Welcome back. I’m still Malachi Barrett. 

It was another busy year for Detroit’s City Council, which capped off a four-year term last month during a period of transition.

The 2025 legislative session featured important decisions touching every corner of life in Detroit, including the adoption of a $3 billion budget, passage of new local laws, appointments to key positions and engagement with community concerns.

BridgeDetroit vigilantly covered every Tuesday formal session and reported what readers needed to know in the free City Council Notebook newsletter. Thanks to our partners at Detroit Documenters and Outlier Media for helping us cover every single budget hearing — it’s a massive undertaking that wouldn’t have been possible without our combined forces. 

We also took on coverage of 2025 municipal elections, which included organizing community forums with candidates for City Council and other offices. We hosted in-depth conversations with mayoral contenders through Detroit Next, a news program we launched in partnership with Detroit Is Different. 

BridgeDetroit’s election tracker provided a regular feed of information from the campaign trail, and our transition tracker is keeping you updated on news about Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield’s incoming administration.

I published 188 headlines this year, which is definitely the most in any year since I’ve been reporting for BridgeDetroit. Whether you read one or one hundred of them, thank you for relying on us to keep you informed. I take that responsibility quite seriously.

In my 2024 retrospective, I lamented feeling like we all exist in a broken information environment. This remains a challenge that keeps me up at night, but I’m encouraged by the support we receive from readers. People still want quality, reliable local news. There’s no doubt about that.

My goal has been to break down the walls between you and the things you need to know. Someone I respect once described this as “liberating information” for Detroiters.

I want to do more listening in 2026. What do you need to know? Reach me at mbarrett@bridgedetroit.com or by cell at (313) 690-5343.

So, what happened this year: Let’s reflect through the time-honored tradition of a numbered list. 

20 City Council decisions that defined 2025

1. A $3 billion budget included more funding for buses and none for the land bank. The council secured $26 million in changes to outgoing Mayor Mike Duggan’s final budget proposal, representing just 1% of the total spending. 
2. While some council members were “on a mission” to dismantle the Detroit Land Bank Authority, the quasi-public entity finally struck a one-year operating agreement with the city. It had been nearly two years since the last agreement expired. The long-term fate of the organization remains a big topic of future discussion.
3. A proposed WNBA practice facility along the east riverfront received tax breaks to help pay for environmental cleanup. The former Uniroyal site could house Detroit’s incoming WNBA team by 2029. A youth development sports complex is planned for a second phase of the project. It notably avoided going through a community benefits process.

READ THE REST OF THE LIST HERE.