approved.

There being no reconsiderations or unfinished business.

We will proceed to the budget finance and audit standing committee for the budget finance and audit standing committee.

Two contracts approved on the recess procedure.

The two reports will be placed on file for the internal operations standing committee.

Three contracts approved on the recess procedure.

The three reports will be received and placed on file for the neighborhood and community services standing committee.

12 contracts approved on the recess procedures.

The 12 reports will be received and placed on file for the planning and economic development standing committee.

Eight contracts approved on the recess procedure.

The eight reports will be received and placed on file for the public health and safety standing committee.

Excuse me, the 51 reports will be received and placed on file for the president's report on standing committee referrals and other matters for the budget finance and audit standing committee.

12 reports from various city departments.

The 12 reports will be referred to the budget finance and audit standing committee for the internal operations standing committee.

15 reports from various C departments.

Okay, and if we can refer line item 14.15 to new business so that we can take this item up today.

This is the embudsman application process.

There's a motion.

All right, hearing no objections, 14.15 will be moved to new business, and the 14 reports will be referred to the internal operations standing committee for the neighborhood and community services standing committee.

13 reports from various city departments.

The 13 reports will be referred to the neighborhood and community services standing committee for the planning and economic development standing committee.

10 reports from various city departments.

The 31 reports will be referred to the public health and safety standing committee.

We will now move to the voting action matters.

Under other matters, there are no items, Madam President.

Under communications from the mayor and other governmental officials and agencies.

And we will start with Ms.

Lyons.

Congratulations, Ms.

Sheffield, for your great victory.

You gave God the praise, and I appreciate that.

But at the same time, do not fall slave or victim to the bondage by your rich supporters.

Remember, you are God's child.

And he will direct your past, your path.

Young men and women.

I cry for them.

I love children.

I love men and women.

I just love them.

But they don't know where they came from.

They came from a rich people, rich people, a continent full of gold and silver, gems, you name it.

It's in the continent of Africa.

They still don't know how the Egyptians made the pyramids.

So give them praise.

The Mexicans have the 16 yetta.

Jesus Christ had his barmistrah.

What do we have to represent our people?

We need that for our people.

I still want that 600 million dollars.

I'm not gonna forget that.

And I want them to have part of that money.

Also, instead of uh all this other frivolous stuff, have those young men and women learn how to um build homes instead of spending money millions and tearing down homes.

Teach those kids that they can own those homes.

Land and property is important in our lives for that richness that we deserve.

So follow them, teach them about finances, finances, the monies that they can have, that they don't have to do anything negative.

The police know teach them prosperity, teach them, teach them and teach them.

Thank you, Miss Lyons.

Miss Tanya Wells.

We're gonna cut off public comment as well.

Good morning.

Good morning, everyone.

I stand before you still um evicted illegally and homeless.

Um I noticed on some of the websites for homes that the city of Detroit supports what they're doing, and they're making people fill out applications charging for these applications and the cost to rent a three-bedroom home in the city of Detroit.

It's $1,800 or above.

And it ain't an $1,800 house in the state.

Okay.

We need to get a handle on these landlords.

They're bullies and they're trying to take over the city of Detroit.

Some denomination of people who are coming here with the specific task of taking over real estate.

It's not just in their born anymore.

They built up their born.

Now they spilled off into the city of Detroit.

And we have to stop them.

They have money, yeah, but we have people, and we need to employ our people to do what we need to do, and that is to build shelters that men and women can stay in and help them to be able to stay in a facility and help them to learn how to get through the system of getting a home to rent.

Um, I saw a couple um things online, but I stand before you broken, and I I'm asking for each of you to consider that I um don't have a home.

Um, I was in the hospital and they took all the stuff out of my house, and they said they threw it away, but I don't believe it.

I called them, they're supposed to give me my stuff and they did.

Thank you so much, Miss Tanya Wells, for coming down.

Um, I'm not sure who you've been working with uh in the city.

Have you been working with someone from the housing department?

No, ma'am.

No, okay.

Would you mind if we connect you while you're here to see if we can get some answers for you, okay?

All right, thank you, Miss Diane.

We came.

Thank you.

Uh Destiny Ogoma.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning, council members.

My name is Destiny, and I'm a student at Wayne State University School of Medicine.

Recent legislative changes have made it so our classmates have less access to federal funding.

As a result, tuition has increased just about $7,000 this year.

This is further compounded by the reduction in access to federally funded loans.

I, as well as some of my classmates, have come to help construct policy that reinforce the healthcare system in the city of Detroit.

Many of my classmates, myself included, were born in the city of Detroit.

And we seek to live and serve within the city after we graduate and start working.

We are working with our school of medicine to assist students in maintaining their matriculation.

We hope to work with our own community members to find solutions for ever increasing cost of living and medical education.

Great.

Thank you so much for sharing that.

And anyway we could be helpful.

Please let me know and us know.

Definitely want to stand and support you all.

So thank you all for coming down.

Thank you for coming down.

Followed by uh last name Yusiv.

Good morning, Council members.

My name is Better Adim Mohammed.

I'm a first year medical student at the Wayne State University School of Medicine.

I'm also here to talk about the recent changes in tuition at the Winston University School of Medicine as well as our reduced access to federal funding, highly reduced access to federal funding.

As now grad plus loans have been discontinued and direct unsubsidized loans having capped at 200,000.

When it comes to the specific point I'm here for today is the access to primary care in Detroit.

We the purpose of state-funded medical schools is to keep Detroit trained physicians in Detroit through medical school through residency and furthermore.

The this increase in uh intuition is now strictly reducing our physicians' ability to stay in Detroit and continue to serve this uh the city of Detroit.

I'm from out of state, I fall in love with the city of Detroit, but as many of you who are married may know, it's not love that keeps America, it's also commitment.

And that commitment is has to come in the form of incentives that drive market forces for physicians to stay in Detroit and continue to serve in primary care in Detroit.

Primary care is a specialty that doesn't offer much in terms of incentives and those incentives are continuing to go lower and lower while other specialties continue to rise.

And that's I've seen that anecdotally within my class and their desires to pursue certain specialties and not pursue other specialties.

So if we want to encourage the city of Detroit to have more primary care physicians and to have the physicians that are actually in short supply is necessary for the city to be more further involved in tuition increases in tuition negotiations within the school of medicine, as well as provide opportunities for further loan forgiveness, especially now that public service loan forgiveness isn't threat is under threat.

And I would urge the city to find avenues for primary care physicians to have a decreased loan burden earlier in their training rather than later when it comes to tenures online or things like that.

Thank you for your time.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you as well.

Good morning.

Good morning.

My name is Sophia, and I've been privileged to call Midtown home since July 2019.

When I first arrived in Detroit to begin my studies at Wayne State, I was welcomed with open arms.

Since then, I try to give back in every way that I can, whether as a community ambassador for Mogov Detroit, a patient sitter at receiving hospital, or more recently, a debate coach for Emerson Elementary Middle School, whose team proudly won both the 2025 Emoja Debate League Championship Tournament and Zipcote Improvement Spee Contest.

I am currently a second-year medical student at Wayne State University School of Medicine.

I love this city deeply, and I'm grateful for the ways that it's uh shaked me.

That's why I stand before you today, because my classmates and I need support so we can continue to serve Detroit.

Recent legislative changes have cut federal funding for medical students and tuition has risen by nearly $7,000 this year alone.

And having access to loans has been restricted, leaving students financially insecure at a time when they should be preparing to care for Detroit residents.

My classmates and I are committed to strengthening Detroit's healthcare system.

But without targeted support, many students struggle to stay enrolled or may feel pressured to choose higher paying specialties over primary care field.

Our neighborhoods urgently need.

While the School of Medicine is working with us, collaboration with our city is critical.

Other communities have modeled this well.

For example, the Gross Point Housing Foundation provides housing assistance to medical students, which eases their financial pressures.

Detroit can build on that model and can do even more.

We request that the city engages on tuition of advocacy along with state and federal leaders and provide incentives for primary care training.

Detroit invested in me when I first came in here.

And I want nothing more than to continue giving back as a physician.

With your support, we can ensure that today's students become tomorrow's doctors serving right here in Detroit.

Thank you.

All right, Mr.

Note.

Good morning, everybody.

It was nice meeting many of the council members at the parade.

Mary, I tried to join your group, but I couldn't find it, but I found everybody else.

One of the problems is that I was on vacation and the voting, so I had no chance of being able to be voted in or been chosen by one of the council members.

I think that needs to be amended.

Also, the area that was chosen was way too much for the uh going down Michigan Avenue East.

So I think before they release such uh area, the council should be able to improve it.

I think uh Santa Guerrera particularly should have been consulted of what they did because we all felt that it went way too far south when they did the perennial when we went to Rosa Parks, boys are going and somebody in Trump's not being affected, but being living in Forster Street for where it's going to be is obviously something.

So we will have no representation.

I am the president of the Western Cork Town Association.

We'll have no representation on that committee, which is sad.

Also, they're doing some kind of uh parking structure since I've been involved, and you all know I've been up here for years talking about parking.

Why have we not been consulted?

Why are we not on this group?

So I'm I am uh really encouraging uh the people in the council to get me on that committee.

I have some great ideas uh about parking in Chicago, what they do on game day, they have stickers that they put in their cars, and you can't park there.

And so that would help alleviate the people who have an issues with parking.

Have great ideas why I'm not on that committee.

And I and I I ask people to please help me get on it because I do have great ideas.

Thank you so much.

I agree, Mr.

Nota.

You would be a great, great representation on that committee.

Um thank you for coming down.

We will continue with uh Adrian Titus.

Oh, I'm sorry, Mr.

Ballant first.

I've been told.

Yes, you're you're a uh by Miss Titus.

Uh I wanted to address the issue of troops on the streets, which is uh being very widely reported concerning Chicago.

And in May, we asked the city council to uh back a resolution opposing any uh uh military invasions of the city of Detroit and to uh further uh uh make clear that no city agencies will collaborate with any occupying force.

The White House is moving forward with these actions, and as you know, they've threatened uh Chicago first and uh New York City and Baltimore.

They said all big blue cities, all democratic cities, they them cities is how they said it.

Um and so we need to start preparing now.

Detroit needs to set an example uh as Chicago is that we're not going to tolerate any illegal placement of troops in our streets, which means if he says they're sending them to fight crime.

Let's be real.

Thomas Hartman laid this out in a podcast.

They're sending troops in to prepare to lay the groundwork for intervening in 2026 elections.

We can't tolerate this.

The New York Times just has a breaking story today, in the last 30 minutes, they sent it out saying that a federal judge ruled that the military interventions in Los Angeles by the next by the White House were illegal.

I think we know this.

That violated the Posse Comitatus Act.

What are we doing to prepare?

We've been told it's coming.

Right.

Thank you, Mr.

Ballant.

Morning to everyone.

Um, I'm back here again, uh, trying to get some attention on the building that I live in.

Um, with how the owner is threatening people, um, targeting certain key people are getting sick, including myself.

Um people have died off.

We're starting to have similar symptoms as the people who have died off.

Um, he took a former building inspector into court.

I was told had her fired because she was failing the units in the building for him not keeping the property up to cold.

And clearly he has some type of connections with different people where he's able to bypass.

I was told that he pays off city inspectors.

And this is just unrealistic.

What's going on?

No one's investigating Keatus McGuinness.

People know, like I said, rep Carter, he called to try to meet up with me.

I think a couple of weeks ago, I wasn't in.

I was told by someone else he was in the neighborhood.

And he stated he knows how McGinnis don't take care of his properties along with Ambudsman staff member.

Another guy in my building, he became ill.

He's been missing for like three weeks, just seen him.

He said, I'm just so tired of going through all this in this building.

No one's doing anything about it.

Um, I want to sit down and talk to him more about what's going on.

I am talking to uh uh uh Justice Department attorney, attorney Donovan, who who's interested in uh looking into what's going on with the uh people.

Uh when I went to the ER again, they told me they had no record of me ever showing up there, and that doesn't make sense right there.

Um, because this owner is well connected.

Um, my phone signal was jammed to call 911 this morning, last uh was Saturday, uh, because the guy who constantly attacks has skill set to do what he's doing.

Uh, he stated he knows the police officers and they're not gonna touch him, and he has certain security.

Thank you so much, Miss Wells.

Uh Connor Roth.

Yep, hello.

Come on.

City counselors or more specifically, Miss Callaway.

We are still waiting for a response about the body cam ordinance that was passed by the coalition for police transparency and accountability.

We want this unaltered and unchanged and not watered down, or it'd be changed where it protects the police unions too, and that it be made readily available to the public.

Stop stalling this, and we need real answers about this.

We are going to keep showing up week after week until real progress is made.

I rest my time.

All right, thank you.

Member Calloway.

Yes, attorney Anderson.

Okay, thank you.

We are hopeful to have that uh move forward with his signature this week, and we'll have it appeared on um, I think it's a public health and safety's agenda as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

Melissa Love, followed by Miss Williams.

I'm going to piggyback with the lady about renting the homes.

I am also going through the same situation.

And yes, these landlords have been price golding with application fees and security positive.

I don't understand how y'all allow council member Young the second on this body, and you can clearly see this man is afflicted.

I'm back like y'all never left.

Happy September and all praises to God.

Election fraud is real.

I Melissa Love never voted in November 2020 or August 2024.

Election B, but somehow I'm on the voter roads, and I am here to demand my name off the voter ropes to collect my share of the pot.

Y'all stealing for it and demand our resources back.

If that ain't robbery in slow motion, then I don't know what it is.

I will continue to come in person andor call.

Y'all was bold enough to vote for me.

So I'm going to be bold, confident, and on fire, exposing this evil corruption that's been going on for ages.

I will continue to fight for myself, children, the disabled elderly, and for what's right.

I will not be silenced, overlooked, or ignored.

I'm not just in the game.

I will change the game.

It's time for the righteous to win.

Thank you.

Miss Williams followed him followed by hello through the chair.

Um it's very unfortunate that this woman was speaking about this apartment building.

Are the citizens of Detroit aware that there's ex-offenders under Detroit police department?

And how's that possible?

Killers, rapists, all type of six sadity persons, people, period.

The issue when I've been complaining about police officers being in these shelters.

Guess what?

Off they coming home from prison.

They are getting new identities.

We only have one fingerprint.

Their pictures are in the site when they were locked up in prison.

The same officers that went across the stage to receive their badges.

This is not acceptable.

This is how far have this been going on.

They probably moved up in promotions, all type of promotions of illegal um ex offenders on the Detroit Police Department.

It's an inside job.

It got to be because we only have one fingerprint, like I said.

I've been speaking about this.

Aisha Muhammad was in the shelter with me.

She was locked up for killing someone.

She's on the Detroit Police Department, but with a different name.

And you all been sitting up here telling me, oh, there's no officers in these shelters.

That's oh, that's the least of y'all problem.

When you have killers, rapists, expelled dealers, all type of six addicted people on the Detroit police department.

And what you gonna do about it?

You won't continue to say, oh, this is not going on.

No, Miss Williams.

No.

If you all, like I said, do not do your job.

I've been complaining about this, and it's a cover up.

You better believe it.

I keep telling you all, there is officers in the Detroit on the Detroit Police Department living in these shelters, but worst of all, they are ex-offenders on the Detroit Police Department.

Thank you.

Hey Bayami, followed by Ms.

Boots.

Good morning.

My name is Abaomi Azikaway.

I'm with the Moratorium Now Coalition.

And we are here today to express our concern about what the Trump administration is doing around the United States.

We have troops on the streets in Los Angeles, also on the nation's capital.

They are threatening the city of Chicago.

And we are very much uh encouraged uh by the efforts of Mayor Brandon Johnson and also Governor J.B.

Prisker, uh, who have taken a clear position in opposition to the uh the um uh deployment of uh National Guard troops, federalized National Guard troops, and possibly Marines into the city of Chicago.

We feel very strongly uh that uh the city council should take a position on this issue.

We know that it would not help the conditions in the city of Detroit uh with the deployment of federalized national guards in this city.

Fortunately, I'm old enough to remember uh late July of 1967 when thousands upon thousands of National Guard troops were deployed to the city of Detroit.

Many people were killed, uh shocked, children were killed uh uh by the National Guard, and nothing was done about it.

We are condemn the praising of Trump as fascism, uh claiming that it is uh contributed to the reduction of crime in the city of Detroit.

It reminds me of the stories about uh Benito Mussolini, uh, the first fascist in the uh 20th century, uh, when they said that um when Mussolini was in power, the trains ran on time.

That's a lie.

We know what fascism led to in the 1930s and 1940s.

Tens of millions of people were killed uh during that time period.

There was mass destruction throughout Europe, North Africa, Asia.

It led to uh the first uh and only uh dropping of an atomic bomb on uh two Japanese cities.

So we must take a clear position against uh the deployment of federalized national guard against Trumpists of fascism, it will not benefit people in the city.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Good morning.

Good morning, council president and members of council.

I'm Alain Bowles Dukes.

I am the community advocacy director for American Heart Association and the lead for the advocate killer for the collaboration for equitable health.

I want to thank Councilmember Johnson and her staff members, Gary and Aaron, who are with us this morning for Coffee and Crumpets, and to talk about um all things policy that we've been working on.

I'm here today to talk to you about complete streets and the ordinance that has been worked on for the last 18 months.

It has draft six completed, it's gone through the legal department.

It has gone through DPW, it has gone through the staff members within council member Johnson's office.

However, it is my understanding that the DPW department head, Mr.

Ron Brundage refuses to review the ordinance, refuses to let the ordinance come forward for consideration with council committee.

I'm confused by this and concerned.

I think we all want safe and traversable streets and sidewalks.

So I don't understand the harm that it would cause for us to take up and consider a complete streets ordinance.

At this time, we know that it benefits the city of Detroit by making streets safe for pedestrians, motorists, for also bicyclists.

We know that fatalities go down when you have a complete street systems.

So help me understand why we wouldn't bring it for for consideration.

So my ask today is that you would actually assist your council colleague, Councilmember Johnson, in bringing up and bringing forward the complete streets ordinance.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Councilmember Dante.

Thank you, Madam President.

And thank you, Ms.

Dukes, for coming out and for all of your support and the work on the ordinance.

I have had a meeting with the director of the Department of Public Works, and I'm not sure if he is online and interested in sharing where things stand as relates to the ordinance.

Sure, sure.

But just in transparency, I mean, council can submit an ordinance without departmental approval, right?

We can at least start having conversations.

It can become before the body.

Now, whether it's approved as to form before approval will prevent us from approving it, but definitely can at least start if you work in audit member Johnson want to submit it.

But Mr.

Washington, do we have someone on uh from DPW?

Is Director Brundage available?

Yes, good morning, Madam Chair and Council.

We do have Christina Pelltier online representing today.

Sure, we can promote uh her, please.

Uh through the chair, this is Christina Peltiera, deputy director of complete streets with DPW.

I apologize.

I just jumped on Director Brundage's on a leadership meeting.

So I don't have a just jumping onto the call now.

Okay.

Uh we just wanted to get an update on the ordinance that member Johnson has been working on with you all.

Um Director Brundage and DPW is is not in support of this being through a ordinance per se.

We do currently have 75 million dollars through three safe streets for all grants to reduce crashes across the city.

And we've been actively working with Office of Highway Safety Program on looking at pedestrian and bicycle fatalities.

Um recent data I've seen from 2024, it's actually looking like our numbers are going down, but I don't have those numbers at this time.

Um just not not just jumping on quickly.

So we are actively working to reduce those crashes with the federal dollars we've received, but I can take any information back to Director Brundage if there's specific questions.

Okay, thank you, Member Johnson.

Thank you, Madam President.

And um, so I just want to be clear that we have had conversations with DPW and um DPW has been implementing essentially complete streets throughout the city.

The concern, um, the challenge has been the budgetary um ask, if you will, that's associated with the ordinance according to my conversations.

And one of the things that we've talked about and we've shared is that there are several entities that have been working on the ordinance that are looking to provide support um and to seek additional grant support for implementation.

And so it is really for us to come together to sit down and talk about what the costs look like and where we get those resources from to continue to implement complete streets so that the ordinance um is not putting uh the financial burden, if you will, on the city and on the department, or to even give uh that appearance.

And so would love to continue having the conversations and to see how we move this forward.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Member Johnson.

Great, Mr.

Todd Scott.

Yes, thank you.

Uh Todd Scott, executive director for the Detroit Greenways Coalition.

Um, and we're a nonprofit that for the past 17 years has been advocating for safer streets for all users.

Um, that includes the complete streets ordinance that we've been involved in.

Um also uh vision zero, which says that the number of deaths on our roads should be zero.

We shouldn't accept people dying on our roads or people having serious injury accidents uh on our roads.

So um, but we've been successful as uh uh uh deputy director uh Peltier mentioned uh in building a complete streets team that has been doing great work in making our streets safer, and the 2024 crash data did just drop, and I do have a I do have that information.

And the 2024 crash data did just drop, and I do have a I do have that information.

The city in 2024 saw a 20% reduction in fatalities, road fatalities, which is great, but there were still 104 people died on Detroit roads uh in 2024.

And compared to the rest of the state, the rest of the state, except for Detroit, the fatalities rose three percent.

So that makes Detroit's decline look look even better.

Um and also serious injury uh crashes declined by 11%, which is great, but we still had 640 some people, uh serious injuries that required them being transported to a hospital uh for care.

So we look forward to getting these numbers down to zero, and we think we can do that through uh complete streets design.

I believe the money is going to continue to be there.

Um we would like to see complete streets be codified because we know as we've seen in Washington, D.C., how things you think are stable and are going to continue going can change overnight.

And we don't want to see that changing in the future here.

We want to see complete streets going forward, giving the deaths and fatalities and um serious injury crashes down to zero.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you as well.

All right, Mr.

Cunningham.

Followed by Michelle George.

It was good to see everybody's team at the Labor Day parade.

Um it was just good to see you all there.

313, 4449114, 313, 444, 9114.

313, 444, 9114.

That number was made so you can remember it.

And on Facebook, not enemy.

Two words on Facebook, not enemy.

My Cash App is also 313-444-9114.

I would like to thank the church on East Grand Boulevard, St.

Philip's Lutheran Church.

Um, they had a meal and lobby to speak about what I do in the community.

Didn't expect it, but they gave me some funds and a bunch of bus tickets.

Um I hadn't met them.

They they got my information from public comment, um, the 444 number, and they reached out.

Usually church folks treat me like the enemy.

Uh, that's the common place for many, many years.

I don't know why, but uh I continue to show love and and I appreciate that congregation there for the love that they show.

Um, I give out bus tickets at the bus stops around the city and at the uh transit centers, not just there for the less fortunate.

I go to those areas that maybe those demographics you may not want to experience.

And you do it vicariously through me.

Um I don't mind.

Um I like helping uh folks.

Um our DLI drivers and mechanics are working without a contract.

I don't know if the council can send a letter uh trying to uh push and get their wages as high as smart bus.

I advocate with smart bus and D dot as well.

So our drivers and our mechanics need more money.

Um and we need our buses to be on time and clean.

And thank you, every last one of you for your donations, council members, and um riding the coaches with me and Transit Riders United, Patrol People's Platform, et cetera.

Maybe we can ride the coaches again.

And uh thank you, everybody.

313, 444.

Now one four.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Cunningham.

Sorry about that.

Miss Uh George, Michelle George, followed by Darren McCleskey.

Good morning, Council President Sheffield and his honorable board.

Um, first of all, I do want to uh thank um Councilmember Warders for having that hearing uh with Bank Lake Thompson about the land bank.

Thank you.

It was good hearing a lot of the complaints uh that was happening with the land bank.

So I do want to say um Pro Tem Tate, your name came up a lot during the hearing.

Um I do want to thank the council for stopping.

I think the funding with the land bank, but to hear what the land bank is doing to the citizens of Detroit is horrific.

I'm hoping one day that board will cease to exist, regardless of what is in the charter.

I always call them out.

I call them out at the mayor's meeting.

My thing is this with this land bank, uh one lady was in tears.

How 30,000 was just taken from her.

I I remember council member Waters helping us with my friend's family.

We almost lost a home because um things that the land bank wanted to do.

So I always called them out.

They sold African Americans' homes without pipes in it.

I was there at that water department, and I will continue to call them out.

And I stated at the mayor's meeting, the Bible talks about if you have a good name, it should be better than silver and gold.

I'll paraphrase the word of God, but they do not have a good name.

So I'll continue to call their name out.

I wanted to make that point.

Also, at the Financial Review Commission, which I am on the listen a lot.

We still have a financial review commission that's over our city under Governor Snyder's policies.

So I would um I know uh sometimes the council president is busy.

I will ask you all as city council, you need to listen to the Financial Review Commission because they always talk about whoever's the next mayor, whoever's the next mayor.

Um, so the corporations are not paying their fair share, about 15 million dollars of property taxes.

They talk about that, the chief financial officer of the city of Detroit.

So I want to say that.

And in closing, I just want to say just look out for the citizens of Detroit.

That's all that we asked you to do.

Thank you.

Hope you all had a great break.

Um, I think when you guys probably see me associated with one big topic, and that's the solar tickings.

Um, I'm here today for something slightly different.

Um, and I've also never really introduced myself.

So um I have a lot of rentals in the city.

Um, I have 45 rentals in Core City, as well as 37 vacant lots.

Um, and you guys did take a property uh from me previously for the solar development.

Um, in terms of the land bank and critiquing them, uh, there's plenty of people who have submitted offers to the land bank and not heard of a response.

So that's partially why I'm here today.

Um in the neighborhood in which I own rentals.

Uh the homes are not powered by renewable energy whatsoever.

So uh purchasing land adjacent to that would be beneficial, and that we could build a solar panel farm similar to what you guys are doing to offset the uh very urgent need of solar production and uh and preventing global warming.

So I did submit over the weekend uh an offer to three brokers with the Detroit Land Bank Authority.

Um, have not yet heard a response, which is not much of a surprise.

Uh, these properties have been listed for over three years at around $10,000 per a lot.

Um, my offer is substantially below that.

It's in line with what you guys have offered citizens and taken property for.

But it's basically if you can't fight them, why not why not join them?

I'm not particularly against solar whatsoever.

Um, I've had homes powered by solar in the past.

I drive an electric vehicle.

Um, I was the president of my of my uh environmental club in high school.

Uh I don't necessarily agree with how you guys are doing it, but if it's gonna just keep going through, I think that solar is a great option for the city when done right.

And that's why right here I have an offer.

It's cash, it's not subsidized to purchase 23 lots uh adjacent to three homes that I have to install a solar farm.

And I've emailed that all to you guys.

Thank you.

Um, Pierce, right here.

Pierce.

Uh Ronald Foster, followed by Ruby Riley.

Good morning to the president.

Um, just a few things.

Um, I'm gonna ask that um this next few sessions that you're back in that you truly establish a grievance process for this community.

Well, I don't necessarily have any grievances.

I do find it necessary to have a process.

Um, I don't think that the city could go forward with this council pretending to have the authority to resolve grievances and hearing people complaints and um and not having the authority to redress them.

Um so those things have to change.

Secondly, when it comes down to occupy and force, uh well, suggest that you guys get a legal opinion of Article 42 of the Hague Convention as well as the insurrection laws and understand both the pros and cons of it.

The city is in great need of federal support and funding um in other ways with a 31.5% poverty.

Um, you have to get resources to redress those things.

They can no longer be overlooked.

It plays a fundamental role in every aspect of life in this city, and the quality of life has to improve.

Thirdly, when we talk about generational wealth, wealth has nothing to do with finances or rich or handouts.

There's a difference between being rich and wealthy.

Wealth has everything to do with the knowledge, the skills, the information that you could pass down to the next generation and wish they could make money and income without going through the same rough.

And so we have to be able to articulate to our community exactly what wealth is and offer those opportunities for the community to be wealthy through education, through skills, through trades, through opportunities.

And so I just ask that you guys continue to uh not just listen to the community, but act on what the community is asking for.

You can no longer just be under DDA.

Thank you so much, Mr.

Foster.

Miss Riley.

Good morning, City Council, and congratulations to all those that's on the ballot for November.

I want to say high heels on the 11th floor, and it's about time.

Now also I want to talk about the Detroit Home Repair Fund that was out in Jen on the letter that I got January 2nd, 2024.

So in January in 2023, I was approved for this for these funds.

And then I guess the latter, and I know other people did too, because I heard them come in.

What I was approved for, I want it.

We want it.

I don't know where it went to because I'm sure there's funds that came back into there.

So everything they said, my car repair, the washer, the dryer, the stove, and everything that was included in that.

We would like to have that.

I would like to have it.

I need it.

First of all, number two, the uh flood that I had in my basement in 2016 where I froze darn near to death.

Here it is.

GWSD, Gary Brown, I'm gonna call him Gary, give it away, Brown, because he gave it right away.

I city assets.

So anyway, Gary, I went for thought for my uh uh to social service to get help with my water.

You want to charge me 500 down, but yet and still y'all offer me first 764 dollars.

I'm not a crackhead and I don't do drugs.

Number one, number two, you jump to Southwest Detroit, you put them in hotels, you clean out that basements and all that stuff.

I had to pay 1100 to get my basement cleaned out.

You get that 3600 check y'all sent me, that check is at my house.

It did not get checked cash.

You know why?

Because I didn't approve of what it was.

It used to be a union steward.

When you say something I'm not aligned, that means you're done with it.

So I'm not done with it.

Gary Brown, I'm coming to y'all meeting, and I'm gonna tell you again, I want to be made whole like Southwest Detroit.

And I've been in my house in 1977.

If y'all had to clean the catch basin out the lead to my house, I wouldn't have had no flood.

And you, number two.

Thank you, Miss Riley.

All right, I think that concludes all of the in-person public comment, and we will now go to those who have joined us virtually.

Good morning, madam president.

There were 18 hands raised before you had cut off public comment.

And the first caller is Jacob Smith.

Hi, uh political repression.

Uh, I am like several other people on the meeting calling in today to um urge that the uh Detroit City Council uh pass the police body cam release ordinance as written by city council with no alterations.

Um I think we need like I I think that you know 30 days should be like the absolute maximum time that uh we allow for uh body cam footage to be kept from the public, it needs to be uh released that's like made publicly available on a website.

Um, it needs to not have any kind of interference from the police unions if it makes them look bad.

Um, you know, we need accountability.

Detroiters deserve accountability, the droiders deserve transparency, detroiters deserve community control.

So please pass that unaltered.

Thank you.

All right, thank you as well.

The next caller is Miko A.

Williams.

Yes, hi, good morning.

First of all, um, welcome back.

But I just want to check you as this body of the council for what you all did before we went on recess.

How you let Saferi Brandt and Darrell Woods get up here, scream, cuss and yell at an older citizen, uh, elder senior citizen, especially a lady that's a council member.

If we done any of that, you would be stopping us midway or trying to end this conversation or throw us out.

That is unfair, okay?

And that needs to be addressed because what they did and pushing the curfew and the curfew is not even working, just so we're clear, okay.

We can't even get a account of how many missing children and women in the city of Detroit.

But yet you're gonna enforce a curfew that didn't even work.

You this is all the money grab.

The CVI snitches and informants are desperate to get their hands on whatever little money they can by putting our uh families and such in parishment.

And also uh shame and condemnation on them pastors, preachers, and those that made an electoral choice.

They don't pay water bills, they don't provide food, nor they don't provide benevolence for anyone.

But yet they're gonna come together and make a uh endorsement.

It doesn't even carry no weight.

And the Duggan endorsement means nothing either.

That's an endorsement of white supremacy and corporate rule.

It is a shame.

You should not be able to take any endorsements.

Some of you all running and you're taking endorsements and money and don't want to disclose it.

We see why.

Okay.

And then also the jazz fest sucked.

Uh it sucked all weekend.

We are corporate philanderers took our money, tax abatements and everything, but they don't want to give a festival.

They don't want to pay for food trucks, and they don't want to pay for top tier quality entertainment.

The jazz best should be ashamed of itself, begging for money, but giving low level quality.

Uh, we should have our own jazz fest and majority black Detroit.

Thank you so much for taking my comment.

Shame.

Thank you.

The next caller is Tahira Amada.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Uh, welcome back.

Let's get to business.

Uh, Detroit homeowners were illegally foreclosed.

A hundred thousand homes were illegally foreclosed.

That's where we got the homeless problem at.

This is what we need you to work on, Mary Sheffield.

You know, you under 12 years, a lot of this has happened on your watch.

And now you run it for mayor.

Well, we're not gonna let you just uh okay, thank you very much for your comment.

No, we need you to work on a system before it gets cold, and we have another curry family with a tragedy of two children dying homeless in their cars.

And this is what I need you.

We all need you to do.

We want you to sign up a system, a system using DHS, Cam, and DPS CD, letting you know what family is homeless so that we can get them out of their cars before it gets cold, uh, use herb funds to uh repair all land bank homes and give them free housing until people find jobs and get on their feet.

And we have small schools and uh hotel, motel rooms or uh complexes that are we having to be livable for families, give them free boarding, uh partner with DHS, uh gleaners and others to get free food and utility, want the ARPA funds used for that.

Use the depot uh uh Detroit progress fund that the mayor's secret uh um uh progress fund that he has uh secretly put together.

We use that money, there's millions of dollars in there.

He spent pimping Detroit to get those millions of dollars.

Give us the money for the homeless people, use that clawback money from uh Darren Gilbert when he reached the abatement uh agreement.

Thank you.

The next caller is William M.

Davis.

Good morning.

Can I be heard?

Yes, we can hear you.

Okay, as always, I think the city needs to do more to help the city track retirees.

I think it's shameful the way we've been treated for 11 years now.

I think more should always been done for us.

Uh also separately, um, I want to emphasize the fact that the steward, the city has been a poor steward of its resources because let's attack the water department, for example.

The lease agreement needs to be renegotiated.

The city of Detroit should be getting a whole lot more income from that lease.

You know, just a if you have a true independent assessment of it, and the city of Detroit need an aggressive leader that will aggressively pursue that.

They need to get more money.

The city needs to get more money from the lease agreement with DWSD facilities.

The city of Detroit needs to be aggressively pursuing a reduction in the amount of drainage fees that the city of Trek residents pay.

The city residents shouldn't be subsidized in Southeastern Michigan as relates to the combined civil overflow facilities.

The city of Detroit need to be more aggressively pursuing all of our assets that was basically stolen during this fake bankruptcy.

There was races that was going after city resources or city assets.

You know, someone should aggressively pursue these things.

You know, that would help the overall general population of the city of Detroit.

Also, as it relates to City of Detroit retirees, you know, if if you just did away retroactively did away with the newly called back interest, that would drastically change the level of income and how to increase generational wealth in the city of Detroit.

Thank you.

Hopefully, y'all could do some more than what y'all have been doing.

Have a good day.

Thank you.

The next caller is Tara Brown.

Good morning.

Tara Brown.

And I'm calling in because I feel like there is a need for some sort of ordinance for these recreational centers.

I did send an email to Angela Callaway.

My concern is that on September 8th, the Detroit Continuum of Care will be having a meeting, an in-person meeting at the uh Northwest Activity Center.

And as you all know, one of the members of our board is a registered sex offender, and he too will be invited to this meeting.

There was another one that took place earlier in the spring or the end of the winter time.

And I raised the issue about it then, because it's absolutely insane to know that there is a registered sex offender and then to invite them into a rec center full of children.

I don't know why that makes sense to anyone.

I don't know why it makes sense that he is sitting on a board.

Again, you can advocate for sex offenders without sitting in concert with them.

It interrupts funding, it interrupts participation from other partners, and the idea of bringing a sex offender to a rec center with children.

Again, I can't stress enough, is absolutely insane.

And this person is allowed to get away with this because they're in a wheelchair, and because people in charge of our lead organization absolutely refuse to believe, even though his picture is damn near in an eight by 10 on the Sora that he is a registered sex offender.

It is proven it is there.

People have pointed it out.

Charlie Ledust, Kaylee Licklighter, and other uh journalists have done reports on it.

And why this is okay, especially in a predominantly black city where there are black children in this recenter.

Again, it's preposterous.

When I called over to some of the Oakland County rec centers and asked if I could conduct a meeting that would allow me to bring or invite a registered sex offender, one of the women at one of those community centers said, Are you crazy?

Does that make any damn sense to you?

Those were her exact words.

So why it makes sense here in Detroit is beyond me, and we need an ordinance that keeps sex offenders out of our rec centers, even if there is one child there.

Thank you.

Um Member Calloway, thank you, thank you, madam chair.

Ms.

Brown, if you can call my office right now at 224535.

Um, someone is waiting for you to call.

Call my office right now.

My staff is waiting for you to call.

224 4535.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you, Member Callaway.

Thank you, ma'am.

Our next caller, please.

The next caller is phone number ending in 169.

Hello, can you guys hear me?

Yes, we can.

Okay, great, great, great.

Um, brother Cunningham, Brother Cunningham, keep Brother Cunningham in prayer, uh seen on his Facebook page, St.

Philip movement, Detroit.

Had um had him speak and gave gave him 200 and a bunch of bus tickets.

Um, God bless that church, God bless that church.

Brother Cunningham, please, Brother Cunningham, please, Brother Cunningham, please tell us who you are voting for.

Who are you voting for?

Governor, who are you voting for mayor of City of Detroit?

Who are you voting for?

City Council District One, District 2, District 3, District 4, District 5, District 6, District 7, at large one and at large 2.

Who are you voting for?

I'm tired of you always staying mute on politics.

Tell us who you are voting for.

Thank you for my time.

All right, thank you.

The next caller is iPhone.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Welcome back to all the council members and president.

And uh President Pro Tim Tate.

Uh, this is Betty A.

Vernon, president of the Soda Ellsworth Black Association.

Here again, uh advocating uh for our Diva Community Park, our community and neighborhood.

Today, our uh fantastic event coordinator, Mrs.

Cecilia.

She's going to be uh interviewed on our park by Channel 4.

And we think that's going to air on the five o'clock news.

So if you have the time, please um tune in and hear some of the history in regards to our park.

Um we have been busy over your recess time in this summer.

Uh at this time, you can donate to our um association by going to D E D S M Boy, A, W E, D as in Boy, E L at Gmail.com.

And that's through Zale.

Again, that's D E B A, W E B E L at Gmail.com through Zale.

And if you have my telephone number, you can also utilize my number to donate.

Uh, we are still advocating for the landscaping boulders.

We have been fortunate to close the deal and purchase additional vacant lots to expand our park.

Our goal is to have playground, uh well, playscape equipment for the children in the neighborhood, more tables and chairs, places to relax.

Please support our goals and missions.

God bless you all.

Thank you for this time.

Great.

Thank you as well.

The next caller is uh Allen or Alan A-L-L-I-N.

Okay.

Good morning.

Hello.

Yes, we can hear you.

Great.

Good morning.

Um, welcome back to the city's business.

And um.

You guys are a little bit late today, but hopefully we'll get back, you know, get back in sync with the being on time because we already know that being late for you know, public council meeting is just similar to being late for the bus, you know, bus being late and people waiting, you know, when they should be getting this proper service, proper time.

Um, Henry Ford, we've had a lot of crime going on since you guys have been on break.

That shooting at Henry Ford Hospital was especially scary for me because that's a place that I frequent.

And um, I couldn't imagine how uh my heart would have palpitated knowing that someone was shooting in that building.

And there was also another shooting on the bullet, I think that same day.

So I don't think we need the National Guard in the city, but we need something.

We need um people need to be able to feel safe in the city, especially when you're at work, you know, working.

So I don't know what we can do about that as a whole, but I'm sure there's there's something that needs to be um looked at and studied to see how we can alleviate those situations before they become so volatile.

Uh, you know, like they said in the game of thrones, winter is coming, winter is coming, winter is coming.

Yet we have still homelessness is out of control.

We need to tackle that homelessness.

Um, we need to take some of the vacant buildings that have been sitting around for years and years, and let's fix them up with the purpose of getting some of these people off the streets, and especially the children.

Children need um safe place to sleep and feel you know, feel secure.

There's a new bank.

It's just across, I went to the Barber College, and it's right near the Barber College on West McNichols.

There's a city parking lot that sits behind the parking lot for the bank.

The grass was over a foot tall.

No one would feel safe parking in that lot.

I had to park on the street to get my great-grandson's haircut.

So I think someone needs to take a look at that parking lot and get that lot maintained.

Thank you.

Great, thank you.

The next caller is Chris Gilmer Hill.

Uh, good morning.

Can I be heard?

Yes, we can hear you.

Hi, my name is Chris Gilmer Hill, a lifelong resident of the city's second district.

And I firstly do want to congratulate all the folks that made it through their primaries last month, and especially my own council member and district two member Callaway.

Uh looking forward to November.

Uh, hopeful that we'll get a council that's willing to really take on all the fights we need to take on.

I do also want to say at the start that I do fully support the unchanged body cam ordinance and funding assistance for medical students in our city.

Now, the reason I'm calling in today is to echo and support the point that Russ Ballant raised earlier today.

We need the city council to stand up for Detroiters in the face of a fascist in the White House that we know hates us and everything our city stands for.

I think that we're about to see uh Donald Trump use the National Guard to impose illegal military occupation in Chicago, the same way that he's already done in our nation's capital.

The targeting of these overwhelmingly black, overwhelmingly progressive cities is not a coincidence, and we know that Detroit is on the chopping block, and it's not just part of Detroit.

We need city council to make this a sanctuary city for all of us black, brown, immigrant, trans, native born, everybody in Detroit needs to feel safe.

And that means we need the city council to step up where Mayor Duggan has failed to protect us from the far right threat of thugs marching down our streets, whether it's ice, whether it's the National Guard, whether it's the Proud Boys, we need our city council to stand up and do the right thing because Mike Duggan is not.

Because there's no chance of us just flying under the radar here.

There's no chance that Donald Trump just forgets that Detroit exists.

We need clear rules to prevent our city government from cooperating with a federalized National Guard or with ICE or with any of the thugs that Donald Trump is sending.

Because even if we hope that his last breath is coming soon, and I do hope and believe that it is, he hates us with every breath, and we need to stand up to him.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next caller is you matter.

All right, good morning, you matter.

Good morning, may I be heard?

Yes, you can.

Okay, are you getting an echo?

No echo.

No, no echo.

We can hear you fine.

Okay, great.

Um the ordinance you want to pass today.

I got a little concern for section 31-2-1, subsection A1.

Um, by any that that if if somebody uh uh uh doesn't willingly give information to a cop relating to a criminal investigation, that that's somehow a crime.

I think there's some First Amendment implications there, and also would it be a crime for police officers to lie in an investigation?

Because that sure appears to have happened to me.

Um also very disappointing that all these years and charter section 7-201 has not been complied with, and yet we have medical people here coming here.

You know, you blew a hundred million dollars of ARPA money on commercial demolitions instead of building up the health department, like grief support services for people who lost their lost their loved ones or the children that all got got all stressed out from that unnecessary shutdown.

But um, also Mary Sheffield, uh, you are the District 5 uh representative, not an at-large member.

I'm a district five resident.

You told people on uh uh a Zoom call or whatever kind of call it was to people in my neighborhood that I tell lies.

Well, what did I lie about?

So let's meet about it.

Let's clarify uh what you think I lied about, and I can tell you what I think you lied about, which is you told us that if we could do North End Landing all over again, you do it differently, even though you voted for it, knowing it was planned on the would-be most impacted residents in secret, but yet I got dialed by some service, and you told the ecumenical alliance that you thought what Bishop Edgar Van in terms of affordable housing was doing in the North End was great.

So all right, thank you, Miss Warwick.

The next caller is Kevin Westbrook.

Good morning, Mr.

Westbrook.

Good morning.

I still show Mr.

Westbrook is muted.

All right, Mr.

Westbrook, you have to.

Yes, I'm here.

You hear me now?

Yes, we can hear you.

Yes, I wanted to say yes.

Um to say something on a positive note about council president Mary Shepherd's doing an outstanding job, such a wonderful person, phenomenal black woman.

Uh attention to address the absenteeism.

I just want to congratulate you because students enrollment.

This is getting uh with you done.

You're you're always involved with the community.

Okay, it looks like we lost you, uh, Mr.

Westbrook.

Should we come back to him?

I don't yep.

Let's continue.

We can't.

Yeah, continue to do great.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Okay.

The next caller is Tyson Gersh.

All right, good.

Good morning.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

All right, good morning.

Um, I guess I have a few things.

Um right now, I'm just trying to track down the uh, I don't know if it's considered a legislative history of the VZA fee schedule.

Um, as far as I can tell, the only fee schedule that city council ever sort of reviewed was in 2013, when it only approved a 20% increase across the fee schedule, stating that in 2000 it that they hadn't been updated since 2006.

But I just spent several hours going through all the city council journals in and around 2006, and there was never any review of BZA fees in those years.

So I'm a little confused as to where the original uh the authority under which the I guess original BZA fee schedule comes from.

Um, and there certainly wasn't a review of a uh transcript copies of transcript fee charged at the court reported costs per page back then.

Um, especially since in 2020, city council approved uh region C to uh what was it 164,000 dollars, 20 grand for court reporters to sit in at hearings, and then 144,000 for the court reporters to uh make transcripts.

So, as far as I can tell, city council, the only thing city council has ever authorized is for the use of public funds to be spent on the production of transcripts.

Um, and then the other thing I'm really confused about is how is it that in 2024 BZA revenues surged from 85k in 2023 to 238,000 in 2024, even though city council only adopted the BZA to uh get uh to all right?

Thank you, Tyson.

If you can uh email your request over to us, we will make sure we try to get a response um reaching out to the director uh and others to see if we can get the history of the uh the fees for you.

Just email our office, and I'll make sure we get it addressed.

My next caller, please.

The next caller is Frank Hammer.

Uh actually, this is Karen Hammer.

Okay, and can you hear me?

Yes, we can uh okay.

Uh I echo what Mr.

J.

Smith, Mr.

Ballant, Mr.

Hill, Mr.

Davis, and Aviomi said in these days of the creeping coup of Project 2025 and their lackey DJ Trump.

Detroit faces erasure of diversity, equity, and inclusion to the extent it exists.

The U.S.

government is clawing back money already designated for public education, public transit for Snap and free lunch and low-income program for parents for low-income homes and renter rights for our veterans and elderly to be made whole from past over taxation to live in their homes.

Worse, we're threatened with occupation, suffer ice raids, and face election interference.

You must address and prepare for troops illegally occupying Detroit.

What's your plan?

You need to prepare the public and proper community police law enforcement on how to resist.

You should prepare for these attacks on the well-being of Detroiters because they surely are planned to come.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning.

May I be hurt?

Yes, you can.

I want to echo uh Miko Williams.

Miko, you you are your ancestors' wildest dreams.

And I want to say I stand with Miko in 90% of what he says.

And if you mess with Miko, you mess with me.

I also want to say uh shout out to Moratorium now.

But I also want to say I have a question for you, Mary Sheffield.

I would like you to introduce me to Matt Cullen.

I need to speak to Matt Cullen about a couple different issues.

I like to do a sculpture in the Island View neighborhood.

I need help with funding.

So I like to talk with you and Matt about that because you both are on the board of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy.

Um, and this might be something that good that can come out of this that that board position after all the negativity that we've seen.

I'm also want to say, I'm not sure if you're in person or if you're in the building, Scott Benson, but you already know, still trying to get a meeting with you.

You're hiding behind the law department.

Um, and you're trying to avoid your constituents.

Um, and yes, I will say this.

I have been paid a very nominal, very, very nominal amount of money from the very, very grassroots Detroit Ham Trump coalition, but I put in so countless hours of volunteer work for other organizations, even that organization put in other work, and I'm doing work that they have not asked me to do, um, even asking for a meeting with you because you're dodging them and you won't meet with them.

So uh if you say I'm being paid for my work, I deserve to be paid.

I also want to say if we are saying that crime is down in the city, then we are all not in our right minds because we have had the worst most bloody summer for um teens and young adults I've ever seen.

I'm I'm only 30, but my mother's 72, and she's I don't think she's seen anything this bad before either.

I'm also want to say that uh I'm gonna make sure that the CBI grants has written that the there needs to be victim support.

I'll talk to I talk to so many mothers uh of victims' family members that once the cameras go off, they don't get any support.

So I have to work with them.

There's no support for them.

We have so many killers walking around the street or walking around these streets that the police are not arresting for whatever reason, neither here nor there.

But also, I want to I want to echo what Tara Brown said.

Um, the fact that we can have a registered sex offender in this city in the recreation center and nobody bats now is crazy.

I'm gonna tell every parent to sue if they can.

All right, thank you.

Member Callaway.

Um, I I guess I want to go back to um the previous caller, Tara Brown, who said that she sent me an email.

We're looking for that email, and I also ask her to uh reach out to my office, and we're on standby waiting for her call right now.

But I'm wondering if we can have the law department um, I'm sorry, legislative policy division come to the podium.

I have a couple questions, and probably it's going to end up being a task, an assignment, um, looking into whether or not um the person who um allegedly is serving on the board is a registered tax offender.

I just received the information.

I got his name.

Somebody just um texted to me, and what um uh what the law says in terms of an individual who is a convicted, convicted sex offender serving on a board of a park and rec um center that the city um that the city owns and whether or not he can serve on the board and whether or not he can even enter the premises in any of our um parks and recs um centers throughout the city.

Um through um the chair to Mr.

Whitaker.

Madam President, we would love to research that question rather than me speaking up the top of my head.

Okay, I have some thoughts, but I think we need to be accurate in what we say.

So I would be happy to do the research and provide the council with a thorough report on that topic.

Okay, I'm through the chair to you, Mr.

Whitaker.

Thank you, and we'll send you a memorandum.

Yeah.

Requesting that research.

Thank you.

Thank you, madam chair.

All right, thank you, Member Calloway.

All right, are we?

We can go to our next caller.

Okay, the next caller is Frank Hammer.

Okay, Frank Hammer, good morning.

Greetings to the city council and to my district uh council member Callaway.

Congratulations to Mary Sheffield for your impressive primary election results.

I want to restate the appeal I made on July 29th.

You need to recommit to the city council's powerful 2019 resolution mapping out the Detroit's Green New Deal.

Make it a defining issue for the November election.

That's the most powerful way we can demonstrate our love for Detroit's youth and our opposition, the orange man in the White House while he is denying global heating and the climate crisis are worsening air quality is shortening the lives of Detroiters.

I agree with uh many of the public comments today.

We can't fight for Detroit's well-being while turning a blind eye to Trump's fascist designs on U.S.

cities, including LA, Washington, DC, and this week, maybe Chicago.

I too call for the city council's uh support for the resolution.

We presented in May, calling for non-cooperation with the subjugation of our city by a lawless militarized federal occupation.

Lastly, I want to make sure to credit the grassroots movement for rescuing the uh former fairgrounds band shell that started a new life at Palmer Park on August 23rd.

Had Mayor Duggan and former council member Roy McAllister had their way when they sold the fairgrounds to Amazon, the band show would have been history.

It's only because the people fought back, including the state fairgrounds development coalition, that Detroit's cultural life will live on in the new band show.

Thank you so very much for the time.

Thank you as well, Mr.

Hammer.

Member Calloway.

Um publicly I want to thank Mr.

and Mrs.

Hammer.

I want to thank Barbara Bearfield and all the other folks who um collected 60,000 signatures on petitions to save that band shell.

And yes, we had a wonderful ribbon cutting on August the 23rd.

We had our first concert.

Um I think was Mr.

Marcus Elliott.

He was there as one of the um headliners.

So thank you, Mr.

Hammer.

Publicly, Mrs.

Hammer, and Barbara Beerfield and all the countless others who had collected 60,000 signatures on petitions to save that band shell.

And it was not 60,000 residents of the city of Detroit or the state of Michigan.

It was a nationwide effort.

Folks who had visited that um band shell who did not live in Michigan also signed those petitions.

So thank you so much, Mr.

Hammer, and to all the others who played a role in saving that band shell.

Thank you.

Thank you, Member Callaway.

The next caller is Mr.

Rue.

Mr.

Roo Ruben Crowley, good morning.

Can you hear me clearly?

Can you hear me clearly?

Yes, we can hear you.

Okay.

And less than a couple weeks is going to be uh Minnie's birthday.

Her mother, Denise, was murdered.

She was shot.

Left side and abdomen.

Somebody else.

Sherman McLeod.

Yeah.

Nene's birthday.

Yeah, I got no choice.

Yeah.

But to take the tag of her mama.

Jeffy Hudson.

Marco Postat.

Indeed May.

Maybe busted.

Janice and Gina been keeping the election.

The last caller for public comment before the last caller before public comment had been cut off is Cindy Dara.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Yes, we can hear you.

Yeah.

I went to the Gaza.

There was we had a three-day conference in Huntington Place to try and end the massacre in Gaza.

And uh I bought a t-shirt that says an Zionism, arms embargo now, free Gaza, and this T shirt was made with the Palestinian youth movement.

But that um the thing that impressed me, it was two uh Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and it was really wonderful.

Uh just uh conference, very educational.

But the one thing that impressed me the most was this plan that came from New Jersey.

We found this uh that we found a book or people at the tables that Zionism started in the 1800s, actually, and it it's been predatory on indigenous people.

This particular and it's against see the rabbis that were there, they are against Zionism themselves because it's against the very basic tenets of the Jewish religion.

So we need to find out who's selling the arms and try and figure out how we can put pressure on our politicians who are taking APAC money from Israeli APAC money to finance elections, and that's why we keep, I think arming Israel to uh in a genocide, which is just morally unacceptable.

And uh, if we don't the thing that impressed me, they're interested in stopping because they can see it's the worldwide thing that allows this to happen.

So we want to change the world and make the whole world better.

And so we gotta start here locally, statewide, national, and international, and figure out how we can do all these things and everybody's gotta start working and using the grapevine because we don't control it.

All right, thank you, Ms.

Dara.

And that will conclude all of our public comment for today, and we will now proceed back to our agenda.

Understanding committee reports for the public health and safety standing committee under unfinished business.

Council member Santiago Romero and ordinance known in a roll call line item 23.1.

Discussion.

Member Vincent.

That should be the name of Councilmember Scott Benson.

The clerk would note.

Well, at the prosecutor's office here to speak to this ordinance as well.

All right, we can do that now before we read it off.

Um give an overview of the proposed ordinance before us through the Chair Graham Anderson Law Department.

I will also shortly be joined by attorney Doug Baker and Corporation Council Conrad Mallet, as well as I believe there are uh members from DPD available officers.

Uh commander Sonia Russell and Robert Millander as well, I believe, are joining us via Zoom.

And President Chair discussion.

We also have the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office here as well.

Okay.

All right.

So did you want to start off?

Well, who wants to begin?

Proceed first.

Uh, through the chair, as we uh spoke during uh committee before uh recess, which I'm happy to do a brief refresher for everybody and uh well.

Any questions as well.

Uh, the law department is in full support of this ordinance proposal.

We believe this will not only bring positive impact but efficiency for uh the citizens and residents of the city of Detroit.

This will allow the Wayne County prosecutor's office to provide additional uh attention and support to the more serious violent offenses while allowing the misdemeanors that still have various quality of life impact on the citizens and residents of Detroit to be handled in-house by the law department.

We will be um able to uh provide more attention to these uh crimes, such as um uh retail fraud, uh aggravated assault.

These are uh very serious crimes that um uh the citizens of Detroit deserve to have consistent and predictable and quality results um provided to them.

I am uh happy to uh take any additional questions.

Uh I thank uh council member Benson for leading this charge.

This is something that is long overdue, and we truly believe it's gonna make uh a long lasting positive impact on the city of Detroit.

Thank you.

Discussion, member Benson.

All right, thank you.

And I see that we've been joined by uh corporation counsel.

Can you speak to the restorative justice um portion of this ordinance?

Good morning, Conrad Mallet, Corporation Council of City of Detroit.

Uh it's in the ordinance, uh, council person as a specific mandate.

City council encourages the city prosecutor's office to offer delayed sentencing, uh, referral to a strategy court and restorative justice any time the defendant is eligible for such an opportunity.

Uh we are answerable to this legislative body.

We will be reporting to this legislative body the results of the uh prosecutorial work that we're involved in.

You will be able to monitor whether or not we are adhering to the direction given to us uh in the ordinance, and we will be working with 36th district court, and I think this honorable body is aware.

Uh Chief Judge Bill McConaughey was certainly a supporter uh of this particular section of the ordinance.

All right, thank you.

I see we've been joined by Mr.

Doug Baker.

We can hear from the prosecutor's office as well, madam president, just their support for this ordinance and why you state your name and title.

Good morning.

Um well, uh good morning, uh ladies and gentlemen of council.

Uh this uh uh in my mind this your name and titles for the public to know.

Douglas Baker, I'm uh chief of criminal enforcement uh with the law department.

And um uh this to me is a historic really moment because we're really changing uh the way law enforcement is conducted here in the city because from the time I was with uh the prosecutor's office, and I started there in 77.

Uh at that time it was always Wayne County that prosecuted uh misdemeanor crimes arising in the city.

And uh that and that had been always been true.

So this is a in my mind, uh historic change.

We're now bringing those prosecutions closer to the to the people of the city of Detroit, closer to uh oversight uh by uh Detroit officials, and I think it's going to have an overall improvement in the in the sense that um uh that kind of control will will bring that.

Um it's going to take I think um uh a good deal of work to get uh set up to do it.

There's a lot of different moving parts to making this happen, but I think uh uh when we do, it's gonna be a win-win for everybody.

It's gonna be better for the police, better for law enforcement, better for the citizenry, better for the city.

So um uh I'm hopeful that uh uh you see that the same way, and uh we'll enable and enact this legislation.

Thank you.

Good morning, through the chair and to the members of the council.

My name is Tony Guerrero.

I'm the chief of legislation, grants, and community relations for prosecutor Kim Worthy.

This morning I'm a very poor substitute for Kim Worthy, but Madam Prosecutor was unable to be here due to some other pressing business.

Uh, and my role here is to thank you for considering this ordinance.

Thank Councilman Benson and thank uh council member Santiago Romero who held the public hearing.

It is in fact a historic moment.

These items, these various lower level crimes should be handled by this city, and will be adjudicated by judges from the 36th district court.

I can say to you without any compunction that prosecutor Kim Worthy is 150% in favor of this, and I thank the legal department for all of their hard work in putting this together.

I'll be happy to answer any questions if there are.

Thank you.

Are you done, Member Vincent?

Are you done?

All right, quick question.

Um, does this open up the city to possible litigation, further litigation, uh exposure, um, bringing things in house things, something goes wrong, just more litigation and exposure.

So uh council president uh Conrad Mallet again.

Um the City of Detroit's law department, when we prosecute these cases, will in fact be under the umbrella of the absolute immunity uh afforded uh the prosecutorial community by state of Michigan law.

So this is not gonna open us up to lawsuits against the prosecution for or the city uh uh for work they're doing on behalf of the people of the city of Detroit.

That is not gonna, however, make us an immune from accusations of false arrest, the things that this body sees all of the time.

Uh this really, madam president, is going to just be an extension, as I'm sure this body knows, or really of the work that we already are doing in some instances based on a memorand of understanding where we're doing bail hearings, where we're doing arraignments, where we are covering as much as we can, gaps in the prosecutorial function for the Wayne County prosecutor's office now.

This will enable us to take on the entire burden, and as I indicated, will allow this honorable body to oversee the work that we do.

Uh, but the short answer to the question that you asked, Madam President, is no.

Okay, and then just the cost, I thought I think it was $700,000 impact.

Yes, and you have to hire four attorneys, two pair legals.

What is a source of funding to pay for?

I know you said it's a lot of moving pieces to actually get this ordinance implemented.

So if you can speak to um have we identified funding to cover uh bringing this in house?

Uh Madam President, uh I don't think so.

Yeah, this is gonna come direct.

Unfortunately, this is gonna come directly from the general fund.

Uh we don't have special uh opportunity.

Uh ARPRA is the ORPA funds have been completely and totally uh expended and committed to.

Uh this is work that has to be done.

I don't, I don't know uh of any grant authority that we can reach for, grant dollars that we can reach for.

Uh in this particular instance, um we are assuming responsibilities formally, uh, that have been in fact uh executed by every other municipality in Wayne County.

And I would say, Madam President, that cost is a significant uh uh factor for this honorable body.

Not enforcing these laws on a regular predictable basis uh will be extremely consequential.

I don't know what else we can do in the law department to look for dollars necessary to support this work, but this is work, madam president, that I know has to be done.

The regular uh enforcement uh instances like retail fraud, uh minor assault and battery, uh theft, uh, all kinds of things that are going to be quality of life uh experiences for the vast majority of people who are victims of crime in the city of Detroit have to be on a predictable regular, certain basis, uh prosecuted.

Uh and uh this is work that under the leadership of Doug Baker, the law department is uh committed to doing, capable of doing, but we do not have a separate source of funding, Madam President, uh, for this particular exercise.

Okay, thank you.

I saw a couple of hands, member pro temptate.

Thank you, Madam President, and thank you all for being here.

Thank you, uh Member Vincent for uh putting this forward and sponsoring this ordinance.

Do have questions.

You kind of touched on it, madam president.

We talk about the dollar amount 700,000 uh that we're talking about, correct?

Yes, sir.

Um, and I know that that during our budget uh hearings and budget proceedings, uh, maybe I missed it, it was not contemplated.

So and I know you indicated corporation counsel that these dollars are going to be taken from the general fund from somewhere.

Uh the question is, where is that somewhere?

Because I'm my question, my concern as the legislator who approves the budget is capacity and also again, where are we pulling money from if we place money into a particular budget?

Where is it going to come from?

And how do we ensure that wherever those dollars are coming from, that it is not taken from a source that desperately needs to be addressed as well.

Council President Pro Tim, I am uh I don't want to speak for uh the OCFO, uh Tanya Stodermeyer.

Uh I'm almost certain that this amount was included in the law department's budget.

Uh we anticipated that we would be at this moment.

We were already doing as I indicated some of the work in terms, particularly in terms of arraignments and bail hearings.

Uh we did not think at the time that this was going to be a large increase and the ask approved by this honorable body.

So uh uh while it's coming from the general fund, it is is yeah, I am 99.9% certain it is in the budget that was approved by this bot.

Again, I asked where was those dollars programmed prior because it I don't recall it being discussed during the budget hearing, this particular ordinance and and and the shifting of potential dollars 700.

So uh I would have to defer uh to the chief financial officer, John Stoddermeyer as to how it was that she was able to provide the law department this opportunity.

Uh what we do in this process, as you know better than any, or as well as anyone, uh, is simply uh put forward as a department our request.

Uh the chief financial officer and the OCFO then approved that request or not and present the results to this honorable body for approval.

So the overall law department budget included the dollars necessary to do this work.

Madam President, I would love to have that conversation because again, I was not aware, and again, I support it.

It's not that I don't support it, but I would like to know where those dollars were at least anticipated um to be because again, I I I would have supported it in the budget if I heard it, but I didn't know about it.

And now I'm curious again where those dollars are coming from because I'm always concerned about capacity.

$700,000 is not a little bit of money.

Um, and if we're taking from one area of your uh of the law department and placing somewhere else, my question is where how do we ensure that it does not become a capacity concern in that area where those dollars are being moved from?

So if we can't have uh I see Mr.

Washington, yes, super chair.

We have been joined by Donnie Johnson from the budget office.

Okay, we will promote Mr.

Johnson um good morning.

Um Madam President and Mr.

President Pro Tem, I am Donnie Johnson and I am the acting deputy CFO and budget director for the city.

Um the law department's budget was formulated for fiscal year uh 26 with an increase to the budget.

So we didn't take the funds from somewhere else in the law department.

Uh when we set up a budget every year, we do essentially create the budget from scratch.

We take the amount of estimated revenue resources we have, and then we allocate them out to the department.

So in that process, when we set the baseline and allocated the resources for the law department, we knew to take into account an increase to their budget.

So it didn't come from somewhere, nothing, no one was cut in order to add it, either within the law department or without.

Um, it was simply allocated as part of the baseline to the department as a supplemental addition to their budget in anticipation of this um this change.

So I I just asked the question why were at least me as as as Tate, I don't know about any other member.

Why weren't we made aware of this during the budget process?

That I mean, because it really helps short circuit or help streamline this particular conversation feelings of uh big fat question marks of where the dollars are coming from and shifting.

Why not have this conversation during that period if this is a $700,000 uh allotment to the baseline?

Uh and then my other question is what else don't we know about that's a baseline is coming our way?

Because that's what happens when we have dollars like this of this amount that are tucked into the budget, and we're finding out later on.

Again, something I'm supportive of and would have supported during the budget process, but learning about it now does not lead to a level of trust that you know, I think we both would like to have discussion.

Thank you for the question, uh, Mr.

Pro Tem.

Uh, it is in the budget book.

It is one of the operating budget highlights um in the four-year plan.

It is in section B of the budget and it's page B 32-6 for the law department.

And it does state that there was funding added to their budget for the criminal enforcement program continuation.

Um, and uh there was an additional one-time addition to their budget of $500,000.

There were also eight FTEs added to the law department as part of that criminal enforcement program funding.

So it is in the budget.

It is stated as one of the highlights for the law department in the book.

Um I do believe it was discussed at the law department's hearing.

Um, that these were the changes in the additions to the budget.

So I do believe that this was discussed.

Um, I can go back and you know, check the hearing uh recording and see if it didn't get you know mentioned in that hearing.

Uh, but uh it is stated in the budget book.

Okay, I appreciate that.

We're going to take a look at it as well.

Uh, thank you for the the citation, uh, which will certainly help.

Are we anticipating uh just based even on the the number you mentioned today, everything's going up?

Uh, are we anticipating an increase, a potential increase in the cost uh in fiscal years um in subsequent uh fiscal years?

And if so, what does that number look like?

Um I would say that the Mr.

Pro Tem, I think what we are expecting would be only the wage growth that we see typically.

Um, I don't think that we would see much increase otherwise for the staff.

So the typical year over year attorney wage growth um is what we would expect.

But I the corporation council and his team have not apprised me or uh Miss Stodemeyer of any like major structural changes to the program.

We should expect that this is the setup they're gonna have, and this is kind of what they're gonna run with at their run rate.

So I would say other than normal wage inflation, no other large cost drivers are expected.

Thank you, Amanda, for additional questions.

Thank you, Madam Brooklyn.

Member Benson.

Thank you.

And so I do thank you too for that.

Uh Donnie, appreciate that.

So we did have this conversation during the budget process.

And one of the challenges with this type of program is that while there are prescriptive and expenses we can see the revenues that come back from a program of this nature, we can't um verify routinely.

And so it's a quick conversation about any anticipated revenue that come for the work that we're doing now.

We're not seeing any of those fines, those fees, they do not come back to the city with this ordinance.

Those fines and fees would come back to the city.

So now, in addition to the work we're already doing and paying for, we will now see a revenue stream.

And what you don't want to do is have a vicious cycle where we are looking to balance a budget based on fines or fees, but you do want to see those fines and fees that are coming by uh routine business come back to the city of Detroit, and this ordinance will allow that.

Can you speak to that, please?

That may be a CFO question or maybe a law department question.

Conrad Mallet, uh Council Person Benson, uh, when you and I had this discussion, you said it very, very correctly.

We do not want to finance this program on the backs of the persons who find themselves in front of a 36th district court judge.

We are not anticipating revenue generated by this particular program.

There will be costs.

I expect there will be fines imposed.

What we do not want to do is send a signal to the citizens of the city of Detroit that fines imposed by 36th district court judges are designed to support the law department as opposed to, in fact, uh uh reach some kind of uh uh justice for the particular matter before the court.

So we did not have a number, nor do we have a number that we anticipate in terms of reimbursement.

So I just want to be very clear with that when we talk about this.

And this is something, well, we did not talk about the revenues, the fiscal impact statement for this ordinance does speak to the cause sans revenues, but there was a conversation at during the budget table about this program and its cost.

In addition, this is work we're already doing, and so also want to be very clear.

All this ordinance does is shift responsibilities of prosecution from Wayne County to the city of Detroit, which also gives us a greater level of control of how we do those prosecutions and as per the demand of our CBI community, Section 31 TAC 1 TAC 2, encourage the alternate accountability option.

City council encourages the city prosecutor's office to offer delayed sentencing, referral to a specialty court and restorative justice any time the defendant is eligible for such opportunity.

In addition, um we had the opportunity to take the CBI community for different um organizations to the specialty court to have a conversation with Judge Holmes and see how that court operates.

And she was very excited to talk about her court, how they are able to offer restorative justice, how they're able to get people through the accountability process and come out on the other side with no record as a direct result of that, and our ability to uh have that which is done in our own 36th district court be a part of this process and give us greater level of control of how we help our citizens get through the process while still being held accountable.

Thank you.

Member Waters, thank you.

Uh Madam President, um, thank you, uh Pro Tim for bringing up all those uh questions a little bit earlier.

Um I've been concerned about the fiscal impact from the very beginning, and but it sounds like um according to the OCFO that we're not gonna have a problem with it.

Um how many vacancies uh does the law department currently have that they can utilize for this program at this time?

We don't have any vacancies, you know.

The law department is fully staffed, council person waters.

These will be new positions.

Okay, yeah, I I figure most of them would be new, but I wondered if you had any positions uh currently.

Um I would love to hear from from our uh our uh budget director, Mr.

Corley.

Is he around?

Uh and while we're waiting for to get Mr.

Corley on I am I am here, uh council member, Mr.

Corley?

No, oh no, sorry, I thought you were asking for Mr.

Johnson.

Uh they're reaching out to Mr.

Corley.

Yeah, are they gonna get Mr.

Cole?

They're reaching out to him.

Oh, they are okay.

Um while we're waiting for Mr.

Cole and Madam President, uh, I want to ask the uh Wayne County prosecutor in comparison to um felonies that come through your office and and in comparison to um misdemeanors.

So what would you say?

How many felonies per year, how many misdemeanors per year?

I couldn't uh councilwoman.

I'm sorry, I couldn't give you an exact number, but I can tell you that with regard to domestic violences, for instance, we have 10,000 cases a year, and of that perhaps half of them are actually approved.

Um likewise areas of aggravated assault and so on.

But I will be happy to get that information for you.

Yeah, I I'm I'm curious about that.

Um, this is a major undertaking for us here at the city.

So you you understand why we have all these questions.

And because what I don't want, because these are some very delicate times for for this city too.

No more opera dollars, we can't do any special programs, a lot of things are gonna go away.

A general fund, uh, we have to really really be concerned about it so we don't end up in bankruptcy again.

So I don't want to have to get to the point where I'm I'm looking at this ordinance that's taking a significant amount of dollars uh from the general fund, and then having to cut somewhere else that our residents need.

So you you see.

I understand perfectly.

Uh Mr.

Corley available yet.

Oh, oh, he's coming here.

So um that's it.

I'm just waiting for Mr.

Corley, Madam President.

I uh any additional questions.

We're waiting for Mr.

Quarley to come down.

Did you have something else?

Member Yellow.

Thank you, uh gentlemen.

It's always excellent work.

Good to see everybody here.

I just wanted to ask you a question.

This might be a little bit different.

I'm going more of the more aggressive route here.

If I'm looking at uh section 31-3-7 domestic violence, it's talking about uh assault and battery.

Shouldn't that be a felon?

Why is this a misdemeanor?

We're talking about somebody there are different threatening violence towards their spouse, and then actually engaging in that violence.

Shouldn't that be a felony?

This was Tony Guerrero again from the prosecutor's office.

There are different levels of assault.

Speak up a little bit.

Okay, sorry.

Sorry.

There are different levels of assault and battery as we assault and battery itself is generally a misdemeanor.

Okay.

When we move up the chain, could be aggravated assault, felonious assault, areas of that nature.

I hope that answers your question.

No, no, no, it held up.

You know, it hell I but I I just want to make sure.

So is that based on because I don't have a lot of great.

So is that based on the actual results of the encounter, or is that based on the intent, or is it based on both?

Or is it based on both?

Excuse the rudimentariness of this question.

I just want to just make sure I understand it in my head.

Yes, uh Doug Baker again.

Uh there's a couple of things I want to say about this.

First of all, Wayne County is going to continue to prosecute all domestic violence cases.

Okay.

And while we have that as part of the ordinance package, it's um uh done more in the nature of if things change in the future and the city wants or has to take on those cases, we would already have an ordinance in place.

But right now, uh and for the foreseeable future, Wayne County is going to do the domestic violence misdemeanors and felonies.

Uh, they're set up for that.

They've got uh victim witness unit and so forth.

The domestic violence uh is different than assault and battery in the sense that it's a it's uh domestic partner, and uh that gets defined in the law, making it different than let's say uh an assault and battery, uh between other people, and then if that continues, it gets elevated.

If you've done that twice, it becomes a harsher misdemeanor, and then finally a felony.

So it's so it depends on the number of times you engage, it's like the first time you'll be considered, and then if you repeated that, and then or if it's something that's like extreme, like you beat this person almost to the point where they could potentially lose their life or severely damage that person, they would be considered a felony, right?

So it's the number of times and the severity of the encounter.

Okay, I I just want to make sure about that.

And I also just want to say I'm a little bit sensitive to the fact that being since we are um the largest African American city, black women tend to experience domestic violence at a higher rate than counterparts.

I just want to make sure that if we um vote on this, that that aspect is understood, and that's not something where we would be lessening you know the response time that we would have because of this.

Thank you.

Thank you, member Young.

Discussion.

I see Mr.

Quarley here.

Okay, one second.

I think I'll see the council.

Welcome back.

Um, to council member waters, I did hear the question, and excuse me, I'm looking at the fiscal impact statement, and they're looking at as you as you heard uh about six additional positions, right?

700,000 roughly.

Um, and then they're looking at a 50,000 increase for a case tracking software.

So that's a total of about 800,000.

Um, that would be offset somewhat by revenue, uh that could be generated from the fines, although I heard um um the um corporation council indicate that you don't want to try to balance the budget because of fines.

Um, and I heard Mr.

Johnson, the acting budget director, that the law department's budget was increased, and I do agree with that.

Um, based on inflation.

Um the strain could be is that as Mr.

Um Conrad Mallet indicated, there's no vacancies.

So normally, you know, we have vacancies in the departments to kind of help absorb some of the additional costs.

So I would say that um, you know, based on the money that is there, they should be able to accommodate it.

But I would like to watch it.

If if council does approve this, I would like to watch it for you because there's no vacancies.

Yeah, and if there's a problem down the line, then I would like to you know inform the administration that I see a problem, if need be, they can come back to you and address it.

All right, um, and and and uh thank you, Mr.

Clone, because we certainly need you to do that.

Uh sure, so that we don't find ourselves in a pickle, uh you know, come even come March.

I'm I'm I'm assuming that this would be effective immediately.

Um, and so we really need that.

We we have to watch what we do.

Sure, yeah.

All right.

Thank you.

Okay, member Vincent.

Thank you.

Um, just to the question regarding just the question regarding timing, no mistake.

We're looking to start this on one July of 2026 to give everybody the opportunity to make the transition.

And as we've been staying, as we stated here, this is not a light lift, this is a heavy lift.

Um, but this the logistics to make sure that we do the smoothly um and precisely, we're looking to establish this on one July 2026.

On the other part, when it comes to this board and still containing language for domestic violence, um, prosecutor worthy made it very clear, very, very clear that she has no plans to not prosecute domestic violence, but it was my ass that we uh be allowed to continue to have this on our own books, as we're the only city in the state of Michigan that has a codified ordinance where we take away a weapon from someone who has been convicted of domestic violence, and so when you look at the deaths of women and/or men at the hands of their partners, it's because those partners in domestic violence situation have access to a weapon, and so we have the ability to do that.

We are more of a backstop.

She's made it very clear she continues to take that leave.

I wanted to make sure that we still have the opportunity to protect our residents and protect the loss of life in extenuating circumstances of this nature.

So it's very important that we kept that on the book.

She agreed, and that's why it's still here, but she still does plan to take the lead there as well.

I just want to make that very clear.

Thank you.

Thank you, Member Callaway.

Um, thank you.

Thank you, madam chair, and thank you, Member Vincent, um, for this ordinance, and thank you to all of you.

I have a couple questions.

Um I heard two different numbers in terms of the number of attorneys that we will have to hire.

I heard um corporation counsel say four, and then I heard Mr.

Corley say six.

Is it between four to six, or is it one or the other microphone?

Yep.

I can answer that, Conrad Mallet, uh, council person calloway.

It's four attorneys, it's two paralegals uh and support staff.

Okay, thank you so much.

My next question is how many budgeted positions in the law department are not filled?

Currently, currently all of the budgeted department, excuse me, all of the budgeted positions in the law department are occupied.

Okay.

All right.

My third question is who will be collecting the fines and the fees?

Because the city has a horrible um record of collecting.

We don't do a good job there.

We demolish um privately owned structures, and we don't collect most of the money that's owed to us.

So I hope the city is not gonna take on that responsibility.

So my question again is again is who's going to be responsible for collecting the fines and the fees?

36 district court.

Thank God for that.

All right.

My next question is um it goes to the prosecutor, sir.

We mentioned you said 10,000 domestic violence cases, roughly estimate.

What is the largest number of cases that would fall under this ordinance?

We have a lot of categories covered here.

Typically what of these cases does the 36th district court see more than the other cases?

What can we anticipate?

I don't think uh, again, this is Tony Guerrero on behalf of the prosecutor.

Uh I don't think that I can quantify that number for you.

However, I can indicate that we seem to be on a downward spiral, and I'm glad for that.

Most important here is the restorative justice component, and I apologize, but I couldn't off the top of my head give you how many cases we've had there at 36th district court, but I can tell you that through the the auspices of your corporation counsel's office, we have worked together at 36th district court.

This is just moving it to the next level.

And again, I I can't stress enough.

Prosecutor Worthy wanted to be here, but she's very, very excited about the restorative justice portion of this.

Now, one last thing, if I may, madam chair.

There in the cases of domestic violence, our office already has the infrastructure in place to take care of them.

And it is much easier and cost effective for our office to continue to handle the domestic violence cases.

I hope I've tried to answer your question.

Yeah.

Thank you, sir.

Um, through the chair.

Um, we talked about um tracking software that's going to track these cases.

Will that software work with the software that's already being used by 36th district court, or will it be something independent of and separate from what's already occurring at 36th district?

This is going to be a part of the of the of the ongoing, it's called Carpel.

The CARP and the uh what prosecutor by carpel that is used by the prosecutor's office by the court and by DPD.

We are buying uh council person a license that will then allow our attorneys to log on and be a part of the overall system.

This is not going to be new.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Thank you.

And my last question, thank you so much for that answer.

Um 36th district court, every time they've come to the council table during budget deliberations, um, they always have been successful with um securing grant funding.

So I'm hoping that the law department will reach out to the grant department for the city of Detroit to maybe build a partnership with their grant department because they always are so successful with securing grant dollars for the different programs that they have in the court.

So I'm hoping again your law department under your leadership um um corporation council will reach out to their grant department and see if we can form a partnership and secure grant dollars to support this program.

I guarantee you will absolutely do that.

And especially through the chair, especially those involving domestic violence.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

And then um through the chair to Mr.

Whitaker.

This is not really off the record or off topic, but I'd like to um we're gonna send a memorandum to you looking into um establishing a domestic violence task force for the city of Detroit.

I don't know if we have one or not.

Um if we don't, um, Peter will make sure you get a memorandum through the chair to see if we can go ahead and establish our own domestic violence task force so we can um um you know just we have to do something.

And with these numbers, those numbers are startling for me.

And what happened two weekends ago um was just as devastating and startling.

So we we're we're not going to um not address that.

So I'm hoping we can through the um through the chair to you, Mr.

Whitaker from my staff, we'll send you a memorandum looking to establish um a domestic violence task force for the city of Detroit.

Thank you, thank you, madam chair, and thank you to um all the gentlemen standing before us.

Thank you, Member Callaway.

You're welcome, madam chair.

Did you want a motion?

Yeah, that is a motion, madam chair, a motion to have the law department, I'm sorry, the uh legislative policy division um um put forth a resolution establishing a domestic violence task force, and I will make sure you get that task in writing.

Thank you, madam chair, and thank you, Dr.

Powers.

All right, and hearing no objections, that action will be taken.

Member Johnson.

Thank you, Madam President.

Um, and good afternoon, everyone.

Thank you all so much for the clarifying questions.

Um, I do want to get still a better understanding of this.

So are we talking about all misdemeanors that take place in the city of Detroit?

Yes, ma'am.

These will be specific to the city of Detroit.

Okay.

And um, to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, do we have any sense of in totality on an annual basis roughly how many misdemeanors we're talking about?

I um Tony Guerrero from prosecutor's office.

I do not have the exact numbers, however, those numbers are readily available to us through the system that was put in place, prosecutor by Carpel.

We can track easily with the with a push of a button how many cases are pending at any particular time.

Thank you.

And so we anticipate the pending cases to be turned over to the city if this is approved.

I would defer to corp counsel, but I believe it would be a natural transition.

We will reach a point where if councilman Benson's statement holds as of July 1, 2026, then the city will be taking over those cases.

My office, the prosecutor's office, would continue to carry them forward up until that date.

Doug Baker the law department um we are in effect doing the job now.

Because we have four attorneys covering the two state law misdemeanor courtrooms.

So all misdemeanors under state law go to Judge Sanford Jones and Judge Bryant.

We're covering that now and we also have been keeping statistics our own.

So we we put into smart sheet the numbers of cases that close every day it's in the thousands that I know just off the top of my head that we're talking about in terms of if the question is how many of these assault and batteries retail frauds uh malicious destruction of property all the ones that are you know it's we can we can get close to to that estimate because we've been keeping those numbers um also there are certain misdemeanors that are not captured by these ordinances and they're the ones that um carry more than 90 or 93 days such as uh a serious injury resulting from a traffic violation uh that can that's a one year misdemeanor aggravated assault is uh a one year misdemeanor those we can't capture in an ordinance because of the penalties so we will uh we will proceed by an MOU with those with the county as we are doing right now so we're going to be covering all the state law misdemeanors arising in the city of of Detroit and as we are right now so when this transition occurs I don't think there will the case flow will be exactly the same as it is right now so it sounds to me like you don't need any additional attorneys but um so can you just speak to how this change impacts the individual what will they see differently what will they encounter that's different from what happens today I think very little because the arresting agency is going to be basically the same it's going to be the Detroit police department or in in some instances the state police or Wayne State police but but it's going to be that an individual charge ends up in 36th district court all of that's going to be the same.

So I I don't think from that perspective there will be much if any difference.

Okay thank you so you're just anticipating a greater workload um as the county cases come to the city yeah there and and that's where we have the additional staff and paralegals that we've estimated we're going to need to cover uh those additional cases and to keep doing business like we're doing now all right thank you thank you madam president all right thank you member johnson all right thank you all for being here I think we are okay now with discussion and um we can make sure madam perk this is under member benson's name and we can proceed uh with moving it forward madam president so we have council member Vincent and ordinance noting a roll call and item 23 point one I move the take from the table and ordinance to amend chapter 31 the 2019 Detroit city code offenses article one generally by amending section 31 TAC 1 TAC 1 misdemeanor violation continuing violation buildings for conviction thereof and by adding section 31 TAC 1 TAC 2 incurs delaying and by meaning article two obstruction of government by adding section 31 Tac 25 false statement to a police officer during an investigation section 31 tech two tax six failure to identify oneself to a police officer by renew renumbering interference with city owned communication systems prohibited to section 31 tech two text seven and by adding section 31 tech two tech eight refusal to allow fingerprinting by meeting article three offenses against persons by adding section 31 tech three tax six assault and battery section 31 tech three text seven domestic violence and section 31 tech three tech eight leaving a child unattended in a vehicle by amending section by article four offenses against property by meeting section 31 tech four tac eight malicious disruption of property penalties by adding section 31 tech four tech seventeen throwing propelling or dropping stone or object at a train car or vehicle section 31 tech four tech 18 embezzlement by agent servant employee trust bailey or custodian section 31

Offenses against persons by adding Section 31, TAC 3, Tex 6, assault and battery, Section 31, Tech 3, Tech 7, Domestic Violence, and Section 31 TAC 8, PAC 3, TAC 8, leaving a child unattended in a vehicle by amending section by Article 4.

Offenses against property by meeting Section 31, TAC 4, TAC 8, malicious disruption of property, penalties by adding Section 31, TAC 4, TAC 17, throwing, propelling, or dropping stone or object at a train, car or vehicle.

Section 31, tech four, tech 18, embezzlement by agent, servant, employee, trust, baily or custodian.

Section 31 Tag 4 Tech 19.

Larceny, Section 31, TAC 4, TAC 20, Barclay by Conversion, Section 31, TAC 4, TAC 21, Larceny by False Person by False Personation, Section 31, TAC 4, TAC 22, Larson Lee, Motor Vehicles or Trailers, Section 31, TAC 4, TAC 23, make, draw, or utter a deliver or deliver check with non-sufficient funds.

Section 31, TAC 4, TAC 24, receive and conceal stolen goods, Section 31, TAC 4, TAC 25, retail fraud and section 31, TAC 4, TAC 26, theft by false token or false pretenses, and by amending Article 8, Article 13, weapons, division three, firearms by adding Section 31, TAC 13, Tech 26, possession of a firearm under the influence of intoxicants to create certain misdemeanor offenses under the city code that mirror state law and to provide for additional misdemeanor offenses lay on the table July 14th, 2025.

Hearing no objections, that action will be taken.

Councilmember Benson.

I move the ordinance be placed on the order of third reading and considered read.

Hearing no objections, that action will be taken.

Member Ben the ordinance be passed as submitted.

There being a roll car required, please call the roll.

Councilmember Whitfield Calloway.

Yes.

Council Member Young.

Yes.

Council President Sheffield.

No.

Council Member Benson.

Yes.

Council Member Durha.

Yes.

Council Member Johnson.

Yes.

Councilmember Santiago Romero.

Yes.

Council President Pro Tem Tate.

Yes.

Council Member Waters.

Yes.

Eight yes.

That motion passes, Madam President.

The ordinance is approved.

Councilmember Benson.

I move the title to the ordinance be confirmed.

Hearing no objections, that action will be taken.

Thank you, colleagues.

Request a waiver.

Object to a waiver.

All right.

Um, before we continue, thank you.

That will conclude um that portion.

Before we continue for the rest of the agenda, we can take up the resolution, Madam Clerk, or the embuds person, interview process.

Yes, madam president.

We have a resolution to walk on for the um bus person application process.

Right.

And we can move for discussion.

Thank you so much.

Attorney Barcliff.

Good afternoon.

Um, what you have before you is a resolution to um set the interview date for the umbusman's position.

Um it's on uh we've chosen or your body has chosen September the 18th.

And so we present that to you for your approval.

Okay.

Any questions?

So we'll be here at September the 18th, starting at I believe it's two o'clock.

3 p.m.

PM six.

Um all interviews will be in person.

Um, so all candidates will be here in person.

Oh I'd like to emphasize one thing.

Can you speak a little bit louder, attorney?

I said I'd like to emphasize one thing also that this will not be a hybrid meeting as your meetings normally are.

This is for the benefit of all candidates, so to provide some level of fairness so that the first candidate and the last candidate get the same amount of um ability to you know do well on the interviews.

Right, and it also states that public comment also that day will be in person only.

Yeah, public comment will be in person only.

Okay, all right.

Any questions for uh approving the resolution or on the resolution?

Okay, great.

Thank you, attorney Barclay.

And madam clerk, if we can move this item for approval, council member Johnson, a resolution, member Johnson, move for approval.

Are there any objections?

Hearing no objections, the resolution will be approved under the consent agenda.

Under the consent agenda.

There are no items, madam president.

All right.

We will call now for member reports.

Councilmember Pro Tim Tate.

Thank you, Madam President.

Just glad to be back here physically in the building.

Did not stop work.

We did the Protect Your Crown Tour.

I want to thank colleagues for allowing us to join you all in the districts.

All seven districts brought mental health awareness to constituents.

Going to continue the conversation as we shift to high schools.

I want to also give a shout out to Madison Carver Academy.

We were out this morning on their first day of school.

We had our school welcome/slash clap in and uh principal of the year, Miss Uh Principal Stovall over there doing a tremendous job.

So glad to be back here physically in the space.

Um we'll continue to do the work that we've done throughout this term.

Um thank you so much.

Thank you, Pro Tim.

Member Waters.

All right, member Benson.

Thank you.

Also good to be back.

Uh, just want to remind everybody that we continue to do our wealth generation um asset protection plan workshops for Wheels Estates Trusts, uh Lady Bird D.

So please check those out.

Uh you can go to our asset protection program on the city's webpage, and those dates will be there.

In addition, we want to thank uh Pro Tim Tate for bringing the Protect Your Crown to the third dish.

We had a great coffee and conversation there.

Really do appreciate that conversation and destigmatizing mental health in our community.

I know that's a heavy lift, so thank you for that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Member Benson.

Member Callaway.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Um, we will be outside this Saturday, September the 6th at the 6 Mile Street Festival from noon until 8 p.m.

along West McNichols between Livernoy and Wyoming.

There'll be free food and lots of family fun to RSVP.

Visit Detroit Month of Design.org.

Again, that's this Saturday from noon to 8 p.m.

Free event for the entire family along West McNichols between Livernoy and Wyoming.

It's called the Six Mile Street Festival.

Also, um, September the 8th, Monday, we'll have our monthly coffee and conversation from 8 a.m.

to 9 a.m.

at the General Baker Institute, located at 15798 Livernoy.

Please join us for this opportunity to engage with our city council member and your neighbors.

So again, that is Monday, September the 8th from 8 a.m.

to 9 a.m.

Join us for our monthly coffee and conversation at the General Baker Institute at 15798 Livernoy.

Additionally, we will be having our annual community cookout.

It'll be at Palmer Park near the splash pad on Saturday from September September the 13th from noon to 3 p.m.

We'll have outdoor games, lots of food, hustle, and lots of music and everything is free.

Have to call my office to register at 224 4535.

And again, that is our annual district two community cookout at Palmer Park next to the splash pad on Saturday, September the 13th.

Then we're inviting you to our monthly webinar on Monday, September the 15th from 5:30 to 6:30.

We'll have special presentations from our new Wayne County Commissioner Angelique Peterson Mayberry.

And then we'll also have Christina Peltier, Deputy Director of Complete Street.

For more meeting information, you can go to our website or you can call 224 4535.

And also that morning, we'll be passing out coffee at Wendy's on the corner of the lodge and seven mile road.

We'll be passing out coffee, free coffee to the first 50 visitors, whether in the lobby or the drive-thru line, Councilmember Callaway will be there passing out coffee.

That is September the 15th, Monday morning.

And I think we're gonna probably get there around 8 a.m.

We'll probably be out there for an hour.

So for more information about coffee at Wendy's on the corner of 7 and the lodge, call 224 4535.

And then lastly, we'll be having our evening meeting scheduled for Tuesday, September the 23rd at Fellowship Chapel on West Alta Drive.

Pastor is Wendell Anthony, and that meeting is going to be at 7 p.m.

For more information about the Tuesday, September the 23rd evening meeting at Fellowship Chapel.

Call my office again at 224 4535.

That completes my member's report.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

All right.

Thank you, Member Calloway.

Thank you, Member Callaway, Member Durha.

Thank you, Madam President.

And uh happy to be back.

Uh just a couple quick updates.

Uh, our next retiree task force hybrid meeting uh in conjunction that me and member waters uh chair will take place Friday, September the 5th, uh from 11 a.m.

to 1230 p.m.

Uh, you can join us virtually uh or in person right here in the Irma Henderson Auditorium.

Uh attendees will have the opportunity again to receive important updates, voice their concerns, and connect with fellow retirees.

That's taking place uh this Friday, September the 5th from 11 a.m.

to 1230 p.m.

Also, our 28th policy session is taking place Monday, September 22nd from 6 p.m.

to 7 30 p.m.

at the Edison Library, located at 1840 Joy Road.

This is our 28th policy session.

So we invite you to attend.

It's a great educational experience.

Also, an opportunity to connect alongside members of our community, and we will be discussing why voting is important.

Uh, and so uh please join us again for our 28th policy session.

Finally, our district seven community engagement meeting will take place Tuesday, September the 30th from 6 p.m.

to 7 30 p.m.

at the St.

Suzanne Cody Rouge Community Resource Center, located at 19321 West Chicago.

Uh, and we will have resources and city departments there to service everyone.

Uh, other than that, that concludes my report.

Thank you, Madam President.

All right, thank you, Member Durha, Member Johnson.

Thank you, Madam President.

Just want to remind everyone that on Thursday, this coming Thursday, September 4th at 5 30 p.m., we are hosting our virtual session to share with everyone how to apply for the community development block grant funding.

Um, so we do have a virtual CDBG NOF uh session that will be taking place again on Thursday, September 4th at 5 30 p.m.

If you are interested in joining us, please call the office to obtain the link.

The office number is 313 224841.

And then on Monday, September 15th, we are hosting our monthly district for a meeting at Metro East, located at 13929 Harper Avenue.

We will have the uh Board of Review uh there speaking about the Hope program and letting every everyone know when the deadline is and how to apply.

Um, I also just want to say welcome back to all of the students throughout the city of Detroit and welcome back to my senior policy analyst, Yolanda Jackson, who came back from uh Lee.

So glad to have her back in the office.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Member Johnson, Member Santiago Romero.

Thank you, Madam President.

It feels like we're all back at school today.

I uh want to welcome everyone to join Team GSR at our September monthly meeting tomorrow, September 3rd from 6 to 7 30.

We're going to be at 4981 CABEX, um, a mosque in 48 to 10.

We'll be joined by the United Community Housing Coalition, the housing and revitalization department to learn more about housing and homeownership, home ownership resources, as well as will an estate planning that we have heard uh be so important uh for our residents.

Our monthly office hours will resume on Monday, September 8th at Patton Park from 4 to 6.

Uh for the month of September, I will be um in the rec centers with my team for any questions that you might have for us.

We want to ask you to save the date for our September Coffee Council and conversation.

It's going to be on Thursday, September 18th from 11 to 12 p.m.

at Douglas Branch Library.

Um, and last, just want to encourage uh district six residents uh to continue to participate in the CBO project uh for the DCFC stadium.

The third meeting is going to be this Thursday, September 11th at 6 p.m.

at the Mexican Town CDC.

Thank you, madam president.

Thank you.

Councilmember Young.

Uh thank you.

I just want to say glad to see council president and everybody that was at the uh Labor Day parade.

That parade last about two and a half hours.

And so it was good to go out there and talk to everybody and shake everybody's hand.

I know after I was done, I left and went with my family and I had some hot dogs and some burgers and immediately took a nap.

So that was pretty good.

Um I had a busy recent say what now?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's a C you two.

Yeah, that's right.

I did my uh colleague, Member Waters.

That was and we had the blowhorn, that was fun.

And then we hauled that people, that was good too.

Um, I also had a busy recess over 30 events.

I want to thank all my colleagues and my and the residents of the city of Detroit for giving me the opportunity to visit and uh serve them.

Uh that was really good.

And uh I just wanted to say uh welcome back.

It's good to be back.

And um, you know, this has been a real honor and privilege of my life to be here.

I just want to say thank you, and I look forward to serving you the best of my ability as we move on with the future.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Member Young, and again, uh want to also say thank you to all of the men and women in labor uh for their contributions, their sacrifice in the hard work that they contribute to this great city day in and day out.

It was an honor to walk uh again uh in the Labor Day Parade, a great showing and a great opportunity for us to stand in unity and one uh to support the men and women of labor.

Uh just want to announce that the Detroit Legacy Business, we kicked off our second round of funding uh about a week or so ago.

Uh, was in partnership with Member Callaway was there, member Johnson was there uh to support all of our legacy businesses in Detroit.

So if you know of a legacy business, if you are a legacy business that has been in Detroit for 30 years or more, uh you now have access to funding, technical support, and much more to support uh your business.

So again, uh second round of funding is now open.

Please go to Detroit MI.gov for more information uh to support our existing legacy businesses.

Uh and then lastly, we will be kicking off our finale of Occupy the Corner, uh, which will be held on Friday, September the 12th.

We'll be doing school supply giveaways, barbecue free food, and of course, tons of city resources and information.

Please join us next Friday, September the 12th at the Williams Rec Center from 2 to 6 p.m.

It's still not too late to get your school supplies, um, and make sure that our kids are prepared for this school year.

And that will be all I have for today.

Madam President, yes, Councilmember Johnson.

Thank you, Madam President.

Not to uh do a member young on you uh and I just didn't want to announce this.

I thought you were going to um the 100 years of courage of the ICN Suite House.

Oh, yes.

Um, their celebration just wanted to make sure people are are aware uh from Sunday, September 7th through Tuesday, September 9th.

Um there will be three days of just educational information uh that is being shared.

The ICN Suite Educational Plaza opened up during recess as well.

Um, and just really looking forward to residents just knowing and understanding the history, the legacy uh around that particular house and the work that we all still have to do around housing equity, um, and making sure that all Detroiters, no matter how old, no matter what race, no matter how much money they have, um, has access to housing in the city of Detroit.

So just wanted to um be sure that we uplifted that because I think it will be a phenomenal event.

Thank you.

Thank you, madam.

Madam Chair.

Thank you so much, Member Johnson.

Yes, Councilmember Kellowa.

If I might add, on on that point, I had an opportunity to visit the house, and to my surprise, it had lots of um visitors there and the Baxters were there, Mr.

and Mrs.

Baxter.

So we had an opportunity to go inside and tour the home.

It's just very, very beautiful, just the whole history of it, all the um signage where you can just go around the property and read um and see the original state of the house and the brickwork, the original brickwork.

And I'm um it was I was just taken aback.

It was just, I mean, not I was just so surprised, and just um um just with the history and um then to know how the daughter passed and the father passed and the mother passed.

It was just I didn't know all of that until I got to that property on Sunday, and then I've been hanging out in district uh district four.

I don't know if I'm pronouncing it right, but Corrinders or from the from the farm to the kitchen restaurant, Coriander.

Okay, so I went there too, so it was amazing.

Hadn't didn't even know all that was back there, that um canal and saw Play pulling up in their boats and their canoes, and I'm like, it was amazing.

So um I I liked what I saw in district four, and then we hung out at the AB Ford for the Detroit Women's Commission that was officially launched.

So um, thank you for having me in your district.

Um, three days in a row.

Thank you, um, member Johnson.

It was amazing experience.

Thank you, madam chair.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

All right, thank you all for your member reports, and we will now move to under adoption without committee reference.

There are no items, madam president.

Under communications from the clerk.

For report on approval proceedings by the mayor, the report will be received and placed on file under testimonial resolutions and special privilege.

Council President Pro Tim James Tate for resolution line item 28.1.

Pro Tim Tate.

All right, and hearing no objections, the resolution will be approved.

Member Young.

Member Young, I should do one too.

I also just wanted to say I forgot to mention that I will also want to say thank you to uh councilwoman uh Callaway because I was at the ribbon cutting.

Um I was yes, I was at ribbon cutting for the shed, so I just want to say thank you so much for the opportunity for allowing me to be there.

Um that was really a good thing.

So just want to say thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

Under it under uh testimonial resolutions and special privilege.

Council member Durhal, five resolutions, nine items 28.2 through 28.6.

Member Durha.

Move for approval, madam president.

All right, and hearing no objections, the five resolutions will be approved.

And there being no further business to come before us today, is there a meeting to adjourn?

Is there a motion to adjourn?

So move.

All right, the meeting will stay in adjourned.