well. Thank you, everyone for your patience. We are just trying to see if we have a quorum today that will begin so a couple of members who did
indicate that they will not be present today. I
A not have a quorum, not have a corner. We will still allow for public comment, but we will not be able to deliberate. Maybe about five minutes or so. We should have a Better understanding. But really,
for Jack. We left.
Stay for a while, and
then Joanna, Michelle stay. She grew up with him. I
Oh, Yeah, Oh.
So we're going to move
to Yeah, Mr. Whitaker, I think we're going to move forward. Okay, all right,
please. All right, we are calling to order the formal session for Tuesday, April the 29th to order, Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Council member Scott Benson.
Council member Frederick Hall, the third.
Council member Letitia Johnson,
Council Member Gabriella Santiago Romero, Council Member Mary waters, present. Council member Angela Whitfield Callaway present. Council member call me on the second.
Council President, pro tem James Tate. Council President, Mary Sheffield. President, Madam President, you do not have a quorum, okay? And we did receive indication from council member Benson, pro Tim Tate, member Johnson, Member Santiago Romero, and we just received one from member Young as well that they will not be in attendance for today's session, so all of their memos have been received and their absence is excused. So with us not having a quorum, we are unable to conduct business this morning. I would like to if we can, Mr. Whitaker still at least hear from public comment, understanding that we cannot respond back. Is that correct?
Yes, Madam President, this is not a meeting because you don't have a quorum, but because they're members of the public who have come, allowing them an opportunity to address the council members that are here will be done as a courtesy. This has been a way in which we've conducted when, when this situation has has occurred in the past. And we would ask that you allow for the public, members of the public, who are present, to address the council members that are here. Okay,
all right. Also, we have some software issues with our zoom this morning as well. And so those who are joining us virtually, they can hear us, but we are not able to hear you, and so we are only able to take in Person public comments this morning. If you wish to make a public comment, please submit your public comment to the clerk's office so that it can be a part of our official public record again. There are zoom software issues that our IT department is still working on, and we are not able to hear any of our zoom callers this morning. You all can hear us, but we cannot hear you. So if you wish to make a public comment and you would like to submit that, please do so to the clerk's office so that it's a part of public record. We also had a solar update. Sorry, Corporation Council, we will proceed, hopefully next week to move forward with that as well. Thank you so much.
All right. Miss Betty Lyons, everyone
will have two minutes. Miss Betty Lyons, you lions.
Thank you.
Over $600 million of overpaid property taxes, stolen and COVID by Dugan and Dana NASA ne and they refused to respond to this, and are getting away with it, even the council will not speak out about it, which is unjust to the people. Dugan is going into a train wreck for Detroit. Again, he's using this money, and council is handing out money every week, and it's going lower and lower. This is not a thought of the citizens, but only of yourselves and of your prosperity. Also this man that talked about the senior citizens and the retirees, oh, these millions. No, he can go back where he was, because something is wrong with his mind. Senior citizens and the city workers have done enough. You're not going to come and pick our pockets again. You talk about Claudette, go to Dan Gilbert and get his claw back all those 10s of millions given freely to him. Go to those fake Jews who came over to this country and I'm paying for something that Germany did. So Dugan, again, is always in the mix of anything that is evil. Go back to Mexican town and get those million dollars, millions of dollars that he's given to make the Mexicans whole. Yeah, there's money you can go to clawback. And one of them is Mexican town, to name many these foreigners that come over. And I want to give a remembrance to Emmett Till I will never forget this evil
miss. Annie Johnson, my
concern is I'm trying to make sure your microphone is on. I'm trying to change some rules, and I don't know if the city council can help me or not. My property has been stolen by my neighbor next door. All of these lots are 121
18 by 120
now I want to know if the council can help me try to get my property back. And she's continue to steal. She got 21 of my bricks in her backyard for my property. I have holes in my job, if you guys to kind of give us. When the contractors come in here, they don't have permits wherever the person tell them to put the line, that's what they're putting. And I'm getting tired of my property being stole. I've been here since 1972
Yeah, if we can just get your Am I allowed to say that? Can we just get your information? Staff member, we can assist you. Okay, yeah, thank you.
Patty Ortis,
no, okay, Melissa, love Good morning.
Can I be heard?
Is your microphone on? It should be green. Yes, it's quick. Go right ahead.
Cheating votes is real. Cheating votes is real. I'm Melissa love. Never voted in the November 2020, or August 2024, election. I come here to tell and show the community that cheating votes is real. I am the evident, and I won't be silent, and justice will be served. God led me here. God picked this battle for me, and I'm not letting up until I'm not letting up until the Holy Spirit tell me to I and I will continue. I am a true child of God, and I will continue to be obedient. Right is right and wrong is wrong. It is payback season. The life the light has arrived, and I will shine my light in dark places. Whomever I am willing, whoever, whomever it concerns to I am willing to testify under oath and be subpoenaed. Thank you. Thank you.
Daniel murtez,
good morning. I'm here again to speak about the unfair treatment I was I received by the city due to the solar program. I was told I wasn't eligible for the buyback program. I never was served an eviction notice. I should have been eligible for a six month redemption period and was denied that. Also all of that is unfair treatment due to the property being in a solar neighborhood. The intent to vacate notice stated, dear occupants, please correct all blight violations and schedule an inspection to to prevent vacate proceedings, which means we should not have had to vacate. I was, I want to note again, that almost four months later, the house is still not demolished, and that was their excuse for not following legal standard, proper procedure. I was contacted about housing and told, was told, I need a down payment, but they couldn't tell me the amount or the area the housing would be in, and told me I wouldn't be able to take my animals. So no, thank you. I don't want to live with the city of Detroit anymore due to PS PTSD from this situation, and it's only fair to offer me the $90,000 I was offered in the first place and declined because I chose to correct all the Blight violations and pay the back taxes instead of conforming and being forced out of my home. They offered squatters who were drug addicts, $20,000 to relocate. They never had any utility bills, any paperwork in their name, and no proof of residence whatsoever, further proving my point of unfair treatment towards me, the city most definitely has enough funds to compensate myself and all the others affected by this. That's due process and minute domain laws were not followed. Also, I would like to note that after last week's meeting, there was a demolition sign in front of the property. I texted the number on the sign about the information, and that the reply stated that there are no demolitions scheduled near 19212, Danbury, which further proves my point about inconsistency from the city. If the solar team used already vacant land to put up the panels, all of this could have been prevented. Thank you.
Alright, thank you. David ianowski, yes,
I'm here with my sister over there too, and you know about my son's situation for us losing the house, and it's just really hard for for me to believe that the city would take our house and now I only get to see my son every three times a week, three hours a week. That's it. I when he's been with us the whole time, and because they say that we didn't have our living situation under control, they had to take my son from me, and I with double hernia, I'm up there at three o'clock in the morning making sure to take care of all your blight violations. And we were, we were 98% done with, with everything, which would have been enough money to pay off our taxes. And not to mention that my mother in law, she'd be in sued for the Blight taxes, for violations on lots that we didn't even own. Now that's that. It's four different lots that they were violating us with, and we weren't even owners of those lots. So So you pretty much light violated your own city and charging her for they're actually trying to sue her over this money that that really doesn't it. It's there's no proper procedure in any of this and and on top of it, the whole entire house was a studio for our show, because I have a TV show that I've been working on, not going to sponsor out that, but that was the whole set of the show. Every room had a different theme. I mean, there's a Coca Cola kitchen, a new Nickelodeon living room, a neon light dining room. There was a green kitchen with everything green you could think of. I mean, it was, it was more than just a house. I mean, in in her being my godmother, my son's godmother, that that she doesn't have any children, that house was going to be inherited over to my son. I mean, I've been, I've been here since 9092, 93 I came from Inkster. This was a great neighborhood compared to Inkster, still the hood, but it was a great neighborhood. But I mean, we're losing a lot on this, more than just it's it's irreplaceable, and then now it's burnt down to a crisp.
Thank you so much. Ann Golay,
Aaron McCluskey, will be next
Good morning members of city council. My name is Anne Goulet. I'm a licensed architect and development specialist who handles Regulatory Affairs related to property finance, human health, life safety and injury prevention. After 30 years, I have gotten pretty good at untangling bureaucratic red tape and navigating complex administrative codes and legal ordinances for my many clients, I spoke here recently about four low cost, high impact organizational initiatives to address complaints about the city's job performance and use of taxpayer money. Thank you to Councilman Young who, unfortunately is not here today, whose staff actually responded to me and to the council person who yawned while I was speaking last time, please take a nap or step out for some fresh air. If these topics bore you, the most important of my four proposed initiatives is to establish an Office of the Public Advocate. A public advocate works to clear away bureaucratic red tape and to resolve internal procedural problems that prevent government agencies from delivering on their mission statements. This especially relates to people's ability to live in, work in and visit in secure, healthful and lawfully managed and maintained properties without fear of injury, harassment or death. Unlike other US cities, this office does not exist in Detroit, and thus, many people are victimized a second time when they seek help, particularly from government agencies. This victimization extends to the inability of city government to bring criminal charges against negligent persons and businesses and even those who turn themselves in. I again ask you, a city council, what can and will you do to address this? Which committee can I speak with to establish this office, and who will you refer me to?
All right, thank you so much. If we can make sure we get your information, I can't fully respond because we don't have a quorum so but thank you again for coming down. Okay, thank you. The Park where no member garage joined us as well. Clerk will So note, Madam President. Aaron McCluskey, good
morning. Good morning.
I was so looking forward to the legal update today on a lot of people wanted their voices to be heard, especially on Zoom, weren't able to make it. Thank you for scheduling next week. I just wanted to give my own little legal update. So if you look through Wayne County and eminent domain cases that have been filed over the last year, there's a temporary easement for highway construction on the east side. Someone got $5,000 for that. There's quite a few cases where they're widening Bellville road Van Buren, that's under litigation. Someone's losing 40 feet of their yard, and they're getting 21,000 that was the original offer, and that took a building at I 75 and 94 reconfigure the ramp. There was an easement for Connor Creek and Fox Creek force drain next to a church that was settled. There's a temporary sewer treatment plant that became long term at Woodmere cemetery that was fought and that was settled. Nowhere in this is there something as loose and as temporary and as flimsy and as flexible as solar that is now an eminent domain should be used for we have a sacris individuals to have dominion over their private property. This project is so approved. Why are there 146 lawsuits related to this project? Just 51 this year, I would strongly encourage Council instead of trying to invent another program to deal with all the symptoms, perhaps get back to the basics. Focus on police, education, lower taxes and insurance. You don't need another program to try to fix the problems caused by the lack of care of the city.
So you guys next week.
Thank you. Declan Miller,
here in Washington,
good morning to you. Sheffield and the rest of the city council members. I'm here today, representing we care about Van Dyke Seven Mile located in the northeast part of the city of Detroit, and our concern today, we're here regarding the carmons property, also known as the Hercules cement company at Jerome and Moran in the city of Detroit, and we have some concerns, some reports that are official reports regarding the matters that that are being presented to us as a community and In Detroit, the air quality was received a F grading regarding that particular the city of Detroit, and that was from the American Lung Association. Also, Wayne County received a f in terms of the pollution in this year for from the Lung Association. So our concerns are consistent with what's going on. If you heard the news last week that the Detroit, the city of Detroit, is also number one in terms of our environment, along with Ann Arbor and also wane. So we're in the midst of a concern here. The air pollution is also serious health threat, definitely to the African Americans and numbers that are in the city of Detroit. And we're here to to safeguard our communities and not add to and we believe that this objective pose, that six mile and Jerome area is definitely a not good fit for our communities, even though we're moving people out of our city and move moving them, We don't know,
and we're also taking land that
we are sending people.
So much for your listening today.
Thank you, Madam President and attending members. I'm also here to talk about Kronos, because Cronus is not new to our area. You know, it has a long history in southwest that indicates a pattern of abuse of community neighborhoods, and it has the same problem in our area. I gave you a short letter with photographs of the Bel Air shopping center five years ago. That was a shopping site with jobs, a lot of commerce. They bought it up. They forced all the businesses out that they could. There's a couple of contracts that they couldn't violate, including the Bel Air theater, but they pushed everybody out. They forced Romeo and Juliet that really begged to stay in Detroit. They forced them across eight mile and they're literally across the street now paying taxes to the city of Warren. What Meantime, for five years, that vacant lot has sat there. It is deteriorated, it is crumbled, and it's an eyesore. And I gave you just a handful of the many pictures that could have been provided to document that. The bottom line is, Cronos does not care capital, excuse me. Crown enterprises does not care about our community. Everyone knows the train station story, and many of us have stories from life experiences or make important things happen when through that train station. So I know that they're going to be coming asking for benefits. They're going to be asking for closing the residential streets. They've got over 40 acres sitting idle where they destroyed all the housing, drove everybody out, and now we're being asked to support Coronas. And it's what I want to remind people, is this is not just about the cement mixing plant. This is about the 40 unused acres that's going to turn into concrete crushing if you permit them to proceed. Concrete crushing. We've already know the story with the school craft Association, we can't have kids going to school in silicon, dust, rain. Thank you. Allison Vaughn,
followed by Carlos Canty. Carlos Allison is first, followed by Carlos.
Hi. My name is Allison bone. Thank you for having me. I am here on behalf of Senator Chang I'm her constituent director, and I'd like to read a letter from her dear members of Detroit City Council. I'm writing to express my strong support for the efforts of the Detroit Hamtramck Coalition for advancing healthy environments, the DH coalition in their campaign to address the air pollution near Corona's concrete crushing plant and restore clean air to sunny side neighborhood the corona plant has significantly harmed the health and well being of nearby residents. Airborne pollutants, including silica dust and other particular particulate matter, has been linked to respiratory illness such as asthma, chronic bronchitis and difficulty breathing. Many residents have reported persistent migraines, eye irritation and worsening pre existing health conditions due to prolonged exposure. These health risks are especially concerning for children, the elderly and those with existing medical conditions who are particularly vulnerable to air pollution. Detroit already faces serious environmental challenges, and added pollution from the Coronavirus is unacceptable. No community should have to endure these conditions. I understand that Coronavirus is proposing to expand their operations and is requesting that the city close several streets nearby in order to make this expansion possible. I urge city council to deny these street closures and require Coronavirus to develop strong community agreement that addresses the environmental, public health and quality of life concerns facing residents. The presence of Corona's plant represents a broader pattern of environmental injustice in Detroit. Residents deserve better protection against industrial pollutions, and it is imperative that the city leaders take decisive action to hold polluters accountable. Clean air should not be a privilege,
okay? Thank you so much.
Carlos Canty
morning, Mayor Sheffield, Mary Sheffield,
city council staff of Detroit, I appreciate you guys for being here. My name is Carlos Canty, and I'd like to first take a moment to sincerely thank the leaders, the seniors and the generation before us who helped build and preserve this city. Is because of their sacrifice, their leadership and their resilience that Detroit still stands with strength today. Their work gave us the foundation we were stand on, and it deserves respect and recognition at the same time, I stand here today to speak directly to my own generation, the ones rising now. Living here today is no longer enough to simply inherit what we had, what we what was built. We have responsibilities to lead the same with the same integrity, honesty and respect that build Detroit foundation in the first place. Opportunity exists, but it cannot remain hidden behind complexity or control by gate keeping our generation must push for clarity, visibility and fairness, and we must be ready to meet opportunity with action, not just words. We must serious. We must be serious about the difference between those who are unwilling to work and those fighting real obstacles to to succeed. Accountability must live alongside compassion. Detroit's future depends on us being just as strong, just as resilient and just as committed to lifting our community as the generation before us were. To the seniors we thank you. To my peers we have to do. We have work to do, and to the leaders in this room, we are ready if the path is made clear and the work is made real. Thank you.
Ronald Foster, good morning through the president. Just a few things. The first thing, Brown versus Board of Education said that anything separate is inherently unequal. And so I think that's important when we want to talk about today, in specific, with elections, petitioning to sit down with the election body here, I've been constantly advocating for due process across the board that mean grievances, that mean every element of due process. And grievances are not merely complaints. They are formal complaints. Who has its own living entity and outline through policies, their second thing, tokenism, the practice of superficially including individuals from underrepresented groups to create an appearance of diversity or fairness without addressing the underlying issues of discrimination and exclusion. Uh, brought today here I spoke about before the other America that Reverend Martin Luther King spoke here in Grosse Pointe, and particularly to where Congressman Conyers and I think it's important that we all have the history here. I'd like to submit that thirdly, when we talk about tokenism, my children as students at Bethune, throughout the last year, there have been three deaths there. We have two people that fell through a roof. We have one staff members, child who committed suicide, and more recently, we have a 15 year old that just passed away here. And we have in funeral arrangements warm this week, this type of tokenism has to stop. Is there are consequences to excluding people from this community, there are consequences for not having a due process. There's consequences for not redressing grievances, and our children are the ones that are dying and suffering, not at the hands of guns, but health issues. They're dying because of other issues. And I'm sick and tired of coming down here every day and being ignored. We want to be included in every part of it, and we want new process across
the board. Dante Smith,
good morning, I was given some advice to come down here and not let Council know my plans. I'll probably take it somewhat but I just want to say I have a proposal I'll be submitting the council very soon about a home repair program for legacy Detroiters. There are so many people in the city of Detroit who have lived through multiple down times in the city's history, the riots, 2008 bankrupt. Well, not bank recession, the city's bankruptcy, and they are in dire need of home repairs. So that's something I'll be submitting. Also like to ask if anybody could get me in contact with Tammy Daniels. I like to I'm gonna reach out and be nice first, because people see people say I'm aggressive or I don't always I'm not always nice. So I like to ask, maybe my council member, am I going to say any names to get me in contact with Tammy Daniels? Because I like to work with her on a lot of the issues that people have with the land bank. Because week after week after week after week, I come and I collect numbers, and I collect a lot of people's information who have issues with land banks. So I like to work with them on some of those issues, even though I don't agree fully with fully with the land bank, but this is what we have, along with the DGC, who also owns a lot of property of the city and does whatever they want with it, and people don't really realize that. So I like to reach out a hand of friendship to try to work on some of those issues and help with some community affairs around that. Because housing is a very big, very big component in the city. Black home ownership is very important in the city. We important in the city, also just that piece of legacy Detroiters, like being a third generation homeowner in the city under 30. I'm not a senior citizen. I don't qualify for a lot of programs. So even with this program, and I want to propose, I probably won't be able to use it, but I still wanted to be able to help those who are in need, who may not understand how to come to council, who may not understand about the representation at the state, local or federal level, or so I want to help with that. Also. I just want to give a not a shout out, but I kind of want to somewhat of a shout out to Malia Howard. So I did have a meeting with her finally, and we addressed some of those issues, and she's agreeing to help me with my proposals for credit. Thank you.
So that will conclude all of our public comment again, if those who are joining us virtually wish to make a public comment due to the software issues that we're having right now with Zoom, we are unfortunately not able to hear you, so please submit your public comment to the clerk's office so that it can be a part of our official record. And seeing that we do not have a quorum this morning to proceed with our agenda, we will have to adjourn our meeting and we will reconvene next Tuesday at our normal standard time, which is 10am all right, is there a motion to adjourn. Right. Hearing no objections are meeting today will stand adjourned.
