OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Detroit City Council Meeting and Tech-Neaux Awards Ceremony - May 20, 2026

City Council — Wednesday, May 20, 2026
BodyDetroit, Michigan
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, May 20, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:43:23

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Scott Benz and I'm a Renata Miller.

0:03

Madam Chair, you have a quorum president.

0:14

Just to set the tone for the day.

0:16

I'm gonna read from the devotional from the Royal Oak First United Methodist devotional book that's always provided by Peter Rose.

0:25

Peter Rose, can you raise your hand?

0:27

He provides that every Wednesday.

0:30

And um, it looks like we're gonna have Member Miller here this morning.

0:33

God help us to live beyond the moments that overwhelm us.

0:37

Help us to be forgiving of everyone in our lives, including ourselves when the journey gets tough.

0:45

Help us to look again at the final designation and long to be in your house with you and the whole family of faith.

0:53

Help us to enjoy this journey.

0:55

Let us feel your presence along the way.

0:58

Let's go places together in Jesus' name.

1:01

Amen.

1:03

All righty.

1:04

Is there a motion for the approval of the minutes?

1:07

There's a motion for the approval of the minutes, hearing no objection, that action shall be taken.

1:12

There are zero chair remarks.

1:14

We will have um public comment.

1:18

Is there anyone here in the audience who would like to make public comment?

1:23

Seeing no hands raised, um, we will cut off public comment in one minute, which means it'll end at 10.03.

1:33

And welcome, member Miller.

1:36

So good to see you.

1:37

So glad you're here.

1:39

Okay, so um, Miss JC, we're gonna cut off comment public comment in one minute.

1:44

We have no one here in the audience.

1:49

Who's our first caller?

1:51

We have six hands raised for public comment.

1:53

The first caller is William M.

1:55

Davis.

1:55

Good morning, Mr.

1:56

Davis.

1:56

You have two minutes, sir.

1:58

Good morning.

2:00

Uh good morning.

2:01

Can I be heard?

2:02

You can be heard.

2:03

Okay, great.

2:04

I just want any of my city of Detroit retirees is listening to know that uh the Detroit bankruptcy uh is ended.

2:13

Um they found they filed the final decree yesterday.

2:17

There was going to be a hearing today on John Quinn's um motion and uh about the bankruptcy, but everything was signed off yesterday.

2:27

Uh so that gives the city a little bit greater flexibility to assist and help the Detroit retirees because far too often in the last 12 years, over 4,000 of us have passed on the top of just general fund retirees.

2:44

Uh this whole recovery has been on and continues to be on our back because the city was diverting at least 100 million dollars, anywhere from 75 to 150 million dollars every year that normally would be going to our pension fund was going to enrich millionaires and billionaires, basically.

3:03

You know, the city does look better than it did at the start of the bankruptcy, but it's been basically on the back of the city of Detroit retirees.

3:11

So hopefully the city of Detroit, the city council, and the mayor will have a more favorable heart and be willing to help those that this recovery has been on our backs.

3:23

So I look forward to uh moving up and doing more things to assist us.

3:28

Thank you.

3:29

Thank you, sir.

3:30

The next caller is the next caller is owner papa.

3:37

Owner Popper, you have two minutes, ma'am.

3:48

Miss Owner Popper, you have two minutes.

3:51

Uh good morning, and through the chair.

3:53

May I be heard?

3:54

I can be heard.

3:55

Thank you.

3:56

Uh, yes, let's keep it in the name of Jesus.

3:58

Let's operate and um in the spirit of Jesus.

4:03

Right.

4:04

The spirit of Jesus says that the least of these you must care about you're not listening to a word I'm saying, honey.

4:13

I think you guys are retarded.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Arts And Culture█████████████████████████████████████████████52%
Procedural██████████11%
Economic Development████████9%
Public Engagement████5%
Community Engagement████5%
Pending Litigation████5%
Youth Programs███4%
Personnel Matters███4%
Land Bank███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Detroit City Council Meeting and Tech-Neaux Awards Ceremony - May 20, 2026

The meeting convened at 10:00 AM with a devotional, approval of minutes, and public comment. The majority of the session was dedicated to the 10th annual Tech-Neaux Awards, honoring Detroit's house/techno music community. Following the awards, the council conducted interviews for appointments and handled several line items including settlements, contract corrections, and a compensation schedule amendment.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • William M. Davis: Addressed Detroit retirees, noting the final decree of the bankruptcy was filed yesterday, giving the city more flexibility. He claimed the city diverted $75-150 million annually from pension funds to enrich millionaires and billionaires, and urged the council and mayor to help retirees.
  • Owner Popper: Made rambling, incoherent remarks and insulted council members.
  • Marguerite Maddox: Spoke unintelligibly about safety needing to be redone.
  • Betty A. Varner (President of Soda Elsewhere Black Association): Announced Wayne Metro's new mobile unit and provided contact information for communities to request services.
  • Caller ending in 534: Spoke against Matt Walters' appointment to the Downtown Development Authority, alleging his mother served on the Detroit Land Bank board secretly, and that Walters was involved in shady deals (Peterborough lot sale to Midtown Inc., cutting down trees). Urged rejection.
  • Ronald Foster: Agreed with previous caller, stressed accountability for taxpayer dollars, and asked council to ask tough questions of appointees and look at results rather than familiarity.
  • Caller ending in 669 (Mr. Cunningham): Thanked Peter Rose for kindness, asked for prayers for D-Dot and himself.
  • Nini's friend (Ruben J. Crowley Jr.): Began using derogatory language and was cut off by the chair.

Discussion Items

  • Tech-Neaux Awards Ceremony: Council Member Benson and Entertainment Commissioner DJ John Collins presented awards to 10 recipients. Recognitions included:
    • Detroit House Collective: For transforming house music into community gatherings (Summer House Sundays at Dequindre Cut, 1,500+ attendees).
    • Homie Hangs (Francis Roby, Elisandra Rosario, Maya Filan): A weekly DJ skill-sharing collective at Trumbulplex, using donated equipment, teaching all ages.
    • John Dixon: Keyboardist, classically trained, blending techno, jazz, hip-hop; associated with Underground Resistance.
    • FOTUS Brothers (Michael and Sam Fotus): Audio professionals; Sam leads operations for Movement Music Festival, Detroit Jazz Festival, etc.
    • Maria Elena Garcia: DJ, producer, vocalist, educator with nearly 30-year career.
    • Stacy "Hotwax" Hale: Detroit's first female house music DJ, co-founder of Detroit Regional Music Conference.
    • Jason Hoover: Festival director of Movement Music Festival since 2006.
    • Tony Peoples: Former dancer on "The Scene," now DJ and LGBTQ+ community contributor.
    • Council members (especially Member Miller and Member Benson) made remarks about the importance of music, discussed potential use of closing DPS schools as artist spaces, and criticized Visit Detroit maps for excluding neighborhood attractions like the Techno Museum.
  • Appointment Interviews:
    • Peggy Goodwin: Appointment to a board (unclear which) - moved to formal session with recommendation for approval.
    • Matthew D. Waters: Appointment to Detroit Downtown Development Authority. Waters answered questions about his residency (no longer in Detroit), potential conflicts (mother served on Land Bank board), and his priorities (small business growth, neighborhood involvement). He committed to transparency and accessibility. Moved to formal with recommendation for approval.
  • Line Items:
    • 8.1 Catherine Richardson (Tenants' Rights Commission): Brought back in two weeks at administration's request.
    • 8.2-8.7: Various settlements and status reports moved to formal or brought back (specifics: 8.2 legal representation for TEO Jason Green moved to formal; 8.3 Wesley Bush settlement moved to formal; 8.4 Anderson Quinnetta settlement brought back two weeks; 8.5 council media services brought back three weeks; 8.6 estate planning income eligibility brought back two weeks; 8.7 Judge Gilmore list brought back three weeks).
    • 9.2 Contract correction (law department vs transportation) moved to formal as amended.
    • 9.3, 9.4, 9.6, 9.7: Settlements moved to formal.
    • 9.5 Falconer lawsuit: Initially brought back, then later brought back two weeks due to lack of police representative.
    • 9.8 Compensation schedule amendment: Initially brought back two weeks, but after HR representative explained urgency (Mayor's executive order to raise pay to $21.45/hr for 1300 employees by first pay in July), council reconsidered and moved to formal with recommendation for approval.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved minutes and moved various appointments to formal session (Peggy Goodwin, Matthew D. Waters).
  • The Tech-Neaux Awards ceremony concluded with a commitment to explore converting closed DPS schools into artist spaces.
  • Settlements approved: $9,500 (Taveras Hernandez), $45,000 (Julia Quezon), $16,500 (Janisha Denwittle), $2,900 (Bevel Medical Equipment) – all moved to formal.
  • Compensation schedule amendment (line 9.8) moved to formal session after reconsideration, to be enacted by July 2026.
  • Several items continued to future meetings: Catherine Richardson (2 weeks), Anderson Quinnetta settlement (2 weeks), Falconer lawsuit (2 weeks), council media services (3 weeks), estate planning income eligibility (2 weeks), Judge Gilmore list (3 weeks).

Meeting Transcript

Scott Benz and I'm a Renata Miller. Madam Chair, you have a quorum president. Just to set the tone for the day. I'm gonna read from the devotional from the Royal Oak First United Methodist devotional book that's always provided by Peter Rose. Peter Rose, can you raise your hand? He provides that every Wednesday. And um, it looks like we're gonna have Member Miller here this morning. God help us to live beyond the moments that overwhelm us. Help us to be forgiving of everyone in our lives, including ourselves when the journey gets tough. Help us to look again at the final designation and long to be in your house with you and the whole family of faith. Help us to enjoy this journey. Let us feel your presence along the way. Let's go places together in Jesus' name. Amen. All righty. Is there a motion for the approval of the minutes? There's a motion for the approval of the minutes, hearing no objection, that action shall be taken. There are zero chair remarks. We will have um public comment. Is there anyone here in the audience who would like to make public comment? Seeing no hands raised, um, we will cut off public comment in one minute, which means it'll end at 10.03. And welcome, member Miller. So good to see you. So glad you're here. Okay, so um, Miss JC, we're gonna cut off comment public comment in one minute. We have no one here in the audience. Who's our first caller? We have six hands raised for public comment. The first caller is William M. Davis. Good morning, Mr. Davis. You have two minutes, sir. Good morning. Uh good morning. Can I be heard? You can be heard. Okay, great. I just want any of my city of Detroit retirees is listening to know that uh the Detroit bankruptcy uh is ended. Um they found they filed the final decree yesterday. There was going to be a hearing today on John Quinn's um motion and uh about the bankruptcy, but everything was signed off yesterday. Uh so that gives the city a little bit greater flexibility to assist and help the Detroit retirees because far too often in the last 12 years, over 4,000 of us have passed on the top of just general fund retirees. Uh this whole recovery has been on and continues to be on our back because the city was diverting at least 100 million dollars, anywhere from 75 to 150 million dollars every year that normally would be going to our pension fund was going to enrich millionaires and billionaires, basically. You know, the city does look better than it did at the start of the bankruptcy, but it's been basically on the back of the city of Detroit retirees. So hopefully the city of Detroit, the city council, and the mayor will have a more favorable heart and be willing to help those that this recovery has been on our backs. So I look forward to uh moving up and doing more things to assist us. Thank you. Thank you, sir. The next caller is the next caller is owner papa. Owner Popper, you have two minutes, ma'am.

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