The Detroit City Council held its formal session on May 12, 2026, beginning with an invocation and a testimonial resolution for retiring Detroit Land Bank Authority (DLBA) Chair Erica Ward Gerson. Council then heard public comments on housing accessibility, data centers, public safety, and property complaints, followed by discussion and votes on multiple contracts and appointments.
Sure, Councilmember Scott Benson. Scott Benson. Councilmember Letitia Johnson, present. Councilmember Denzel and Tommy Campbell. Councilmember Renata Miller. She is online. She says here, but it looks like she's muted. Oh, she's muted. Here. Thank you. Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero present. Councilmember Mary Waters. Councilmember Angela Whitfield Callaway. Council President Pro Tim Community on the second. Here. Council President James Tate. Here. Mr. President, you have a quorum. Thank you. We have a quantum, which means we're now in session. Want to let everyone know if you would like to provide comment to this body and public comment. Provide you with a white public comment card. If you're online, please raise your hand and we will put you in the queue. Again, if you would like to provide comment to this body during this session, please raise your hand, and someone from the team will be walking around and provide you with one of those cards. Give you an opportunity to speak. If you're online, raise your hand, and you will be placed in the queue. Providing this morning's invocation, we have none other than Brother Gary Wagner, who serves as the executive director of the Capuchin uh Soup Kitchen found Capuchin Food Soup Kitchen, period. Founded in 1929, the Capuchin Food Soup Kitchen is a Detroit-based ministry that provides nutritious meals, clothing, and support services, including addiction treatment and tutoring to individuals and families facing poverty. The Capuchin Soup Kitchen in Detroit provides essential services, uh including nearly 1,000 hot meals across two locations in Detroit, uh located one of them located at 4390 Connor, and the other at one, two, six, four Melgium Street. Floor is yours, please come forward. Thank you, Councilman uh President Tate. Um grateful for this invitation to be here today. Um, and I'm grateful for all the work that each of you do uh on behalf of our city. My own councilwoman is uh councilwoman Mary Waters because our old one went off and decided to take a different job. And uh Mayor Sheffield. Uh and I'm very grateful that the mayor on the day that she took the oath of office January 1st, went to the fire department, to the police department, and then to the capuchin soup kitchen. And uh I think that's a sign of where her heart is, and we're grateful for that. Uh the capuchin soup kitchen, as council president take said, has been here for many years. Just want to say one thing. Uh Buddy's Pizza, uh, good Detroit institution, 50 years has supported the soup kitchen. And when I was at one of the restaurants, I went up to a couple, and I said, So are you here to support the soup kitchen, or did you just wander off the street for pizza and found out you're going to be supporting us as well? And she said, Well, we wandered off the street, but I'm glad that we're supporting the soup kitchen. And then she said, Let me tell you something. She said, When I was 21, I was an unmarried mother with a little boy. And I used to go to the Capuchins, and she meant the services center with uh, and she said, I like the carts because I could put my little boy in the cart and shop for the food and clothing that we needed, and it really helped us at a difficult time in our life. And I said, uh, thank you for telling me that. And how old is that little boy now? And she said, 29, married, has given me three grandsons, and he's a Marine. Wow.