The Detroit City Council held a lengthy public meeting on October 2, 2025, addressing over a dozen agenda items. The session included public testimony on tax incentives, drainage fees, housing, and community concerns; discussion and votes on event permits, contracts, and park grants; and a detailed debate on a vehicle repair contract that was ultimately held for one week. The meeting was attended by council members, city staff, and residents in person and virtually.
Presentation in this article, he proposes a tax cut for married couples to move into the city. And uh we looked online so there's wonderful tax cuts for homeownership, there's but there's uh the uh down payment assistance, there's renaissance zones, but this is one area that we think we want to propose legislation for to uh give tax incentives for uh married couples to move into the city, which will help uh stimulate uh uh stability, help kids see fathers in the neighborhood, and that would help uh resolve the problem of neighborhood uh fatherlessness, improve neighborhoods, and so that's why we're here today to propose that piece of legislation that you take that up. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Um, and we will now move on to Mr. Reverend Rodney Hamilton. Two minutes. Thank you. Um thank you for this opportunity. Um I'm Reverend Rodney Hamilton, I'm the senior pastor of Mount Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church. Our church is located at 13925 Linwood Street, Detroit, Michigan. We're at the corner of Linwood in Open Court, four blocks north of Davidson. Amen. Um as you can see, me and Reverend Cosbo, we have come together, you know, we're trying to do things as a for for the community as a church, which you don't see much anymore. And we had our first uh community family and friends day on May 25th, and it was, you know, we brought all the community in and we just let the community know that we're as a church we're there if they need them, if they need them, because most times people are looking for a church home, they're looking for a place to fellowship and communicate and they don't really have one. So we were letting the community in the neighborhood know that we're here in the neighborhood for them. And we also had a vacation Bible school and global journeys day, and we dealt with, you know, we talked to children about Africa and Japan and different countries, and we did that on July 19th. And you know, we're just doing different projects in the community and in the neighborhood to let the neighborhood and community know that we're there. And also we um just coming to the city council because we want them to know any projects or anything that we can get involved in to help either further this, you know, we would gladly appreciate it. So we thank you for your time. Excellent. Thank you, sir. We appreciate that. Appreciate that idea. Look forward to talking. Uh chair recognized the Vice Chairman Galloway. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Chair, and good afternoon, everyone. I was just listening to uh PED uh about 30 minutes ago and one of my colleagues uh mentioned um not so long ago, maybe a year or so ago, there were four of us who met with the administration, um, i.e. the mayor, regarding nonprofits and churches being able to get properties, um redevelop those properties, rehab those properties and um get land to build affordable housing. I'm all in support of that. Um want people to move into the city, but I want to also um reward if we can folks who stayed in the city. Um it's good that we want to attract people to move into the city, but I think we should also use that same energy and um passion for those who have remained in the city, like myself and uh my family. So um I definitely would want to um um make sure that we don't neglect or overlook those families who are already here and get nothing um but a lot of grief and no relief because we paid the highest property taxes in the nation, and not a lot of people want to move into the city to pay those high property taxes. So I get the deep cuts, but the deep cuts need to start right now with those of us who've stuck and stayed in this city and didn't move out because of the property taxes, didn't move out because of the educational system, didn't move out because of poverty, didn't move out because of unemployment, didn't move out because of crime. We stuck and stayed since the 50s and the 40s. We've been here. And so um any deep property tax cuts to be talked about, we're gonna start right with those families who are already here who stuck and stayed, and um put up with a less than stellar education system and education experience and struggle when they get in college, some of them, not all of them. Um so I appreciate this, but I also want to make sure that we don't overlook those families who are here, and a lot of them are headed by single women. Um, and so I definitely will support anything that includes those black women who are single mothers doing it every day. So I I could not support anything that does not include them. If there's gonna be some property tax cuts, deep cuts is gonna be for them as well. Thank you, madam chair, Mr. Chair, and thank you, sir, for your No, thank you. I appreciate I and I appreciate the work that you that you guys are doing. I I I I just want to make it clear though, I think um a lot of this has to do with the drug war and the prison policy that has decimated the black community, and I think that's why 33% of the prison population is black, and a lot of that is because of we're talking about where the fathers, a lot of them are in prison. But I want to be clear. Um you talk about black fathers that are not married to their significant other, that's when you see the fatherlessness drop to 45%. But we talk about black fathers that either cohabitate or don't cohabitate, but are involved with their children, that number goes from 45% to 77%.