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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Planning & Economic Development Committee Meeting - October 8, 2026

City Council — Thursday, October 8, 2026

BodyDetroit, Michigan

SessionCity Council

DateThursday, October 8, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 2:37:04

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:00

Planning economic development planning committee to order for today.

0:05

Thursday.

0:06

Thursday, October 8th, 2026.

0:08

May the clerk please call the roll.

Speaker 2

0:09

Good morning.

0:10

Councilmember Letitia Johnson.

Speaker 1

0:12

Our chair today will not be present.

0:15

She did uh indicate that she will be missing.

0:17

Uh so her absence is excused, and we wish her well.

0:20

I know that right now she's recovering um from that cold, it's that cold season.

0:25

So everyone take care.

0:26

Um you as well, member Johnson.

0:29

Um she will not be here today.

Speaker 2

0:30

Clerk will note.

0:31

Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero present.

0:34

Council President Pro Tempor Coleman Young.

Speaker 3

0:38

Here

Speaker 2

0:39

Madam Chair, we have quorum.

Speaker 1

0:41

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

0:42

Given a quorum, we'll go into the agenda for today.

0:46

Uh, just want to share briefly for chair remarks.

0:49

Uh later on in the agenda, this is a note for the administration.

0:53

Um, there is an item for a uh land sale that is using uh funds that were used to decommission uh the power plants in Del Ray, and there were there have been a few public comments wondering what's going on with the plant with the power plants.

1:09

Uh so once we get to the item, if possible, would like to know um if there are any plans currently for the uh Mr.

1:16

Ski power plants.

1:18

Um but with that can go now into general public comments for today.

1:23

Uh just want to note that we do have a 1020 a.m.

1:26

public hearing as well as a 10 30 a.m.

1:29

public hearing.

1:30

Uh we will now go into general public comments.

1:34

Uh we don't have anyone here in person for general public comments, and I will cut off general public comment at 10 07.

1:41

So folks have two minutes if you are online and you would like to make public comments, please raise your hand now.

1:49

And seeing that we have nobody here in person for public comment, we'll turn it over to the folks that we have online.

1:57

I believe I have Miss Stanley helping us uh with Zoom if that's the case.

2:02

If you wouldn't mind giving everyone two minutes and then letting us know how many hands we have raised so far and who we have first.

Unassigned speaker

2:12

Good

Speaker 4

2:12

morning, madam chair.

2:14

We have 12 hands raised, and the first caller is Cunningham.

Unassigned speaker

2:23

Good

Speaker 1

2:23

morning, Brother Cunningham.

2:29

You have been made a panelist.

2:30

You would just

Speaker 5

2:33

4449114, 313, 444, 9114.

2:38

313, 444, 9114.

2:41

That number was made so you can remember it.

2:44

I am reminiscing on my homelessness.

2:46

It was just so many years.

2:48

It was over a decade of homelessness.

2:50

And bus tickets used to when I got them, I could stay on the buses and stay cool and stay uh warm and put on the um the weather.

3:01

And uh I was just thinking about me looking out the window, looking for a flat surface to lay down on.

3:08

That you know, there's hostile architecture and around the city, and sometimes there's no place to lay flat.

3:16

My legs would swell

Unassigned speaker

3:17

up

Speaker 5

3:18

uh and harden because fluid will like pull down, or what they call it, pitting edema.

3:26

Um so I have been through a lot, and so that's one of the reasons I give out bus tickets.

3:31

Um, because not everybody, majority of folks are not homeless or nothing like that.

3:36

Um, but um the bus services lackluster, not on time, and things of that nature.

3:43

And I want to bring joy to those who ride the buses, and if they are are unhoused like I was, it's a double benefit for them.

3:54

There's a gentleman that I would like to say a couple words um about the bus service.

4:02

Well, I guess he he just walked away.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Public Comment██████████████████████22%

Economic Development██████████████████████22%

Affordable Housing██████████10%

Procedural████████8%

Homelessness██████6%

Workforce Development██████6%

Accessibility████4%

Property Sales████4%

Housing███3%

Summary of Proceedings

Detroit Planning & Economic Development Committee Meeting

The Planning and Economic Development Committee of the Detroit City Council met on Thursday, October 8, 2026, at 4:00 AM UTC. Councilmember Letitia Johnson was excused due to illness. A quorum was present with Council President Pro Tempore Coleman Young presiding. The meeting included general public comments, two scheduled public hearings, and agenda items including a land sale discussion involving funds from the decommissioned Delray power plants. The meeting was called to order and public comments were taken both in person and via Zoom.

Public Comments & Testimony

Brother Cunningham (call-in): Spoke about his past decade of homelessness and how he now gives out bus tickets as a way to bring joy to bus riders, noting that bus service is often not on time and that homeless individuals can benefit from bus rides. He also described the difficulty of finding flat surfaces to lie on due to hostile architecture and mentioned past health effects from homelessness.
In-person commenter (NEZ exemption): A property owner stated they received a NEZ (Neighborhood Enterprise Zone) exemption last year, which lowered their property taxes significantly, but this year's taxes went back up. They visited the real estate department yesterday and received no answers. They asked why the NEZ exemption didn't last the expected five years and apologized for being less patient than they should have been. They did not identify their district.

Public Hearings

A public hearing was scheduled for 10:20 a.m. and another for 10:30 a.m., but the transcript cuts off before those hearings occur.

Discussion Items

[No discussion items were noted in the transcript excerpt.]

Key Outcomes

[No formal votes or decisions occurred before the transcript ended.]

Committee Notes

The meeting was led by Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero (acting as chair in the absence of Councilmember Letitia Johnson).
Roll call was taken, quorum established, and general public comments began.
Councilmember Johnson was excused due to illness.
Public comment cutoff for the general comment period was 10:07 a.m., with 12 hands raised online.

Date: October 8, 2026 Location: Detroit, Michigan (inferred) Time: 4:00 AM UTC (agenda metadata); local proceedings began in the morning (approx. 10:00 AM) with public hearings scheduled at 10:20 and 10:30 a.m.

Overall Meeting Purpose

This was a regular meeting of the Planning Economic Development Planning Committee.

Attendees

Councilmember Letitia Johnson (excused, absent)
Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero (present)
Council President Pro Tempore Coleman Young (present; acting as chair)
Miss Stanley (Zoom facilitator)

Public Comments Overview

Public comments included a caller sharing personal experience with homelessness and bus service; an in-person speaker questioned a property tax NEZ exemption change.

Discussion Items

Land sale tied to decommissioned Delray power plant funds.
Public comments and testimony.
Roll call/quorum and chair remarks.

Key Outcomes

Quorum was established.
The chair requested information on plans for the Mr. Ski power plants when the land sale item is considered.
The committee moved forward on the agenda.

Public Comments & Testimony

Cunningham (via phone): Spoke about past homelessness, giving out bus tickets, and the importance of bus service. A second speaker with him described the buses as comfortable but irregular.
In-person speaker: Spoke about an NEZ (Neighborhood Enterprise Zone) exemption he received for a property, stating taxes went down last year but rose again this year. He asked for answers on why the exemption didn't last the expected five years. He said he visited the real estate department the day before without receiving answers and apologized for having been

Meeting Transcript

Planning economic development planning committee to order for today. Thursday. Thursday, October 8th, 2026. May the clerk please call the roll. Good morning. Councilmember Letitia Johnson. Our chair today will not be present. She did uh indicate that she will be missing. Uh so her absence is excused, and we wish her well. I know that right now she's recovering um from that cold, it's that cold season. So everyone take care. Um you as well, member Johnson. Um she will not be here today. Clerk will note. Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero present. Council President Pro Tempor Coleman Young. Here Madam Chair, we have quorum. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Given a quorum, we'll go into the agenda for today. Uh, just want to share briefly for chair remarks. Uh later on in the agenda, this is a note for the administration. Um, there is an item for a uh land sale that is using uh funds that were used to decommission uh the power plants in Del Ray, and there were there have been a few public comments wondering what's going on with the plant with the power plants. Uh so once we get to the item, if possible, would like to know um if there are any plans currently for the uh Mr. Ski power plants. Um but with that can go now into general public comments for today. Uh just want to note that we do have a 1020 a.m. public hearing as well as a 10 30 a.m. public hearing. Uh we will now go into general public comments. Uh we don't have anyone here in person for general public comments, and I will cut off general public comment at 10 07. So folks have two minutes if you are online and you would like to make public comments, please raise your hand now. And seeing that we have nobody here in person for public comment, we'll turn it over to the folks that we have online. I believe I have Miss Stanley helping us uh with Zoom if that's the case. If you wouldn't mind giving everyone two minutes and then letting us know how many hands we have raised so far and who we have first. Good morning, madam chair. We have 12 hands raised, and the first caller is Cunningham. Good morning, Brother Cunningham. You have been made a panelist. You would just 4449114, 313, 444, 9114. 313, 444, 9114. That number was made so you can remember it. I am reminiscing on my homelessness. It was just so many years. It was over a decade of homelessness. And bus tickets used to when I got them, I could stay on the buses and stay cool and stay uh warm and put on the um the weather. And uh I was just thinking about me looking out the window, looking for a flat surface to lay down on.

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