OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Detroit City Council Neighborhood Committee Meeting - March 19, 2026

City Council — Thursday, March 19, 2026
BodyDetroit, Michigan
SessionCity Council
DateThursday, March 19, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 16:53

Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

Neighborhood committee service and standing committee will now come into order with a clerk.

0:04

Please call the roll.

0:06

Council President Pro Tim call me on the second.

0:08

Here.

0:09

Councilmember Scott Benson.

0:11

Councilmember Renata Miller.

0:13

I think she's here.

0:14

She should be on our way.

0:17

All right.

0:18

Excellent.

0:19

Is there a motion to approve the minutes?

0:22

Motion is made.

0:22

Are any objections?

0:24

Here the minutes are approved.

0:25

Native chairmarks.

0:26

You'll now go on to public comment.

0:28

Is there anybody here that wants to give public comment?

0:32

All right, go on.

0:33

Okay, we got one person.

0:35

Anybody else?

0:38

All right.

0:38

Go on once, going twice, going three times, gone.

0:42

Mr.

0:42

Smith, go ahead.

0:43

Public comment is now closed.

0:45

Public comment is now closed.

0:48

Public comment.

0:52

It's now closed.

0:53

All right, Mr.

0:54

Smith.

0:54

Go ahead.

0:55

Floor is yours.

0:55

Two minutes, sir.

0:56

Perfect.

0:57

Good afternoon good afternoon.

0:59

I want to say uh so the DGC is a quasi-governmental entity, just like the land bank is.

1:05

They are the first, to my knowledge, City of Detroit, uh entity to do uh use eminent domain to take property at a mass scale.

1:12

There's something called Jefferson Village, I believe it's in District 4, that was taken from I I don't I got the facts, baby.

1:18

I ain't gonna never lie to you.

1:20

If if I'm lying, I'm flying.

1:21

They were the first entity to ever take property uh through eminent domain, which is uh very interesting.

1:26

So they have a lot of powers that they don't act like they have, and they are also hiding behind that veil of a little bit of privacy of uh being private.

1:34

So also Simcock.

1:35

So there's a lady named Beverly Watts, she's on the Board of Police Commissioner.

1:38

She used to be a member of SimCog, and she ran she ran for office as a board of police commissioner with Renata Miller, and so it's Simcock seems to be a big uh topic of discussion with Mr.

1:48

Oh, don't look at my time, uh Scott.

1:49

You know I was coming to you.

1:50

Scott Benson and Renata Miller are pushing zoning to be stu to stay at the municipal level, but yet they are ignoring Cronos concrete that is in District 3 that is owned by the Maroon family that is a 3405 Gaylord that has 3.44 acres of vacant land that was once called the Sunny Side Neighborhood that was residential homes that was zoned in for that was improperly zoned because it was zoned before the city of Detroit did a lot of zoning.

2:17

The Lower East Side all around has homes that are built with factories in front of them, which should be in which are improperly zoned.

2:24

So to punish residents who are currently living with toxic dust being spewed out is is reprehensible, right?

2:31

And so I think it is very, very sad that Scott Bensman's focus more on data centers, which the maroon families also have uh interest in, and also DTE, because a lot of the data, a lot of the solar farms are in district three, and they relate it to the Cronos Concrete Land Swap deal, which I'm gonna make sure I have every single page of.

2:50

So it's very, very sad to see sitting council members taking money from billionaires and ignoring residents' concerns while being hypocritical about zoning at the local level.

2:58

I know you're looking at my time.

2:59

You hate hate when I speak, I got the facts, but good day.

3:03

Thank you.

3:04

All right.

3:05

Uh who do we have next to the queue virtually?

3:10

Good afternoon, Mr.

3:11

Chair.

3:11

The first caller is Betty A.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural██████████████████████████████████████████42%
Public Comment██████████████████████████████████████38%
Zoning and Land Use████████████12%
Public Safety████████8%
Summary of Proceedings

Detroit City Council Neighborhood Committee Meeting - March 19, 2026

The Detroit City Council Neighborhood Committee met on March 19, 2026. The meeting included approval of minutes, public comments on various community issues, and new business items including event permits, contracts, and donations. All new business items were moved to formal session without objection.

Consent Calendar

  • The minutes were approved without objection.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Mr. Smith (in person): Criticized the quasi-governmental entity DGC for using eminent domain at a mass scale, referencing Jefferson Village in District 4. He accused Councilmembers Scott Benson and Renata Miller of ignoring residents' concerns regarding the Cronos Concrete site (3405 Gaylord, 3.44 acres in District 3) and improperly zoned properties on the Lower East Side. He alleged that the councilmembers take money from billionaires and are hypocritical about local zoning.

  • Betty A. Varner (virtual): President of the Soda Elsewhere Black 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). Services include free eye exams and health screenings for children and adults, sponsored by MySEP's Michigan Vision Doctors, DOC, and Community Health Connections.

  • William M. Davis (virtual): Raised concern about a retired Detroit police officer accused of serial rape, stating the city should not pay expenses for such officers. He requested more libraries and recreation centers in District 7, noting it has only one library and no recreation center despite being the third largest district. He identified himself as a former police commissioner.

  • Ona? (virtual): Criticized the meeting for not allowing 15 minutes for call-in public comment. Requested a report from Councilmember Young on how Betty Varner can obtain a waiver. Also reported that her house was placed in bankruptcy during the city's bankruptcy but she never received a letter indicating it was released. She asked for an investigation into why her property's owner-occupied status was changed without her knowledge, implying involvement by Mr. Hornsby.

New Business

All new business line items were moved to formal session with recognition for approval and placed on the new business agenda without objection.

  • 6.1: Apex Events LLC – Grand Slam 2026 on April 3, 2026, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 1526 Broadway. Setup begins April 1; teardown April 3–4.
  • 6.2: Rodney Howell – White Dinner Party on August 29, 2026, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., at Riverside Park. Setup and teardown same day.
  • 6.3: Walk MS Detroit on May 3, 2026, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., at Aretha Franklin Amphitheater. Setup May 2; teardown May 3.
  • 6.4: RF Events – High Tail to L5K on May 8, 2026, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., at 2375 Franklin Street. Setup and teardown same day.
  • 6.5: Contract 6007608 – Tree trimming and removal services with J Back Tree and Debris LLC (14390 Wyoming Street). Total contract value: $3 million.
  • 6.6: Acceptance of FY2026 USFWS Bird Meadow Grant – $16,630 federal share, total project cost $33,755. Non-cash award.
  • 6.7: Acceptance of donation of a permanent sculpture in the Bioswell area in Eliza Howe Park from Sidewalk Detroit, valued at $70,000. Non-cash donation.

Member Reports

  • Councilmember Renata Miller: Announced a Women's History Month celebration on March 20, 2026, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center (KMAC) 13th floor, co-hosted with Councilwoman Mary Waters.

Key Outcomes

  • All new business items (6.1–6.7) were moved to formal session with recognition for approval and placed on the new business agenda. No objections were recorded.
  • The meeting adjourned without further discussion.

Meeting Transcript

Neighborhood committee service and standing committee will now come into order with a clerk. Please call the roll. Council President Pro Tim call me on the second. Here. Councilmember Scott Benson. Councilmember Renata Miller. I think she's here. She should be on our way. All right. Excellent. Is there a motion to approve the minutes? Motion is made. Are any objections? Here the minutes are approved. Native chairmarks. You'll now go on to public comment. Is there anybody here that wants to give public comment? All right, go on. Okay, we got one person. Anybody else? All right. Go on once, going twice, going three times, gone. Mr. Smith, go ahead. Public comment is now closed. Public comment is now closed. Public comment. It's now closed. All right, Mr. Smith. Go ahead. Floor is yours. Two minutes, sir. Perfect. Good afternoon good afternoon. I want to say uh so the DGC is a quasi-governmental entity, just like the land bank is. They are the first, to my knowledge, City of Detroit, uh entity to do uh use eminent domain to take property at a mass scale. There's something called Jefferson Village, I believe it's in District 4, that was taken from I I don't I got the facts, baby. I ain't gonna never lie to you. If if I'm lying, I'm flying. They were the first entity to ever take property uh through eminent domain, which is uh very interesting. So they have a lot of powers that they don't act like they have, and they are also hiding behind that veil of a little bit of privacy of uh being private. So also Simcock. So there's a lady named Beverly Watts, she's on the Board of Police Commissioner. She used to be a member of SimCog, and she ran she ran for office as a board of police commissioner with Renata Miller, and so it's Simcock seems to be a big uh topic of discussion with Mr. Oh, don't look at my time, uh Scott. You know I was coming to you. Scott Benson and Renata Miller are pushing zoning to be stu to stay at the municipal level, but yet they are ignoring Cronos concrete that is in District 3 that is owned by the Maroon family that is a 3405 Gaylord that has 3.44 acres of vacant land that was once called the Sunny Side Neighborhood that was residential homes that was zoned in for that was improperly zoned because it was zoned before the city of Detroit did a lot of zoning. The Lower East Side all around has homes that are built with factories in front of them, which should be in which are improperly zoned. So to punish residents who are currently living with toxic dust being spewed out is is reprehensible, right?

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