Council Member Latisha Johnson is unopposed in her bid for a second term representing District 4 to make progress on improving neighborhoods and protecting residents from pollution and chronic flooding. 

District 4 contains neighborhoods in the southeast corner of Detroit, stretching from the city’s east border and south from Seven Mile. It includes commercial corridors along Mack, Kercheval, Jefferson, Warren and Gratiot. The district is home to a mix of scenic riverside parks, engaged block clubs, auto plants and neighborhoods dealing with flooding and affordability concerns. 

District 4 contains landmarks like A.B. Ford Park, a waterfront greenspace with a new community center, and Chandler Park, which holds an aquatic center and multi-use sports dome. Other points of interest include historic business districts along East Jefferson and West Warren, Alger Theater, the Chrysler Jefferson North Assembly Plant, Wayne County Community College Eastern District Campus and St. John Hospital. 

The boundary expanded westward district maps were redrawn as part of a legally required process. New neighborhoods added to District 4 include Gratiot Woods, Pingree Park, East Village, Gratiot-Grand, the Marina District, Joseph Berry Sub and part of Aviation Sub. 

District 4 had the smallest population before redistricting, shrinking by nearly 20% from 2010 to 2020. The new boundaries added 9,000 residents, for a total of 88,204. Nine out of 10 residents are Black, according to the City Planning Commission.

The district has a 52% homeownership rate and a slightly higher percentage of empty lots compared to the city as a whole, according to the Neighborhood Vitality Index. The tool was created by a group of partner organizations, including Data Driven Detroit and Community Development Advocates of Detroit, to track the health of communities across the city. 

The median home value in District 4 is $74,052, according to the index, while median rent is $1,056 per month. The Detroit Land Bank Authority owns 28% of land parcels in the district. While only 13% of residential structures are vacant, 44% of all parcels are vacant. 

Who is running

Johnson, 50, is finishing her first term on the council after being elected in 2021. Before joining the council, Johnson was a community activist and founder of MECCA Development Corp., which represented Morningside, East English Village and Cornerstone Village neighborhoods. 

Johnson previously ran for City Council in 2017 but lost to Andre Spivey and then ran for a state House seat in 2018, losing to state Rep. Joe Tate. Spivey was later indicted on bribery charges and didn’t seek reelection. Johnson said she’s closely followed ethics rules, not even letting people buy her lunch, to show her commitment to rebuilding trust in the office. 

“It’s not lost on me that I am now part of the government that people love to hate,” Johnson said. “I come from an impoverished household, I could be the poster child for a Detroit kid. My first two years in office, I contemplated whether I was going to run for re-election … What changed was people in the community started to see me for who I am and they started to see the fruits of some of my labor.” 

In her first term, Johnson facilitated the distribution of federal funding for basement flooding prevention, private sewer repairs and disaster relief. She advocated for using pandemic relief funding to boost the city’s Basement Backup Protection Program. Johnson said her staff canvasses neighborhoods several days a week to help connect them to resources. 

The varying state of privately owned seawalls pose a problem for residents in the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood and Johnson said conversations are ongoing about how to use $20 million in federal funding to address chronic flooding. 

Johnson has consistently raised concerns about industrial odors emanating from east side industrial facilities. The council has limited authority to enforce state air quality standards, but she’s secured funding for air pollution monitors across the district. 

She was among a group of council members who advocated for a $203 million affordable housing strategy. Johnson said her two initiatives were a downpayment assistance program, which was created with pandemic relief dollars, and a program to help nonprofit organizations obtain and rebuild houses owned by the Detroit Land Bank Authority, which didn’t happen. 

The latest budget included a $3.7 million allocation for community land trusts, which Johnson led. She said $700,000 will be used to provide financial support for organizations to create legal entities that hold property in a community trust to ensure homes remain affordable over a long period of time. It would essentially work as a land co-op. 

Johnson said the prevalence of vacant buildings has become problematic across the district, leading to blight, squatting and public safety issues. She wants to find ways to force property owners to fix nuisance properties, comply with rental regulations and put homes to good use. 

“Unfortunately, we will see in our neighborhoods where houses will sit for so long that they start to decay, and then you end up seeing the house on the demolition list,” Johnson said. “That’s not good for the city. I think we’re getting less residents saying, ‘demolish the house’ and more saying, just hold this owner accountable for this house.” 

Johnson said strong neighborhoods also need amenities like more swimming pools, recreation centers and public libraries. She’s working with the Detroit Public Library to reopen the Monteith branch or find an alternative site. 

Johnson is a resident of East English Village. She reported raising $8,630 in donations from the start of the year and has $24,582 left to spend. Her largest donor was the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters.

Business manager and organizer Vera Cunningham is running as a write-in candidate. Her name won’t appear on the ballot. 

Voices from the district

Minnie Lester has lived in the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood since 1979 and serves as president of the Southeast Waterfront Neighborhood Association. Lester said helping residents repair their aging homes is a top issue in her neighborhood. 

Lester described Johnson as an ally of seniors and a major help in addressing flooding issues.

Eric Dueweke is a resident of the MorningSide neighborhood and is an active leader in city affairs as president of the local community organization and U-SNAP-BAC, a nonprofit housing organization. He said Johnson is establishing herself as “the champion of affordable housing solutions.” 

“Latisha has taken leadership in the affordable housing space, pushing for things like community land trusts and land bank reform, (which) is always big on every Detroiter’s mind,” Dueweke said.

Dueweke said much of the vacant housing is owned by investors who are fixing and flipping them in some cases while others let properties sit idle and deteriorate. He’s hoping the city steps up code enforcement and comes up with tools to take nuisance properties out of the hands of “sleazy investors.” 

“I’m glad there’s nobody running against her and I’m glad that she’s going to be able to keep doing what she’s been doing,” Dueweke said.