The candidates running for Detroit City Council’s District 5 are all interested in preserving neighborhood housing but have varying methods for doing so.

District 5 stretches from Dexter-Linwood on the west side to downtown and Belle Isle on the east side. It encompasses the Renaissance Center, Eastern Market, the museums and sports stadiums as well as many historic neighborhoods like Brush Park, Indian Village, Boston Edison and Arden Park.

Seven candidates made the ballot for the seat long held by Mary Sheffield, who is the City Council president and a mayoral candidate in the 2025 race. Other District 5 candidates are waging a write-in campaign after not having their petitions certified. 

On Wednesday, BridgeDetroit hosted a District 5 Meet the Candidates event as part of its election-focused series to engage and empower Detroit voters. In attendance were: 

• George Adams, founder and president of Detroit 360 and a licensed realtor
• Tatjana Jackson, an educator with the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and president of the Arden Park – East Boston Neighborhood Association
• Michael Hartt, a human resource professional
• Renata Miller, co-founder of the Detroit Historic Districts Alliance and an R1 zoning advocate
• Michael Ri’chard, a former political staffer and a recent retiree from Wayne County’s Health, Human & Veterans Services
• Ester Haugabook, a real estate and community planning and development professional
• Whitney Clarke (write-in), a businessman and licensed minister
• Kevin “Coach Kellogg” Jones (write-in), a community activist and youth mentor
• DeQuincy Hyatt (write-in), a trucking company owner and tech startup founder

Willie Burton, District 5 Police Commissioner, is also running for City Council and made the ballot, but he did not attend Wednesday.

When asked what the biggest issues facing District 5 are, Clarke said “housing and seniors.”

“We need to bring more working families into our communities, but we need to do that while protecting our seniors,” he told a crowd at Eastern Market Shed 5 on Wednesday night. “Elderly people want to keep their dignity and independence.”

Haugabook agreed that housing is the most significant issue and she proposed taking land bank property and building mixed-use housing that could be set aside for seniors and city workers. 

“We also need to have a home repair portal,” the LaSalle Gardens resident said. “We need to keep people in place and provide them with help before they are displaced.”

Adams stressed that affordable housing is the real housing issue, saying “we don’t need people from the outside coming in and deciding for us what is considered affordable.”

Ri’chard proposed getting developers in one room to focus on solutions for jobs, education and affordable housing. 

“If you want to put your name on a stadium, let’s talk and let’s put your name on an apartment building, a condo, let’s work out a deal,” he said. 

Miller cited seniors and specifically said the city needs to make sure public safety and 911 response is on point. Hartt said water costs, property assessments, property taxes and the cost of rent are his biggest priorities in District 5. Jackson focused on tax captures and making sure the money taken in by the Downtown Development Authority and other such districts gets redistributed to residential areas and not just downtown. 

Split on Airbnbs

Nearly all the candidates present opposed having Airbnb rental properties in homes within the district, citing issues with safety, noise and preserving property values. They referenced a drive-by shooting at a bachelor party in 2022 that took place at an Airbnb on Cloverlawn near Davison. A few months prior a man was killed at the same location.

“When you bring Airbnbs into R1 areas where people have invested in their homes for their peace and their quiet and their equity in their homes, Airbnbs can impact that in a very negative way,” Haugabook said.

Miller, a homeowner in Indian Village, said the same. “I don’t want anyone to be partying next door.”

As another Michigan summer approaches, bringing with it a wave of tourism, there continues to be no major action in Lansing to create a tax on short-term rentals and prohibit companies like Airbnb or Vrbo from working with property owners who fail to comply with local ordinances.

Detroit has had a ban since November 2017 on short-term rentals in properties zoned R1 and R2, but officials say the ban hasn’t been enforced. In 2019, former council member Janee Ayers proposed an overhaul. The issue has been raised among sitting council members and at-large Member Mary Waters inquired this spring about a study on the feasibility of implementing a tax on short-term rentals. 

Efforts to restrict rental apps have persisted for nearly a decade in Lansing, with Michigan’s lawmakers and local governments sparring over how to best deal with the subject. 

Proposals to allow communities to outright ban short-term rentals have always been a non-starter in Lansing, though some communities have enacted caps of their own or other regulations.

Proponents of regulating short-term rentals have said it’s unfair to leave municipalities on the hook for infrastructure tourists benefit from but don’t pay for due to renting. There’s also the argument that rentals keep housing stock away from those hoping to plant roots in a community. Opponents contend regulation encroaches owners’ right to rent their properties as they wish.

In recent legislative sessions there’s been efforts to regulate Airbnbs, though none of the proposals have reached the governor’s desk. As of 2025 there’s been no further movement on the topic. 

There is some indication, however, that Michigan’s short-term rental footprint is continuing to expand, according to data from the national short-term rental tracking service AirDNA.

Ri’chard mentioned a Las Vegas trip with his friends where they stayed at an Airbnb and it was “great,” but stressed that Detroit’s neighborhoods are not designed for that.  

“Airbnbs are nice, but not in my neighborhood,” he said. 

Adams was the only person on the panel who has operated Airbnb units. He said the couple properties were a lifeline during the pandemic when he had to give tenants of his rental units a break on rent and wasn’t getting his usual income. It gave him the flexibility to adjust rent and keep his tenants during that difficult time, he said. 

“(At my Airbnbs) I didn’t allow parties, I didn’t allow smoking,” he said. “An absentee owner is a recipe for disaster. If they monitor Airbnbs they are effective. If not, they can be a nuisance.”

Bridge Michigan reporter Jordyn Hermani contributed. 

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct Renata Miller’s role with the Detroit Historic Districts Alliance.