This week in the notebook:
- Def Sound Studios receives a historical designation
- Debate continues over renaming streets after non-Detroiters
- Qualifications for Future of Health Advisory Board
- Seawall improvement plan delay
Hi, I’m Kayleigh Lickliter! I’m a BridgeDetroit contributor and Detroit Documenter and it’s so nice to meet you!
Malachi has two hands on the wheel as he makes his way north for this year’s Mackinac Policy Conference so I’ll be covering the City Council Notebook while he’s out.
For now, let’s dig into this week’s agenda.
What page are we on?
Today’s notebook covers the May 28 formal session. City Council President Mary Sheffield and Councilman Coleman A. Young II were absent.
Dig into the agenda, read Detroit Documenter notes or watch the recording for more details.
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Def Sound Studios gets historic designation
Jerry Flynn Dale has achieved his decades-long quest for a historical designation for his family’s home on Winthrop Street where Def Sound Studios started in the early 80s.
The moment was “joy and pain” as Dale’s achievement comes just days after his mother’s homegoing ceremony, he told council members during the public hearing last Thursday. Multiple artists spoke at the hearing about “Mama Dale’s” role in Detroit’s hip-hop industry including Arnell Carmichael, DJ Rush, and Sheila Brody.
The Dale family opened their home to aspiring rap artists during a time when recording studios weren’t. In 1983, 13-year-old Jerry Flynn Dale purchased his first recording equipment and started Def Sound Studios from his parent’s basement. Since then, many well-known artists including Smiley, George Clinton Jr., Street Lordz, and Kid Rock, have recorded at Def Sound.
Although the studio still holds private recording sessions, Dale began pursuing business ventures in 2004, marking the end of what is now considered a historical period.
Read more about the designation in a report drafted by the Historic Designation’s Advisory Board.
The historical designation of Def Sound Studios means the home and its legacy will be preserved for decades to come.
Debate continues over renaming streets after non-Detroiters
A proposed ordinance allowing secondary streets to be named after non-Detroiters is postponed for a week to allow for further discussion.
Under the proposed ordinance, streets can be named after non-Detroiters if four city council members – one sponsor and three co-signers — support the effort.
Councilman Scott Benson believed the honor should be “dedicated and committed” to Detroit residents only. The amendment was proposed following a request to rename a street after Vincent Chin, an Oak Park resident, who died at the age of 27 after he was targeted in a racially motivated attack outside of a McDonald’s on Woodward Ave. Chin’s murder gave rise to the Asian American civil rights movement here in Detroit.
Benson and Council Member Angela Whitfield-Calloway shared concerns that such a change would open a “floodgate” of secondary street name requests from people outside of the city. Aside from Chin, Council President Pro Tem James Tate said he’s been approached about renaming a street honoring someone whose address on their license wasn’t in Detroit, but the person had roots in the city.
The support of four council members would only be one step in the process, however, and those who meet that requirement would still need the support of the majority of council members when requests are sent to the full council for a final vote. Council Member Fred Durhal III initially shared the same concerns as her colleagues but was satisfied with the four-member requirement.
Durhal also said he doesn’t want to overlook the fact there are people from all over the U.S. who’ve made “significant contributions” to the city and streets have been renamed in their honor, such as Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., who was not a Detroiter.
Seawall improvement plan delay
A $2.7 million contract with the Detroit Building Authority for seawall improvements was postponed one week. The contract would provide construction-related improvements to the seawalls on the Lower East Side and a flood mitigation study. Council member Latisha Johnson requested the delay to ensure all needs would be addressed in the contract.
According to the Legislative Policy Division’s Teeter report, DBA will manage the design, engineering, and construction for the repair and installation of seawalls and berms on city-owned properties.
The contract also includes a flood mitigation study that looks at the removal of the Jefferson Chalmers area from the floodplain. The area of the study covers properties located along the canals on Ashland St., Scripps St., Manistique St., Harbor Island, Klenk Island, Alter Rd., Conner Creek Canal, Mariner’s Park, and A.B. Ford Park.
Qualified appointees only for the Future of Health Advisory Board
A resolution was approved to establish qualifications for appointees of the Future of Health Community Advisory Board.
The Future of Health development project was approved with the condition that a community advisory board be created to study racial disparities in healthcare. Council Member Mary Waters submitted a resolution that outlines specific qualifications for board members, including that emphasis be placed on members of the community who have a background in healthcare and public health and that advisory council members receive a $300 stipend for attending each meeting.
