Detroit City Council Formal Session

Detroit City Council

Politics

Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024
10:00 a.m. — 2:00 p.m. EDT

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2 Woodward Ave Detroit, MI 48226 (Directions)

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Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Detroit - MI Documenters Team

Note-taking by Christiana Beckley

A public hearing on an ordinance to build a “buffer zone” around reproductive health clinics will be held at the next Public Health and Safety Committee meeting on Monday, Sept. 23 at 10:30 a.m.

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Live reporting by Benjamin Haddix

Bhx @BhxDetroit

Hello! I’ll be live tweeting the Detroit City Council meeting at 10:00am for #DETDocumenters. Media Partners: @DetDocumenters media partners: @BridgeDet313 @chalkbeatDET @freep @metrotimes @Michigan_Public @media_outlier @PlanetDetroit @wdet @wxyzdetroit

08:51 AM Sep 17, 2024 CDT

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Here is a link to today's agenda: pub-detroitmi.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?I…

pub-detroitmi.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?I…

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And the formal session has been called to order now at 10:03

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Waters, Calloway, Tate, Young appear to be absent to start the meeting

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The meeting begins with an update from the board of ethics

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…an update regarding ethics around campaign activities.

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Slides are being shared in this update, I will share some of the them here:

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The presenter goes on to say this is not a complete list of guidance and can be expanded as new situations arise.

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Representatives of the Black Caucus Foundation of Michigan are sharing during a special privilege public comment – they are speaking in regard to Detroit's history of collection of property tax

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I'm not exactly sure I understand what the nature of this discussion is – I will venture to say that it sounds like there was an infringement of a past legal representation agreement between the city and the Black Caucus Foundation and Motor City Law

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A legal representative for the City Council suggests that this conversation is not appropriate for a formal session, and that this is a contract disagreement between the city and a law group – Motorcity Law and the Allen Group in particular […]

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… and that these law groups feel they are owed money by the City on the basis of a contract that, per the city council legal rep, was never approved.

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Council members Calloway and Tate are now present (they arrived shortly after the initial roll call was made)

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In person public comments are now live

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Some discussion regarding a raid that occurred at the Psychedelic Healing Shack in District 2 – some individuals who were there as customers and feel their rights were violated by the police, and were traumatized by the experience […]

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Council Member Calloway indicates that the police were executing a legal warrant, while another commenter suggested that irregardless of this, the police did not practice deescalation to a degree that would protect bystanders / customers.

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A number of commenters speaking to "the buffer ordinance" which could, per the commenters, help mediate dangerous and conflictual situations between protesters and health care providers / patients. This is in regard to reproductive health clinics.

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I believe these comments are in reference to line item 17.19 in the agenda

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Public comments have concluded

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I am unfortunately not sure when she arrived but Council Member Waters is now present

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A long discussion prompted by Council Member Calloway regarding demolitions in the city, and added costs AFTER private firms have bid successfully on demolition rights.

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In particular, this is prompted by the demolition company discovering a basement, and then adding over $100k to their contract

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Which, per council member Calloway, is a common occurrence.

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Council member Young (who, btw, IS now present) inquires about technology that could be used for locating these "anomalies" (e.g. basements) and allow the city to properly assess the additional costs to the city within the auctioning process for demolitions.

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A waiver was requested for line item 17.19, which is regarding the buffer zone for individuals around medical clinics.

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Not totally sure what that means, but it seems there is agreement and enthusiasm regarding this line item

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Council member Waters is introduces a brief discussion regarding the possibility of normalizing "gun free zones", particularly in terms of eastern market and the tailgating incident over the weekend

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Meeting has adjourned at 12:51

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If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@outliermedia.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.

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This concludes my coverage of the Detroit City Council formal session. Learn more about our coverage of local meetings here: Documenters.org

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Agency Information

Detroit City Council

www.detroitmi.gov

See Documenters reporting

The Detroit City Council is the legislative body of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The Council is responsible for the creation of local laws—called ordinances. Additionally they pass resolutions, motions, and the proposed city budget. The full-time council is required to meet every business day for at least 10 months of the year, with at least eight of these meetings occurring at a location besides city hall. The council may convene for special meetings at the call of the mayor or at least four members of council. Areas of responsibility for the Budget, Finance and Audit Committee include, Budget, Finance and the Auditor General.

City Council members are elected on the same cycle as the Mayor and will be elected in 2021. Seven members represent the seven council districts, while two members are elected at-large.