The Detroit City Council convened on April 7, 2026, with a quorum present. The meeting included an invocation by Bishop Ethan Shear, approval of the March 26, 2026 journal, referral of 19 reports to standing committees, extensive public comment periods (12 in-person speakers and 19 online callers), and votes on numerous line items. Several items were postponed pending additional information, and the council prepared for a special budget session later that day.
Council President Tate noted that a special session was scheduled for 4:00 p.m. to vote on the budget after a 2:00 p.m. executive session. Chief Financial Officer Whitaker explained that the executive session would finalize changes to ensure a balanced budget, and the closing resolution would be prepared for the afternoon vote.
It will now come to order. Good morning, Madam Clerk. Will you please call the role? Yes, I will, Mr. President. Councilmember Scott Manson. Scott Messon I Councilmember Letitia Johnson present. Councilmember Denzel and Tom McCampbell. Councilmember Renata Miller. Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero. Present. Councilmember Mary Waters. President Councilmember Angela Whitfield Callaway. Council President Paul Temp Coleman A. Young II. Council President James Tate. Here. Mr. President, you have a quorum. Thank you, man. We have a quorum, which means we're now in session before we proceed. We will now begin the collection of public comments cards. If you are in the public or are if you're at home, please raise your hand. And we will uh note you as someone who would like to speak. But if you're in public and you raise your hand, you have not received a public comment card. Someone from my team will be coming by and providing that comment card so you can speak for this body. So again, uh before I close it out, uh raise your hand and we will ensure you have a public comment card. Got a hand down here, team. Okay. Providing this morning's invocation, we have none other than uh Bishop Ethan Shear, Senior Pastor at Greater Mitchell, a temple, a church of God in Christ. Located at 13737 Curtis Street in City Council District 2. Consecrated on uh January 17th, 2023, as an auxiliary uh bishop in the Church of God in Christ by presiding bishop the J. True Shear. Uh Pastor E, uh, as he is affectionately called by so many consistently demonstrates his love for the Lord in his daily walk and unashamedly shares that with all he comes in contact with. Uh Bishop Shear, Pastor E, please come before us. The floor is yours, sir. Thank you for blessing us. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Could you all stand for a word of prayer? Dear Lord, it is in the name of Jesus that we come before you this morning. And before we ask you for anything, Lord, we must thank you for everything. We thank you for life today for breath in our bodies. We thank you for strength in our minds and for the grace that woke us up this morning. We thank you for this great city for every neighborhood and every household. We thank you for this governing body. We thank you for our council president and every member of this our city council that has answered the call to serve. Lord, you've been our shelter in a time of storm when we had no direction, the way was unclear. You have been a light to our pathway. It was you, Lord, that led us to this place of safety. You covered us, you kept us, you carried us, and we thank you.