Welcome back. I’m still Malachi Barrett.

The Wayne County Clerk’s Office confirmed District 6 City Council Member Gabriela Santiago-Romero is disqualified from the 2025 primary ballot, while she alleges the “undemocratic” removal is caused by the clerk’s own mistake.

Special Assistant to the County Clerk Dorian Tyus sent a statement on Tuesday explaining that Santiago-Romero filed an October 2024 campaign finance report too late, resulting in a $250 fine. She needed to pay off the fine before signing an affidavit attesting that no late fees were owed.

Santiago-Romero argues she filed the report on time, and provided an email from the clerk with the date of receipt, but acknowledged it was filed incorrectly and needed to be amended twice. Still, she argues the fee should not have been imposed.

“It is extremely upsetting that the clerk is falsely accusing me of submitting a report late,” Santiago-Romero said in a statement. 

Tyus said county records show the corrected report was filed a month after the deadline, so the late fee remained in effect. Candidates must sign an affidavit certifying all fines have been paid.

Santiago-Romero said she wasn’t informed about the fee until after she submitted petition signatures on Monday, April 21. The discrepancy required her disqualification under the law, Tyus said.

“It is the responsibility of each candidate or candidate committee to ensure that all required campaign documents are filed timely and any outstanding campaign finance fees are fully paid in accordance with Michigan law,” Tyus said.

Santiago-Romero responded to the clerk’s statement on social media Tuesday, posting a copy of an Oct. 25 email confirming receipt of her original campaign finance report. She followed up with a longer thread disputing the clerk’s timeline.

“I want to be clear – I have always followed the law,” Santiago-Romero wrote. “This mistake was not mine. It was a mistake of the Wayne County Clerk’s Office itself.”

The required campaign finance report was filed on time on Oct. 25, Santiago-Romero said, but included an error.

Instead of labeling the report as a quarterly campaign statement, it was labeled as a pre-general election statement. That’s a different category of reporting that didn’t apply to Santiago-Romero since she didn’t run for election in 2024.

Her campaign was sent a notice of failure to file on Oct. 28, stating that she missed the deadline to file a quarterly statement. 

Santiago-Romero filed an amended report on Nov. 8, but it contained the same mistake. It was submitted again on Nov. 29, according to both parties.

Tyus said the timeline starts on Nov. 8 and didn’t acknowledge an earlier report filed Oct 25. Tyus did not respond to additional questions.

Santiago-Romero claims the clerk deleted her original Oct. 25 report and “erroneously claimed” her report was first filed Nov. 8.

The clerk’s office declined additional comment “due to the possibility of pending litigation.” Santiago-Romero said she is discussing next steps with her attorneys.

“If needed, I will take all legal action necessary to ensure that my rights and the rights of our voters are upheld,” she wrote on X.com. “I’ll need you by my side. We need to fight for our democratic right to elect candidates who are in compliance and serving our communities.”

A Tuesday statement from the campaign notes Santiago-Romero “is an extremely popular incumbent, winning her first election in 2021 with 74% of the vote.”

Her disqualification would leave an open seat in District 6.

State Rep. Tyrone Carter and Anita Martin submitted petition signatures to run for the seat. 

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What page are we on?  

Today’s notebook covers the April 22 formal session.

Dig into the agenda, read Detroit Documenter notes or watch the recording for more details.

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Looking for more coverage of 2025 elections? I’m interviewing candidates and community leaders for our new talk show Detroit Next.

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Durhal delivers signatures for mayor 

The deadline has passed for candidates running for mayor, a seat on the City Council and other Detroit races to get on the August primary ballot.

Candidates had to submit a required number of valid nominating signatures from Detroit citizens by 4 p.m. Tuesday. It will take roughly 10 days for the signatures to be validated, establishing the official field of candidates.

Mayoral hopeful and City Council Member Fred Durhal III delivered his signatures to the Department of Elections headquarters Tuesday after the council session. Rev. Solomon Kinloch dropped off his signed petitions a day earlier. There could be more than a dozen candidates for mayor.

Durhal said he cast a wide net to collect signatures and meet residents who live outside District 7, a collection of westside communities he’s represented on the council since 2022.

“We want to eliminate the apathy and restore the faith in government so folks feel comfortable, and folks feel proud to be from the city of Detroit,” Durhal said. “We are looking forward to seeing all the residents on the campaign trail as we push for our ideas. We are the most qualified candidate in this race.”

Here’s a look at who has turned in signatures to the Elections Department, as of April 22.

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Durhal celebrated the start of a new phase of the campaign with a dozen supporters. The council member and former state lawmaker said he’s excited to start “the real work” of building his campaign and outlining his plans to voters.

“We had the opportunity to serve in the state government and the City Council, but now we’re taking it to the next level,” Durhal said. “We’re going to lower property taxes, make our streets safer, continue to improve public transit here in this city, we are going to continue to push our neighborhoods forward and make Detroit a place for every Detroiter.”

A “comprehensive property tax relief plan” will be unveiled soon, Durhal said. It will include tax hikes for land speculators who let undeveloped property languish. He also supports more aggressive blight enforcement and increased funding for community violence intervention strategies.

Durhal supporter Clois Foster, a retired postal worker living in the Warrendale neighborhood, said dilapidated houses are a plague on her corner of the city. Foster said she wants to see blighted structures replaced with affordable housing.

“When I grew up, it was a million people here,” she said. “I’m over 70 years old, so I know how it is. We need to build up the neighborhoods.”

Durhal said he hopes debates and forums will help voters see which candidates have a clear vision for leadership and can articulate their plan to improve the city.

Durhal described himself as a “work horse” not a “show horse.” He said he’s more comfortable having deep conversations with Detroiters than rallying a crowd. 

“You’ll start to see in this campaign folks stand out based on their ideas,” Durhal said. “It is my hope that folks really listen to every candidate that is running for the mayor of the city of Detroit, to hear their plan, to hear their vision, to make sure that it’s not a bunch of fluff, to make sure that it’s not a bunch of empty promises.”

Durhal’s campaign alerted me to a Saturday mayoral forum hosted by the African American Leadership Institute, United Precinct Delegates and Supermajority PAC. Three more candidate forums are scheduled for next week.

The AFL-CIO and SEIU is hosting a forum at 6 p.m. April 29 at the IBEW Local 58 headquarters. Detroit Moves is hosting a discussion on transit and the mobility industry at its annual conference on May 1. Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority is hosting a forum at 4 p.m. on May 2 at the AKA Foundation of Detroit Building.

Richard Poole, a Durhal supporter who attended the signature drop, said few voters see the importance of the mayoral race.

“There’s not enough education and people don’t do their due diligence with getting information from candidates,” Poole said. “You see a name you heard before like (Council President Mary) Sheffield or Kinloch and people say they’re going to vote for them because they’ve heard the name. But they don’t know what their vision is.”

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Overhead in CAYMC

Here’s your weekly round-up of intrigue shared by residents during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting, and smaller agenda items approved by the council.

Darin McLeskey has been coming to City Council for months, railing against how the city has been acquiring homes for its Solar Neighborhood Initiative. He described court proceedings he’s witnessed as the city robbing people without a gun.

Last year, the city began issuing condemnation lawsuits to obtain property through eminent domain. The city is also offering compensation equal to double the market value or $90,000 minimum for occupied homes and 18 months of rent to help renters relocate.

The City Council asked the Law Department to provide an update on legal proceedings to get to the bottom of resident complaints.

City Council Member Scott Benson is introducing a resolution that would represent the full council’s support for a proposal to create a waterfront multisport complex on the former Uniroyal site along the riverfront. Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores is planning the development as part of a bid to bring a WNBA team to the city.

Several activists argued a show of support is premature and undermines the council’s ability to evaluate the project and negotiate with developers.

Russ Bellant said developers have yet to publicly release a site plan and address important questions about environmental contamination on the former industrial property. Eden Bloom worries the council’s support would pave the way for tax breaks before a robust community conversation takes place. 

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Tax break awarded for second Baobab spot 

The City Council unanimously approved a 12-year tax discount to help Baobab Fare open another location in East English Village. 

The popular and award-winning East African restaurant hopes to open its second brick-and-mortar location at 1600 E. Warren Ave. in early 2026.

Co-owner Hamissi Mamba is undergoing an expansive $1.6 million renovation of the building, which previously contained an illegal marijuana growing operation, a video store and offices.

Mamba said he believes in building alongside the community, and “bringing good food and good jobs” to the eastside.

Johnson said residents want more dining options in the neighborhood, especially “restaurants we can walk to from our homes and aren’t so pricey that we can’t patronize them.”

Baobab will receive a $7,000 tax break each year, for a total of roughly $84,000. The project is expected to create 15 new full-time jobs and 15 part-time jobs with an average wage of $16 to $18 an hour, plus 20 temporary construction jobs.

Baobab is also seeking grants and financial assistance from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, Motor City Match and Strategic Neighborhood Fund.

“The project cannot be financed without an exemption,” according to city documents, as the property taxes and expensive construction needs “make it infeasible for any small business operator to finance and then occupy the building.” 

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Land of opportunity 

Here’s a breakdown of land sales approved by the council, and what the new owners want to do with it.

Buildings That Build Community Development LLC is planning a new coin-operated laundromat and community work space at 12400 Kelly Rd. It purchased the property from Detroit for $50,000.

Detroit Hurley purchased two lots from the city to create an outdoor retail space for Fungi and Fungal, a new mushroom store. The lots were purchased for $16,600.

Tweety’s Poetry and More is renovating property on West Grand River into a poetry cafe. It bought an adjacent property from the city for $3,750 to create outdoor seating.

Craftsman Carlos Nielbock purchased a property at 2202 Wilkins from the city for $9,500. It’s next to his Detroit Gallery of Metals installation and art studio near Eastern Market. Neilbock, who has worked on iconic pieces like the Spirit of Detroit, plans to use it as green space. 

Editor’s note: This story has been updated since publication to correct the spelling of Darin McLeskey’s name.