- Emergency extended for SW flooding
- Rogelio Landin joins mayoral race
- New law aims to make buses safer
- 15 more feet of Detroit riverwalk
Welcome back. I’m still Malachi Barrett.
Detroit’s reparations task force is again asking the City Council for more time to recommend policies to address historic discrimination against Black residents.
Task force members Jeffery Robinson and Yolanda Jack had little to share about specific recommendations that will be made. They’re carefully crafting the language to avoid legal challenges that have opposed reparations efforts in other parts of the country.
A January letter from the task force to City Council requested an extension to from March to June “given the nature of this work and the need to be historically accurate, critically conscious and contemporarily relevant.” The council will consider approval of the extension at a later date.
Evanston, Illinois was the first city to adopt reparations policies, including $25,000 checks for descendants of people affected by past housing discrimination. A conservative legal group is seeking to end the program, alleging reparations unconstitutionally discriminate against residents who aren’t Black.
Robinson said the federal government appears ready to oppose programs that benefit specific groups, but the reparations work isn’t a Diversity Equity and Inclusion program.
He believes Detroit reparations could survive legal challenges because it’s unique: Detroit is the only city to create a reparations committee through a voter-approved ballot initiative.
“Now we have the federal government being the biggest opponent,” Robinson said. “We are trying to present recommendations that will hopefully have little legal scrutiny.”
Task force member Edythe Ford said residents have asked for cash payments, new affordable housing, support for businesses and a review of city policies and laws to ensure they are equitable.
Ford expects Detroit will be sued regardless.
“No matter what we do, they’re going to send us to court,” Ford said. “Detroit is one of the Blackest cities in this country. We’re going to court. But we’re ready because we’ve got young, brilliant Black lawyers that are going to be standing up for us and the people.”
The task force has sought legal advice from a variety of sources, including the corporation counsel for Evanston and attorney and activist Nkechi Taifa.
Task force members say they’re still deciding how eligibility works, but it could be based on a person’s lineage to Black Detroiters who were harmed by government actions instead of solely their ethnicity.
“It might be easier to do it that way but the reality is, because there have been so many different harms, you can have a person harmed in some way and someone else (in your family) was affected by another type of harm,” Jack said. “We have to be very careful and not just make a blanket statement toward any requirement or eligibility. We have to be very sensitive and thoughtful.”
Robinson said his hope is to create a reparations program with “perpetual funding” that can continue well into the future.
Council President Mary Sheffield said the task force is moving in the right direction after facing a wave of resignations and personality clashes between members. Sheffield is running for mayor and has promoted the task force as one of her accomplishments during campaign events.
“I know that things did not start at the pace and direction we all wanted, nevertheless we are here today and have a committed body of individuals serving Detroit,” she said.
Roshaun Harris called into Tuesday’s meeting to advocate for reparations policies that address “the legacy of environmental racism” where Black communities have been polluted by heavy industry near their homes.
“We need to think about the structural violence that’s been enacted against Black communities here in Detroit, specifically in the realm of environmental justice,” Harris said. “Black communities are used as sacrifice zones. We see that in Southwest Detroit, with the health impacts happening to folks around the Marathon plant. Industrial zones all around the city have been impacting community members for decades and there’s no accident we have the highest incidence of asthma and COPD in the country.”
City retiree William Davis told the council that Detroit should receive reparations from the state of Michigan. He argued the “illegal” bankruptcy robbed Detroit of assets like the DIA, water system and Belle Isle.
Some residents said the harms are still ongoing, arguing that the city’s acquisition of land for solar farms is comparable to the taking of land that resulted in Black Bottom and Paradise Valley being destroyed under a “slum clearance” initiative.
What page are we on?
Today’s notebook covers the Feb. 25 formal session. Council Member Mary Waters was absent.
Dig into the agenda, read Detroit Documenter notes or watch the recording for more details.
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State of emergency extended for flood cleanup
The City Council extended a state of emergency to help residents dealing with the aftermath of flooding caused by a pipe break last week. Mayor Mike Duggan is also seeking to appropriate $6 million in surplus funds for the flood response.
Duggan signed an executive order on Feb. 18 declaring a local state of emergency where a water transmission line broke, flooding hundreds of homes in a Southwest Detroit neighborhood.
Basements were flooded, vehicles were submerged in water and some residents were evacuated. The Detroit Free Press reported 662 people are staying in hotels provided by the city while inspectors assess damages and clean flooded basements. Duggan said the city and the Great Lakes Water Authority will cover the cost of uninsured damages.
A city hotline was set up for residents to seek for shelter and file a claim for damages. Call (313) 774-5261 to start the process.
Mayors can declare emergency powers to save lives, protect public health and “avert the threat of a catastrophe,” under the City Charter. The council extended the emergency for as long as necessary.
Duggan’s administration also submitted a plan to use $46 million in supplemental revenue, which includes spending $6 million for emergency flood response. The council will consider approval of the spending plan at a later date.
Rogelio Landin is running for mayor
Rogelio Landin is the latest Detroiter to file paperwork to run in the 2025 mayoral race.
Landin, 71, is a political activist and president of technology education company PerformancED. He has served on several neighborhood advisory boards to negotiate community benefits with developers.
He also serves on the Tenants Rights Commission, the city’s Master Plan Commission and was previously vice chair for the senior caucus for the Michigan Democratic Party.
Landin is one of eight candidates seeking to get on the ballot for Detroit’s August primary race. Landin said he’s been having conversations with community members and visited the Michigan Democratic Party convention last weekend in Detroit to meet voters.
Landin shared one big idea when reached by phone Tuesday: Detroit should annex up to 28 neighboring communities.
He said Charlotte, North Carolina and cities in Texas have benefited from adding land to their jurisdiction.
“Every meeting you’ve ever been to about anything – transportation, housing, you name it – the one word in everybody’s vocabulary is ‘more,’” Landin said. “We need more for this. You’re not going to nickel and dime people to death for it, and you’re not going to run around playing extortion politics for it.
“An annexation plan, incorporating the cooperation and collective agreement of all these communities coming together to create a community of over 1 million, changes the entire dynamic.”
Landin said his top issues are education and workforce training, but he’s also looking at solutions to address health disparities, environmental sustainability, infrastructure and trade.
“I’m reminded of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, when she was running for president she said ‘I have a plan for that,’” Landin said. “Well, I’ve got a solution.”
Bus misconduct ban
The council passed legal changes aimed at making buses safer for passengers.
An ordinance introduced by Council Member Scott Benson makes it a misdemeanor to board the bus without paying, eating, smoking or drinking on the bus, obstructing bus drivers, laying across seats, transporting pets, fighting and other kinds of disruptive behavior.
“We also hear about additional resources being placed in the Department of Transportation, but we also have to ensure our bus system is welcoming to everybody, that families feel comfortable putting children on buses, that residents feel comfortable getting on,” Benson said.
Benson said he’s working with the Department of Transportation to create additional rules “which can allow for different levels of discipline for riders,” up to being banned from using the bus.
The council passed the changes 6-1, with Johnson as the lone no vote. Sheffield was absent during the vote. It takes immediate effect.
The council delayed voting on a $1.8 million contract to add 117 bus shelters across the city. The locations haven’t been finalized, according to DDOT.
Transit advocates are pushing to double DDOT’s budget for the next fiscal year. DDOT’s budget hearing is set for March 17.
Detroit acquires land bank property
Detroit acquired 315 properties from the Land Bank Authority to obtain ownership of bioretention gardens and expand the Coleman A. Young International Airport.
The vast majority of the land is zoned for residential uses and are included in the city’s plan to buy houses and property adjacent to the airport. The land will be used to create a larger buffer between residents and bring airport runways up to federal standards.
The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department installed four bioretention gardens in the Warrendale neighborhood in 2015 to help reduce street flooding. It works by slowing down the amount of water flowing into the catch basins on the street.
DWSD continues to maintain the gardens but didn’t own the parcels until Tuesday.
Riverwalk gets (a little) bigger
Detroit’s riverwalk just became 15 feet larger.
The City Council transferred control of a small piece of land near Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park to the Downtown Development Authority (DDA).
The DDA paid $1 for the strip land, which will be added to the riverfront.
The city’s ownership of the strip was discovered during a review of documents by the DDA and Detroit Riverfront Conservancy. City officials said it’s in Detroit’s best interest to sell the property without advertising it.
The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy maintains funding to connect the Riverwalk from the former Joe Louis Arena to the park.
The DDA allows the conservancy to access its property. A review of the documents revealed the city owns the 15-foot section of riverwalk.