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Record of Proceedings

Detroit City Council Expanded PED Committee on CDBG/NOF (Feb 25, 2026)

City Council — Wednesday, February 25, 2026
BodyDetroit, Michigan
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, February 25, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Deliberations will now are now in session.

0:03

Will the clerk please call the roll?

0:06

Good answer.

0:07

Recording in progress councilmember Scott Benson.

0:13

Councilmember Letitia Johnson.

0:15

Present for the expanded budget finance and audit.

0:19

I mean the public uh PED.

0:22

Uh expanded committee.

0:24

I think Council President said NCS.

0:26

That's the NOF, but I can say expanded.

0:30

All right, thank you.

0:34

Councilmember Denzel McCampbell.

0:36

Present.

0:37

Councilmember Renata Miller.

0:41

Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero.

0:44

Councilmember Mary Waters.

0:47

Councilmember Andrew Whitfield Callaway.

0:50

Council President Pro Tim Coleman Young.

0:54

Here.

0:55

Council President James Tate.

0:59

Mr.

0:59

Chair, we do not have quorum.

1:01

Okay, thank you.

1:02

Um because we do not have a quorum.

1:05

We cannot have this have this hearing on um community development block grant neighborhood opportunity funds.

1:13

So we will open it up to public comment.

1:17

Mr.

1:17

Bo, how many people do we have in the queue for public comment?

1:24

Oh sorry.

1:27

I see well I see I was such a parade flow.

1:30

I was just coming in absorbing everything.

1:32

Miss Whitfield, I'm sorry.

1:34

Excuse me.

1:35

Miss Whitfield, how many people do we have in the queue today?

1:40

What I say.

1:43

Wait, hold on now.

1:44

Is it Miss Mr.

1:46

Ms.

1:46

Whitfield?

1:47

Whitfield.

1:48

Oh sorry.

1:50

Mr.

1:51

Whitfield, I'm sorry, brother.

1:52

Mr.

1:53

Whitfield, charge that to my head, not my heart.

1:55

Mr.

1:55

Whitfield, how many people do we have in the queue today?

2:03

The clerk will acknowledge Councilmember Callaway.

2:08

All right, so one, two.

2:11

We got a quorum now.

2:14

So I was told that we were.

2:21

Yeah.

2:24

Listen to the recording in progress.

2:26

It's like a brief recess.

2:27

Call chair.

2:28

Be ready.

2:29

Okay.

3:24

Community development block credit neighborhood opportunity funds.

3:29

Hearing now come back into session.

3:32

Will the clerk please call the roll?

3:33

Councilmember Scott Benson.

3:35

Councilmember Letitia Johnson.

3:37

Present.

3:38

Councilmember Denzel McCampbell.

3:40

Present.

3:40

Councilmember Renata May Miller.

3:43

Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero.

3:46

Present.

3:47

Councilmember Mary Waters.

3:49

Councilmember Angela Whitfield Callaway.

3:53

Council President Pro Tempur Coleman Young.

3:56

Here.

3:57

Council President James Tate.

4:00

Mr.

4:01

Chair, we have quorum.

4:03

Thank you.

4:04

Mayor Clerk and thank you for putting that pro tempere on there.

4:06

I appreciate that.

4:07

Um we will now let this just say this a little housekeeping.

4:14

Um we are not going to have the session today.

4:16

We will have the session tomorrow.

4:18

Uh what we are going to do is we're going to open up for public comment.

4:21

Then once public comment is over, then we will um adjourn until two o'clock tomorrow for this continued meeting.

4:27

This expanded uh meeting for PD meeting.

4:30

All right, that being said, we have even though we have a quorum, we will be having it um meeting tomorrow.

4:36

Okay.

4:37

With that being said, we will now move on to public comment.

4:40

Mr.

4:40

Whitfield, how many people do we have in the queue?

4:44

Good afternoon.

4:45

We have two members online.

4:48

All right, two members are online.

4:50

Public comment is now closed.

4:52

Public comment is now closed.

4:55

Public comment is now closed.

4:59

All right.

5:01

Who do we have first, Mr.

5:02

Whitfield?

5:04

Um, first caller will be owner papa.

5:08

All right, floor is yours, two minutes.

5:23

Uh good afternoon.

5:24

And through the chair, may I be heard?

5:26

Yes, you may.

5:27

Carolyn Hughes.

5:29

Yes.

5:30

We have a lot of housekeeping that we need to do.

5:33

I think it's it's incumbent upon us to um evaluate the audits that we have received so that we don't continue to make the same mistakes.

5:43

The purpose of the legislative body is to make sure that things are being run as corrupt-free as you can.

5:54

Um we know that corruption always exists.

5:58

But when the legislators participate in a level of corruption, it allows for department heads.

6:09

The reason why we see BCD, who should have been giving tickets to the Leland building, and it should have already belonged to the city of Detroit, the way you take people's residence when they don't do as you say.

6:24

But no, we have Munaz, as Ms.

6:27

Romero knows, and we've talked about it for the last two years prior, but now we don't talk about it anymore.

6:33

But he has also been accused of a slung landlord, and he said was supposed to go out and give tickets, and he had he was behind so much money, and um we never heard anything else about it.

6:45

The same is true for up and down Joy Road.

6:49

Mr.

6:49

Durha never came back with any numbers.

6:53

Um the whole budget um season is about money, it's about money and how we allocate and how we spend.

7:03

I would like to see the CDBG money going back to the neighborhoods where they were during the Coleman A Young years, when they distributed throughout the community, and we were able to fix our home so that they didn't fall down, but now we're dependent on organizations, nonprofits to handle our money when we're old enough, smart enough to handle our own money.

7:27

Thank you.

7:28

All right, thank you for that.

7:29

Who do we have next in the queue?

7:31

Mr.

7:31

Whitfield.

7:32

Next in the queue, we have William M.

7:35

Davis.

7:36

All right, Ms.

7:36

Davis, floor is yours, two minutes.

7:41

Uh good afternoon, good to be heard.

7:43

Yes, sir.

7:44

Okay, I like to withdraw my comments from now.

7:47

Yeah, I have a good day.

7:49

Excellent.

7:50

You too.

7:51

Anybody else?

7:52

Um that is something that is the end of our public call online callers.

7:58

All right, and uh without objection, the community development block grant and neighborhood opportunity fund expanded PED committee will adjourn until tomorrow at two o'clock.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████53%
Public Comment████████████████████████████████38%
Audit████████9%
Summary of Proceedings

Detroit City Council Expanded PED Committee Meeting – February 25, 2026

This meeting of the Detroit City Council's expanded Planning and Economic Development (PED) committee was called to hold a hearing on Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Neighborhood Opportunity Fund (NOF) allocations. After initially lacking a quorum, the committee achieved quorum but voted to postpone the hearing until the following day, February 26, 2026, at 2:00 PM. Public comment was taken before adjournment.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Carolyn Hughes spoke about the need to evaluate audits to avoid repeating mistakes and to reduce corruption. She criticized the Building, Safety Engineering and Environmental Department (BSEED) for not issuing tickets to the Leland building and referenced a landlord named Munaz who had been accused of being a slumlord and owed significant money. She also mentioned Joy Road and a Mr. Durha who never reported numbers. Hughes called for CDBG funds to be distributed directly to neighborhoods as in the Coleman A. Young era, rather than through nonprofits, stating residents are capable of managing their own money.
  • William M. Davis initially appeared in the queue but withdrew his comments, saying he had nothing to say.

Discussion Items

  • The committee struggled to obtain a quorum at the start. After a brief recess, a quorum was achieved with eight members present.
  • Council President James Tate announced that the hearing would not proceed that day; instead, public comment would be taken, and the meeting would adjourn to continue on February 26 at 2:00 PM.

Key Outcomes

  • The hearing on CDBG and NOF funds was postponed; the expanded PED committee will reconvene on February 26, 2026, at 2:00 PM to continue the hearing.
  • Public comment was opened and closed, with two speakers (one speaking, one withdrawing).
  • The meeting adjourned without any votes or decisions on the agenda items.

Meeting Transcript

Deliberations will now are now in session. Will the clerk please call the roll? Good answer. Recording in progress councilmember Scott Benson. Councilmember Letitia Johnson. Present for the expanded budget finance and audit. I mean the public uh PED. Uh expanded committee. I think Council President said NCS. That's the NOF, but I can say expanded. All right, thank you. Councilmember Denzel McCampbell. Present. Councilmember Renata Miller. Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero. Councilmember Mary Waters. Councilmember Andrew Whitfield Callaway. Council President Pro Tim Coleman Young. Here. Council President James Tate. Mr. Chair, we do not have quorum. Okay, thank you. Um because we do not have a quorum. We cannot have this have this hearing on um community development block grant neighborhood opportunity funds. So we will open it up to public comment. Mr. Bo, how many people do we have in the queue for public comment? Oh sorry. I see well I see I was such a parade flow. I was just coming in absorbing everything. Miss Whitfield, I'm sorry. Excuse me. Miss Whitfield, how many people do we have in the queue today? What I say. Wait, hold on now. Is it Miss Mr. Ms. Whitfield? Whitfield. Oh sorry. Mr. Whitfield, I'm sorry, brother. Mr. Whitfield, charge that to my head, not my heart. Mr. Whitfield, how many people do we have in the queue today? The clerk will acknowledge Councilmember Callaway. All right, so one, two. We got a quorum now.

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