The Internal Operations Standing Committee met on January 28, 2026, with a quorum present. The meeting included an invocation, public comments from 11 callers, interviews for the Human Rights Commission, and action on numerous agenda items including reappointments, task force resolutions, settlements, and contract approvals.
And welcome to Internal Operations Standing Committee. There's a quorum of the city council may be present. And we're going to ask the um the clerk to call the roll. Councilmember Angela Whitfield Callaway. Present. Councilmember Scott Benson. Councilmember Renata Miller. Present. Madam Chair, you have a quorum present. Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. We're going to have our invocation is Pastor Orville K. Little John on Pastor of the Messiah Baptist Church on Seven Mile in District 2. Are you on, sir? Yes, I am. Good morning, Councilman Callaway. Good morning so much. And I'm so happy that you had time to um to be with us this morning and to provide prayer. But before we um hear from you, sir, I want to congratulate you on being elected the council of the Baptist pastors of Detroit and vicinity. President, you were installed on Sunday, and it was my honor and privilege to be there with you to witness such a powerful occasion. I had not um been a part of that before, and I didn't know what would happen, but it was an amazing um service and installation. So congratulations. And what I observed, I had always heard about um Pastor Tellis Chapman. But that it was amazing. I have been in church my entire life, and I have never ever seen a pastor go that long preaching without even looking at notes. Oh, he does it. He does it all the time. He's uh pretty amazing colleague of mine. I thank God for him. And I thank God for you, Councilwoman Callaway. I truly, truly appreciate your kind words, just your presence and pressing your way. That wasn't the greatest day in terms of weather, but it was a great day in terms of just celebration of what God is doing and what God has done. Well, listen, Pastor Little John, we're looking forward to partnering with you. We know that our city is better because of you, and we know that Messiah Baptist Church is a beacon of hope and light, not just on the west side, but throughout this entire city. So I'm looking forward to all the amazing things that will come out of that council for the coming years. And again, thank you so much for finding time in your busy schedule to pray over this um committee meeting and over our city. And the floor is yours, sir. Councilwoman Callaway, I pray that you know that you can count on me anytime, any place, anywhere, as the Lord will allow. And I want to greet all of our council persons and praise God. Thank God for the work that you do, and it's our sincere desire to cover you today and invoke the presence of the most high God, a manifestation of his presence and power as you conduct business today. Let us pray. Gracious God, we honor you. We thank you for the work that you assign. We thank you for the appointment of law enforcement and legislation that allows us to have community and civility. We thank you for uh the responsibility, the role that's on these elected officials for the governance of our city, and we recognize that even they are on your shoulders. Allow them to lean on you as they deliberate on this day. Allow them to know that you have undergirded them to relieve them of the pressure and pain that this level of civic responsibility can bring. Give them the peace, give them the wisdom, grant them the continued ability, stamina to hold on, to hang in and to know that they have resources beyond themselves to look to, to lean on, to listen to for the betterment of our city. God, we lift up our city, and we thank you for what we know that you are doing, providing us with the peace that we need and the prosperity. Continue your wondrous work, blessings upon the city of Detroit and these officials as they do business on this day. Manifest your presence in a way that allows them a productive and peaceful, profitable, efficient meeting.