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Record of Proceedings

Detroit City Council DoIT Budget Hearing and Public Comments - March 19, 2026

City Council — Thursday, March 19, 2026
BodyDetroit, Michigan
SessionCity Council
DateThursday, March 19, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:11:44

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it
0:12

Thank you.

0:19

Sorry, Regina, you're after the part of this team.

0:50

All right, Director Thompson.

0:53

Thank you for being here, sir.

0:55

Um, and you and your team.

0:57

If you want to introduce your team, um, and then the floor is yours to begin your presentation.

1:02

Absolutely, thank you.

1:03

Good afternoon.

1:03

My name is Art Thompson.

1:05

I'm the chief information officer for the city of Detroit.

1:07

Uh I'll go left to right, sorry.

1:10

Good afternoon.

1:11

Regina Greer, Chief Deputy CFO or uh Office of Fight Chief Inector Officer.

1:17

My name is Robert Robert Mullin, director of public safety IT for the City of Detroit.

1:24

My name is Amber Easton, Service Level Manager for the Department of Innovation and Technology, and I support City Council.

1:32

So good afternoon.

1:34

Um and I know online we should have someone joining to do uh our slides.

1:39

Hopefully, everyone has a copy.

1:41

Yeah, make sure your person is there as well, because I don't see the screen.

1:48

I know they're working on it behind me.

1:51

So now we give you an opportunity to experience what we experience.

1:57

We'll wait.

1:59

Thank you, sir.

2:01

Thank you.

2:04

Yeah, because today we actually had an echo going on, things.

2:06

I know we've been using Zoom for the public.

2:11

Um opportunity for them to participate, and everyone, we just it's common, it's common.

2:18

So this is what we go through now.

2:19

We got a notice as well.

2:22

I don't know if that's just internal on their computer or not.

2:26

We have a few challenges.

2:28

That's a one-drive error.

2:30

Gotcha.

2:35

We know this budget here is gonna fix all that stuff for us.

2:38

Absolutely.

2:39

I'm excited to move everyone to teams.

2:42

Boo.

2:42

Oh, oops, sorry.

2:44

Uh too early.

2:46

But everybody can't use teams in the that is correct.

2:48

And that is the problem with trying to move everyone to teams.

2:51

But I'll let you go ahead with your processation first.

2:55

Thank you, sir.

2:56

Well, I'll dive into it and we'll uh make sure to catch up as we go through.

3:03

Um you should be able to hit uh presenter on the bottom right just to give it a little bit more space on the screen, but uh I'll dive into it.

3:11

So good afternoon.

3:12

Thank you again, Thompson, Chief Information Officer for the City of Detroit.

3:17

Uh I'm very excited to be here.

3:19

This is my first time with the new administration uh and being part of administration change.

3:23

Uh so you know, one of the biggest things that do it wants to make sure is that we are in line with the new administration, uh, and we are committed to enabling Mayor Sheffield uh and her embodiment in regards to rising higher.

3:36

Uh we will do that by you know focusing on a platform and vision and equipping all of our city departments uh with the support, tools, data, infrastructure, and information they need uh in order to make Detroit the best place to live as well as more equitable.

3:53

If we can go to the next slide.

3:55

Uh just kind of as a highlight, because I know we do have some new members, uh, do its core responsibilities.

4:01

Uh we obviously focus on infrastructure and operations.

4:04

Uh we manage all of the IT assets for the city of Detroit, everything from your phone on your desk all the way to uh the city's data centers.

4:13

Uh we also oversee the enterprise solutions.

4:17

Uh we implement maintained citywide uh tools such as Microsoft, uh our email system, uh payroll and financial management systems uh to ensure that they are functioning properly.

4:29

We also oversee data.

4:31

We have one of the most robust uh open data portals that I have seen from a city, which is great.

4:36

Uh we believe in transparency, uh, as well as a very large uh and award-winning GIS team uh to make sure that we take things such as crime statistics, blight, parcel maps, uh, and make sure that we're able to share them and view them uh with the public.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Technology and Innovation█████████████████████████████████████████████68%
Public Comment█████████14%
Procedural███5%
Community Engagement██3%
Public Engagement██3%
Workforce Development█2%
Data Privacy█2%
Digital Equity█1%
Efficiency█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Detroit City Council DoIT Budget Hearing and Public Comments - March 19, 2026

The Detroit City Council held a budget hearing focused on the Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT) on March 19, 2026. Chief Information Officer Art Thompson presented the department's past accomplishments, current priorities, and future initiatives. Council members questioned DoIT on a range of topics including the Improved Detroit app, artificial intelligence policy, data security, hybrid meeting technology, and community outreach. The meeting concluded with seven public comments from residents.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Mr. Foster expressed concerns about the city's disregard for policies and processes, and questioned the endorsement of AI alongside celebrating human intelligence.
  • Betty A. Varner (President of the Soda Elsewhere Black Association) requested funding for black clubs and associations to cover land use hearing fees, and for attention to underserved corridors.
  • Carolyn Hughes urged the council to follow the Auditor General's recommendations to prevent corruption, and cautioned against moving forward with AI and data centers without public input.
  • Tyson Gersh praised the city's open data portal and urged heavier investment, stating that many departmental issues are technology problems that could be solved by DoIT.
  • Marguerite Maddox Scarlet spoke about personal challenges with technology connectivity and the need for innovation.
  • Josh (last name not given, speaking in person) reported a nine-month plan review delay through the building department, attributing it to a half-measured automation system that lacks full ownership and causes delays.

Discussion Items

DoIT Presentation and Achievements

Chief Information Officer Art Thompson introduced his leadership team and highlighted DoIT's core responsibilities: infrastructure and operations, enterprise solutions, data and GIS, resident-facing innovation (website, improved Detroit app), digital equity, and cybersecurity. Key FY25 achievements included: a reduction in operational budget and contractor count; the enterprise data warehouse team reduced nearly 1,700 hours of staff time via automated reporting; development of functional prototypes for real estate development and project tracking; enhanced fiber redundancy; secured funding for Detroit Street View (imagery collected by vehicle twice a year); enhanced 800 MHz radio system redundancy (used by 80% of city departments, over 14,000 users); proactive dark web monitoring; deployed advanced attack surface management tools; rolled out new cybersecurity awareness training; instituted a Security Operations Center (SOC); increased single sign-on; and strengthened mobile application security. DoIT also won multiple awards: ESRI SAG Award (three times in nine years), Knight Foundation data strategy recognition, What Works City Gold 2025 recertification, Bloomberg Mayor Channel finalist, Government Experience Award for DDOT.info, keynote at Ezra User Conference, and CIO of the Year for Michigan. Community outreach included hundreds of resident meetings for website improvements, a soft launch of the redesigned website, feedback sessions for the Ground Truth application, a youth tech fair with over 1,500 students at the Michigan Science Center, and instructor-led digital skills courses at parks and rec centers.

Priorities for FY26

Thompson outlined upcoming priorities: strategic alignment and centralized technology procurement; interoperability to reduce operational friction; data monetization for public tools; internal innovation and adoption of AI and data sharing; and continued cybersecurity and risk maturity.

Council Questions and Responses

  • Councilmember Waters asked how youth outreach benefits participants. Thompson responded that exposure and hands-on experience are key, with certification programs and partnerships with the Apple Developer Academy and internships. Waters requested closer collaboration with DEGC (Detroit Economic Growth Corporation) programs like NextUp 313, and asked for improvements to the City Council web page. Thompson agreed to add more pages and empower staff for content updates.
  • Councilmember Johnson inquired about the development tracker. Thompson confirmed a working prototype exists and additional data could be ingested; he plans to present the finished product to council for buy-in before public rollout. Johnson also asked about the citywide AI usage policy. Thompson explained the policy is mostly complete but was paused during the administration transition; the new COO is reviewing it for additional depth. He expects finalization by the end of the quarter (March 31, 2026). Johnson expressed interest in understanding AI's impact on data centers, including environmental and water usage.
  • Councilmember Callaway raised concerns about the Improved Detroit app: resident service requests are often marked closed without full resolution and with limited follow-up. She requested clear real-time status updates comparable to package tracking. Thompson acknowledged the issue, noting that departments need better training on status options and that the app provides some tracking but lacks detailed resolution summaries. He took it as an action item to improve public-facing detail and audit department closure practices. Callaway also asked about AI training for staff and whether DoIT has an AI expert to visit offices. Thompson confirmed his team includes an AI expert and training is being revised to cover responsible use, source verification, and environmental impacts. He committed to finalizing training alongside the AI policy.
  • Councilmember McCampbell asked about proactive measures to prevent city and resident data from being shared by third-party data brokers or surveillance cameras. Thompson described the SecureLink tool for monitoring vendor activity, but acknowledged gaps in data sharing oversight. He reported that DoIT, corporation counsel, and others are developing policies with penalties, fines, and auditing for data misuse. McCampbell offered to partner on any needed ordinance changes. She also asked about community cybersecurity education for seniors. Thompson noted past visits to senior homes and the search for a new Director of Technology Adoption and Growth to strengthen public-facing education. A motion was approved to move a conversation about community outreach, seniors, and youth media literacy to executive session.
  • Councilmember Miller asked about improving hybrid meeting technology. She and the Chair expressed dissatisfaction with Zoom issues (echo, disconnections) and questioned whether Microsoft Teams is the solution. Thompson acknowledged that Teams has a web option but the experience needs improvement. He recommended more proactive dry runs involving the new media services team to identify issues before meetings, and committed to scheduling a session post-budget. Miller also asked about the 1,700 hours saved by the data warehouse and whether it led to FTE reductions or financial savings. Thompson clarified that no FTE reductions occurred; the savings were operational efficiencies, enabling staff to create more robust reports. He offered to follow up with estimated dollar savings.
  • Council President (also acting as Chair) asked about the city's approach to AI beyond chatbots, including use in fire (drones, digital twins) and police (predictive analytics). Thompson affirmed a multi-pronged approach: public-facing chatbots initially, then selective internal pilot cases (e.g., fire department drones), and a committee to evaluate AI-enabled vendor tools. He stressed collaboration across departments. The President also asked about data storage strategy, noting a hybrid legacy/cloud transition. Thompson explained that while many systems have moved to cloud, critical public safety systems (e.g., 911) are kept on-prem for reliability. He confirmed DoIT has significantly reduced on-prem infrastructure and uses ARPA funds for cloud transitions, aiming for a best-of-breed hybrid model with edge computing.

Closing Remarks

Thompson thanked the council for their push to improve DoIT, noting the department is young (only about 15 years old) and evolving towards greater centralization and collaboration.

Key Outcomes

  • DoIT will work with council staff to improve the City Council web page and empower content editing.
  • Thompson committed to present the finished development tracker prototype to council for public rollout.
  • The citywide AI usage policy is expected to be finalized by the end of the first quarter of 2026 (March 31, 2026).
  • DoIT will take action to enhance Improved Detroit app tracking for residents, including more detailed resolution status and auditing of department closures.
  • A task force will be formed to strengthen data sharing policies with penalties and fines for third-party misuse.
  • A motion to discuss community outreach, senior cybersecurity education, and youth media literacy in executive session was approved without objection.
  • DoIT and the Council's media services team will conduct dry runs of hybrid meeting technology (Zoom/Teams) post-budget to proactively resolve issues.
  • DoIT will follow up with an estimated dollar value for the 1,700 hours saved through the data warehouse.
  • No formal votes were taken; the hearing was informational with these action items.

Meeting Transcript

Thank you. Sorry, Regina, you're after the part of this team. All right, Director Thompson. Thank you for being here, sir. Um, and you and your team. If you want to introduce your team, um, and then the floor is yours to begin your presentation. Absolutely, thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Art Thompson. I'm the chief information officer for the city of Detroit. Uh I'll go left to right, sorry. Good afternoon. Regina Greer, Chief Deputy CFO or uh Office of Fight Chief Inector Officer. My name is Robert Robert Mullin, director of public safety IT for the City of Detroit. My name is Amber Easton, Service Level Manager for the Department of Innovation and Technology, and I support City Council. So good afternoon. Um and I know online we should have someone joining to do uh our slides. Hopefully, everyone has a copy. Yeah, make sure your person is there as well, because I don't see the screen. I know they're working on it behind me. So now we give you an opportunity to experience what we experience. We'll wait. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Yeah, because today we actually had an echo going on, things. I know we've been using Zoom for the public. Um opportunity for them to participate, and everyone, we just it's common, it's common. So this is what we go through now. We got a notice as well. I don't know if that's just internal on their computer or not. We have a few challenges. That's a one-drive error. Gotcha. We know this budget here is gonna fix all that stuff for us. Absolutely. I'm excited to move everyone to teams. Boo. Oh, oops, sorry. Uh too early. But everybody can't use teams in the that is correct. And that is the problem with trying to move everyone to teams. But I'll let you go ahead with your processation first. Thank you, sir. Well, I'll dive into it and we'll uh make sure to catch up as we go through. Um you should be able to hit uh presenter on the bottom right just to give it a little bit more space on the screen, but uh I'll dive into it. So good afternoon. Thank you again, Thompson, Chief Information Officer for the City of Detroit. Uh I'm very excited to be here. This is my first time with the new administration uh and being part of administration change. Uh so you know, one of the biggest things that do it wants to make sure is that we are in line with the new administration, uh, and we are committed to enabling Mayor Sheffield uh and her embodiment in regards to rising higher.

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