Detroit’s community advisory councils: What are they, and why don’t you have one?

This article first appeared on Outlier Media and is republished here under a Creative Commons License.

In church basements and rec centers — anywhere with free space to offer — Detroit’s community advisory councils (CACs) gather to hear concerns from their neighbors.

If you’ve never heard of a community advisory council, chances are good you don’t have one. Only three of Detroit’s seven districts do. 

Voters in those districts will elect CAC representatives in November. 

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What are community advisory councils? 

When Detroit revised its city charter in 2012, one major change was moving from electing all city councilmembers at-large — to represent the entire city — to electing seven by district, plus two at-large. 

The move was intended to ensure every part of Detroit has a voice in local government. Jenice Mitchell Ford, the chair of the charter commission, said at the time that community advisory councils were put into the mix “to give citizens more input to city government, especially since we’re moving to districts.” 

But more than a decade later, Detroit has just three CACs. 

District 7’s CAC has been around the longest: Its members were seated in 2017. District 4 followed in 2021 and District 5 in 2023. 

Residents elect five CAC members, and the city appoints one high school member and one “senior issues representative” to each council. 

CACs are meant to inform City Council about residents’ and businesses’ needs in their district — especially how well city services and programs are working. 

City Councilmember Latisha Johnson, who represents District 4, said she sees the CAC as a way to elevate residents’ concerns. “My whole intent and focus in working with them was … identifying the challenges that we face throughout District 4 and working with the CAC to create resolutions,” Johnson said. The city councilmember said she attends CAC meetings quarterly and sends a staff member to every meeting. 

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Why doesn’t my district have a CAC? 

Districts 1, 2, 3 and 6 have yet to form a community advisory council. To get one started, you need to collect signatures from 10% of your district’s voting population, based on the most recent general election. 

Anyone can launch a CAC petition drive at any time: No need to wait for an election cycle. Deputy City Clerk Andre Gilbert says the process starts by working with your councilmember to introduce an ordinance. Then, head to the City Clerk’s Office to pick up the petition and start collecting signatures. 

This year, no CAC candidates gathered enough signatures in time for the primary election. That means anyone hoping to join a CAC will need to run a write-in campaign in the general election or be appointed by their councilmember. 

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How can I get involved? 

Community advisory councils are required to post meeting notices at least 48 hours in advance. District 4 and District 5 both post updates on the City of Detroit website. District 7 has not posted any meeting info since last summer. 

The deadline to submit signatures to appear on the primary ballot was April 22. But you can still run a write-in campaign. If no one runs, the councilmember from that district can appoint members. 

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In the room, but not at the table 

Community advisory councils can make recommendations to City Council and use official city email accounts to contact city departments on behalf of residents. They’re also supposed to meet annually with the mayor and City Council to discuss district needs and priorities. 

But unlike councilmembers or staff in the mayor’s Department of Neighborhoods (DON) — which has two reps in most districts — CAC members have no formal authority and aren’t paid. 

District 5 CAC member Byron Osbern said he loves the work, but that CACs are “handcuffed” in many ways. 

“It’s tough to get things going. The community wants to see improvement. They want to see legislation, ordinances, resolutions,” Osbern said. “They want to see action. … But we don’t have access to as much information as the DONs because we’re not in the mayor’s cabinet.” 

District 4 member Scotty Boman hoped his CAC would function like a real governmental unit and hit all the benchmarks set by the charter. But in the four years since it was formed, he said, they’ve never met with the full City Council and haven’t met annually with the mayor. 

“The biggest thing … as far as actual community engagement where I’m not happy, is that there are still things popping up where we’re kind of like trying to play catch up with the situation, rather than being consulted early on in the process,” Boman said. “We seem to be a little more in the loop, but we’re not fully in the loop.”