Internal Operations Committee Meeting Summary - March 11, 2026
Internal Operations Committee Meeting Summary - March 11, 2026
The Internal Operations Committee of the Detroit City Council met on March 11, 2026, to consider appointments to the Board of Ethics and Detroit Land Bank Authority, discuss legal privilege and contract matters, and hear public comments on city operations and housing conditions.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Ona Popper (first caller) expressed concern about "illegal representation" for city employees, questioned the cost to the city, and urged treating senior citizen housing issues with urgency—comparing the situation to the "love bug" computer virus—and called for lessons learned and accountability within city departments.
- William M. Davis (second caller) agreed with the previous speaker, criticized that falsifying official documentation no longer leads to termination, argued that the city "closes its eyes to people doing wrong," and stated Detroit "used to be more proactive" in inspections but is now "a pale reflection of what it used to be."
- Betty A. Varner (third caller), president of the DeSoda Else World Block Association, announced a free health fair on April 18, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church (7151 Finco Avenue), offering eye screening and other services for children and adults without requiring health insurance.
- Angela Whitfield (fourth caller) made a personal complaint about a past interaction with an unnamed official, accusing them of disrespect.
- One caller (unidentified) apologized to a staff member for "misbehaving callers" on the call.
Appointments
- Appointment to Board of Ethics (Line Item 6 & Resolution 9.1): Dr. Carolyn Carter, a lifelong Detroiter with a doctorate in educational leadership and seven years on the Historic Designation Advisory Board, was interviewed. She stated she wants to serve to "ensure the public trust and integrity of this board" and emphasized educating the public on the ethics process. The committee voted to move the appointment to formal session with a recommendation to approve.
- Appointment to Detroit Land Bank Authority (Line Item 7 & Resolution 9.2): Donna Givens Davidson, former executive director of Vanguard Community Development Corporation and current at Eastside Community Network, was interviewed. She advocated for the original creation of the Land Bank 20 years ago. She described her organization's success rehabbing four homes from the demolition pipeline on one block, noting property values increased. She criticized the Land Bank for "secrecy and a lack of transparency," unfairness to residents versus developers, punitive timelines (e.g., 6-month deadlines with threat of property repossession), and inconsistent enforcement for large developers. The committee voted to move the appointment to formal session with a recommendation to approve. Councilmember Benson also requested a memo to confirm and codify the mayor's authority to grant or remove council's individual appointment to the Land Bank.
Discussion Items
- Line Item 8.1 – Lifting Privilege on Legal Memos re: Board of Ethics Legal Counsel: The committee discussed whether to lift attorney-client privilege on memos from the Law Department and Legislative Policy Division (LPD) regarding whether the Board of Ethics can hire independent legal counsel. Councilmember Miller expressed opposition to removing privilege, saying "I don't believe that it'll be any benefit." LPD's Mr. Whitaker clarified two separate memos exist and offered to draft resolutions for the full council. A motion to bring the item back in one week was approved.
- Line Item 8.2 – Memorandum on Rules for Community Advisory Councils: Brought back from February 25, 2026; LPD requested three more weeks. Motion approved—item to return in three weeks.
- Line Item 8.3 – Memorandum re: Follow-up Questions on Contracts Involving Data Sharing with Third Parties: LPD requested two additional weeks; the chair extended to three weeks. Motion approved—item to return in three weeks.
- Line Item 8.4 – Memorandum re: 2026 Executive Organization Plan: LPD's Mr. Whitaker noted council must approve the plan by April 7, 2026, and suggested council send any requested changes (e.g., adding the health department) to LPD so they can draft a resolution to forward to the administration. Law Department will determine if any change is material and requires a second public hearing. The item was brought back in one week.
- Line Item 8.5 – Contract for Parking Spaces (100% City Funding): Councilmember Benson questioned spending nearly $1 million on parking rentals versus city-owned land. Motion to bring back in one week approved.
- Line Item 8.6 – Contract for Legal Services (Miller Law Firm): Reduced from $500,000 to $375,000. Mr. Butch Hollowell explained the case involves the 1300 Lafayette building ("a vertical neighborhood") needing heat; Detroit Thermal was contracted, but a neighborhood group sued. The city was dismissed from the lawsuit yesterday; only the Historic District Commission remains. A temporary restraining order was reversed by the Court of Appeals. Councilmember Miller (whose district includes the area) stated residents were not given opportunity for input, and there was a "failure in communication." She requested a one-week delay. Motion approved—item to return in one week.
- Line Item 9.17 – Resolution Urging a Two-Year Moratorium on Data Center Development: Councilmember Benson introduced the resolution, explaining the need for zoning text amendments to regulate data centers before any arrive. Multiple municipalities and a state bill also call for moratoriums. The item was moved to formal session with a recommendation to approve.
- Line Item 9.19 – Memorandum re: Waiving Attorney-Client Privilege on Detroit Public Library Bond Issuance: Councilmember Benson requested the Law Department opine on the library's independent bond authority. LPD's Mr. Keller noted a resolution was already submitted to waive privilege. The item was moved to formal session with a recommendation to approve.
Key Outcomes
- Dr. Carolyn Carter's appointment to the Board of Ethics advanced to formal session with recommendation to approve.
- Donna Givens Davidson's appointment to the Detroit Land Bank Authority advanced to formal session with recommendation to approve.
- Line items 8.1, 8.5, 8.6 (privilege, parking contract, legal services contract) each brought back in one week for further discussion.
- Line items 8.2 and 8.3 (community advisory council rules, data sharing contracts) brought back in three weeks.
- Line item 8.4 (Executive Organization Plan) returned in one week; councilmembers to send requested changes to LPD to draft a resolution.
- Line items 9.8 through 9.16 (lawsuits and settlements) all brought back in one week for potential closed session discussion.
- Resolution urging two-year moratorium on data centers (9.17) advanced to formal session with recommendation to approve.
- Memorandum on library bond privilege (9.19) advanced to formal session with recommendation to approve.
- Line item 9.20 (update on boards and commissions vacancies) brought back in three weeks.
- All other routine contracts and reports (9.3, 9.4, 9.5, 9.6, 9.7, 9.18) approved or received and filed as listed in the summary.
- Meeting adjourned without councilmember reports.
Meeting Transcript
Clerk was on notes. Madam Chair, you have a corn present. You're welcome. All right, we will move past the invocation. Is there a motion for the approval of the minutes? Okay. Hearing no objections, that action shall be taken. There are zero cheer remarks. Um public comment will be closed in two minutes. Is there anyone here in the committee of the whole who would like to make public comment in person? You can come take your seat right here. Okay, not we don't see anyone. Is there anyone on the call, Miss Ellison, who would like to make public comment? Madam Chair, if you are speaking, we're unable to hear you. Can you hear me now? No, ma'am. Okay. Then my mic can hear me. Pardon me. It's been fixed. Thank you. How many callers do we have, Mrs. Ellison? There are four callers with their hands raised. Okay, and the first caller is you have um two minutes. The first caller is Owner Papa. Owner Popper, you have two minutes, ma'am. Ona Popper, you have two minutes. Is Owner Popper there? Uh yes, she just unmuted me. Okay. Yes, ma'am. Okay. Good morning. And through the chair, may I be heard? You can be heard. Thank you. Um I'm I'm noticing a lot of um people getting illegal representation. And I'm wondering who is um advocating for people, uh, the citizens, why would we legally represent all employees? That doesn't seem like uh something that's sustainable. Um and I know I'm not I'm not sure what the cost of this is costing the city, but it seems like we see a lot of this. This is the internal operations committee. And um I some of my history and work is working in um operations, data operations, where um I don't know if you remember the love bug that came across um systems, internet systems, but it was like our hair was on fire, and we urgently worked to get things operational. And I believe that after we would after we had the incident, we would have something called lessons learned. We we need to find out how we got here with the senior citizens living in squalor while we have a B said department that is supposed to monitor these things and give tickets to these people. It seems that um you you always look to you know punish the citizen and not the people who are really causing the large amount of damage. Uh Munes is a Leland house in the making. And if we if we if we don't get a handle on how we get to these places, then how will we fix it? Your internal operations and we need to find out why these institutions, these departments are failing the citizens, and we need to do it as if our hair were on fire. People are hurting, and we need to try and fix the problem.
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