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Record of Proceedings

Neighborhood Community Service Standing Committee Meeting - October 29, 2026

City Council — Thursday, October 29, 2026
BodyDetroit, Michigan
SessionCity Council
DateThursday, October 29, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
Meeting Thumbnail
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Speaker numbers apply only to this recording. Names come from transcript evidence. “Possibly” marks uncertain attribution.

Speaker 1

0:00

Neighborhood community service standing committee will now come into session with the clerk.

0:04

Please call the roll.

Speaker 2

0:05

Yes, good afternoon.

0:06

Council President Pro Tim Coleman Young.

Speaker 1

0:08

Here.

Speaker 2

0:09

Councilmember

Speaker 1

0:10

Scott Benson.

0:11

Scott Benson I.

Speaker 2

0:12

Councilmember Renata Miller.

0:14

Mr.

0:14

Chair, we have quorum.

Speaker 1

0:16

Excellent.

0:16

Is there a motion to approve the minutes?

0:19

Motions been made or any objections?

0:23

Negative chairmarks.

0:24

We will now go into public comment.

0:27

How many people do we have in the queue, Mr.

0:29

Bo.

Unassigned speaker

0:33

Good

Speaker 3

0:34

afternoon, Mr.

0:34

Chair?

0:35

We currently have four individuals with the hand raised for public comment.

Speaker 1

0:38

Four individuals with hands raised public comment.

0:40

I'm looking.

0:41

I do not see anyone in the audience who wants to give public.

0:44

Oh, okay.

0:44

I'm about to say.

0:45

I don't see anybody in a little robot up there.

0:47

I don't see anybody in the audience that wants to give public comment.

0:52

So we will now start with who is our first person.

0:56

Mr.

0:56

Bo.

Speaker 3

0:58

Mr.

0:58

Chair, our first caller is Betty A.

1:00

Varner.

Unassigned speaker

1:01

All

Speaker 1

1:01

right, Ms.

1:01

Varner.

1:02

Floor is yours.

1:03

Two minutes.

Betty A. Varner · Speaker 4Inferred

1:06

Good afternoon to all within the sound of my voice.

1:09

I'm Betty A.

1:10

Varner, president of the Soda Ellsworth Black Association.

1:13

Here again advocating for my community.

1:16

But I want to speak to seniors.

1:20

Please, please, if you have a um your insurance, check out your insurances.

1:28

If you have the Medicare Advantage insurance, you want to uh contact your insurance provider.

1:37

You want to make sure that uh all of your doctors are covered.

1:42

You want to make sure that there's uh no deductible changes, or you want to be aware of any co-pays or deductible changes.

1:50

There are going to be a lot of changes come year 2027 because of that big beautiful bill, as they want to call it.

Speaker 5

1:59

Also,

Betty A. Varner · Speaker 4Inferred

2:00

if you have Medicare, Medicaid, you must uh talk to your caseworkers or whatever to find out if there's going to be any changes.

2:10

If you receive any notifications through the mail, do not hesitate.

2:15

Contact the people who are uh want to uh speak to you in regards to any changes that's coming into year 2027.

2:26

We don't want any surprises when you go to the doctor.

2:29

You don't want to find out that this is not covered.

2:32

You can't see your primary doctors.

2:34

You want to make sure they're still in the network.

2:37

You want to make sure you can see your specialists.

2:40

And as always, uh DeSoda Ellsworth Black Association.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural██████████████████████████████████████38%
Public Comment██████████████████████████26%
Homelessness██████████10%
Elections██████████10%
Election Fraud████████8%
Environmental Protection████████8%
Summary of Proceedings

Neighborhood Community Service Standing Committee Meeting - October 29, 2026

The Detroit City Council Neighborhood Community Service Standing Committee met on October 29, 2026, with Council President Pro Tem Coleman Young presiding, and Councilmembers Scott Benson and Renata Miller present. The committee addressed public comments, unfinished business, new business items, and member reports.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Betty A. Varner, President of the Soda Ellsworth Black Association, urged seniors to review their Medicare Advantage insurance for upcoming 2027 changes, and requested funding for her association's corridor, park, and a $1,500 land use hearing fee.
  • Dante Smith objected to solar farms on private land using eminent domain, called for a comprehensive plan for contaminated soil removal, criticized new housing construction as unaffordable for residents earning under $30,000, and opposed a reported $500 million in subsidies to developer Dan Gilbert.
  • Ruben Crow alleged election irregularities involving Janice Winfrey and stated he had reported them to President Donald Trump, adding that federal investigations were imminent.
  • William Davis advocated for expanding the green task force, increasing clean energy use, and improving air quality, and encouraged voter participation.
  • Cindy Dara was called but did not respond and was dismissed.

Unfinished Business

  • Line item 5.1: Amendment to contract for income tax preparation services with Accounting Aid Society, extending the contract period to September 2027 and increasing the amount by $203,570 to a total of $417,286. The item was brought back TBD (to be determined) due to ongoing discussions with the law department regarding a credit issue.
  • Line item 5.2: A memorandum regarding follow-up on GSD's park lighting and camera surveillance technology contract was received and filed without objection.
  • Line item 5.3: A memorandum requesting transfer of the Butler Family Center parking lot from PDD to GSD was brought back in one week to allow GSD additional time.

New Business

  • Line item 6.1: Petition from Downtown Detroit Partnership/Detroit 300 Conservancy to hold the 2026 Cadillac Winter Market and Cadillac Lodge in Cadillac Square Park from November 11, 2026 to January 3, 2027, with setup beginning October 9, 2026 and teardown by January 31, 2027. The item was sent to formal session with a recommendation for approval.
  • Line item 6.2: Petition from The Parade Company for the Strategic Staffing Solutions Turkey Trot on November 26, 2026, 7-11 AM, with setup November 25 and teardown same day. Sent to formal session for approval.
  • Line item 6.3: Authorization to submit a $500,000 grant application to the Gilbert Family Foundation for FY2027 Detroit Community Initiatives grant for homeless and family services. Sent to formal session for approval.
  • Line item 6.4: Authorization for a $5,000 grant application to the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan for River Rouge Greenway Wayfinding was removed from the agenda, having been approved in a previous session.
  • Line item 6.5: A memorandum from Council President James Tate requesting a report on the Gateway to Freedom monument was brought back in two weeks.

Member Reports

  • Councilmember Benson reminded residents to vote on Election Day and urged support for three regional assets on the ballot: the Detroit Zoo, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, and the Detroit Historical Society.
  • Councilmember Miller gave a negative report (no items).

The meeting then adjourned.

Meeting Transcript

Neighborhood community service standing committee will now come into session with the clerk. Please call the roll. Yes, good afternoon. Council President Pro Tim Coleman Young. Here. Councilmember Scott Benson. Scott Benson I. Councilmember Renata Miller. Mr. Chair, we have quorum. Excellent. Is there a motion to approve the minutes? Motions been made or any objections? Negative chairmarks. We will now go into public comment. How many people do we have in the queue, Mr. Bo. Good afternoon, Mr. Chair? We currently have four individuals with the hand raised for public comment. Four individuals with hands raised public comment. I'm looking. I do not see anyone in the audience who wants to give public. Oh, okay. I'm about to say. I don't see anybody in a little robot up there. I don't see anybody in the audience that wants to give public comment. So we will now start with who is our first person. Mr. Bo. Mr. Chair, our first caller is Betty A. Varner. All right, Ms. Varner. Floor is yours. Two minutes. Good afternoon to all within the sound of my voice. I'm Betty A. Varner, president of the Soda Ellsworth Black Association. Here again advocating for my community. But I want to speak to seniors. Please, please, if you have a um your insurance, check out your insurances. If you have the Medicare Advantage insurance, you want to uh contact your insurance provider. You want to make sure that uh all of your doctors are covered. You want to make sure that there's uh no deductible changes, or you want to be aware of any co-pays or deductible changes. There are going to be a lot of changes come year 2027 because of that big beautiful bill, as they want to call it.

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