Four residents, including a state representative, a teacher, a leader with Progress Michigan and a neighborhood association president, are running for the City Council seat left vacant by Fred Durhal III.
Durhal is running for mayor, meaning the westside district that stretches from Redford on the west, to Dearborn Heights in the south over to the Dexter neighborhood on the southeast and Livernois and Oakman to the northeast is open for new representation for the first time since 2021.
Home to beautiful parks, the largest of which is Rouge Park, and with a variety of different style homes, District 7 had about 95,000 residents in 2020, according to data from the US Census Bureau numbers tracked by Data Driven Detroit. Like many other districts, blight and crime have been persistent issues for residents.
During the Aug. 5 primary, Detroiters will get a chance to vote for two of the candidates. The top two will move on to the general election on Nov. 4.
There are nine seats on Detroit City Council — one for each of the seven council districts and two at-large seats. In the running for District 7 are the following candidates, whom BridgeDetroit interviewed:
Bobbi Johnson
Age: 58
Education: Paralegal degree from Henry Ford Community College
Occupation: Retired from DWSD
Neighborhood: Franklin Park
Johnson is a Franklin Park resident and mom of 7, three of whom are adopted, and she’s the neighborhood association’s president and sits on the District 7 Community Advisory Council. She previously served as the President of ACSME 2920, which represents clerical staff in the city’s water department.
Johnson said her passion and involvement in her community is what qualifies for the seat. “I’ve heard people come through our area with this plan or that plan, but nothing ever comes out.”
In her community, Johnson said she’s participated in cleanup efforts, advocated for water affordability, addressing homelessness, and creating a new recreation center in District 7.
Johnson said the top three challenges facing Detroiters are affordable and safe housing, flooding and public transportation.
Johnson said she wants to look at innovative development strategies to build up neighborhoods without displacing residents. She supports the Tenant Rights Commission that city council established last year to improve conditions for renters and would support a moratorium on foreclosures to keep renters and homeowners in their homes. The body is tasked with developing policy recommendations to reduce evictions, enforce landlord compliance and help city departments educate tenants and landlords on issues related to residential rentals.
Holding landlords accountable for deplorable housing conditions is also important to Johnson. “Not only is this person paying you rent, but there should be some kind of fines or some kind of ramifications that will happen to a landlord that does not keep their property up to code, or has not registered their property with the city of Detroit.”
Dozens of homes in District 7 are still seeing water back up in their basement during rain events and many homes still have lead service lines, Johnson told BridgeDetroit.
She wants the city to revisit its contract with Great Lakes Water Authority, which manages the city’s stormwater assets, to ensure it’s adequately serving Detroiters’ needs.
Johnson said expanding the Detroit Department of Transportation’s budget is important to ensure K-12 students are able to get an education, noting that most students don’t live near their school and rely on public transportation to get to and from school everyday.
In District 7 specifically, Johnson said neighborhoods need more streetlights and broken lights need repairs. Additionally, she said the district needs a central community hub where residents of all ages can come together to learn, play and obtain resources.
Johnson also wants to see more funding for block clubs and neighborhood organizations to clean up their blocks, such as the illegal dumping that continues to impact the district.
Activating Community Advisory Councils (CACs) is also important to Johnson and she wants to utilize those serving on the CAC as a point of contact for development projects, which would be separate from constituent services her office would provide directly to residents. The CAC would coordinate and conduct outreach related to development projects. She said timing of meetings is especially important so she’d ensure they’re held in the morning, evenings and virtually, and that interpreters are used for translation services, to ensure all residents can participate.
When it comes to council rules, Johnson wants to see a set time limit for public comment during council meetings so people aren’t limited to 30-seconds when there’s a greater number of participants. .
In addition to expanding the footprint that community violence intervention groups cover, Johnson said she wants more neighborhood police officers (NPOs) in District 7, who have a relationship with families and youth, and understand the dynamics of a neighborhood.
Johnson doesn’t support solar fields in neighborhoods because of concerns about radiation, however, she wants to ensure the ones that have been built provide a benefit to Detroiters who live nearby. According to the World Health Organization, there is no significant research that proves living near a solar farm is harmful due to electromagnetic field exposure.
Johnson said she’d ensure development projects provide a benefit to the community before supporting developer tax breaks, especially now that the city has become more attractive to investors, and she wants community advisory councils to be more involved in development negotiations.
“Tax breaks don’t give the city of Detroit that many benefits, so we have to see if it’s beneficial to the city of Detroit before we even entertain a tax break,” she said.
Johnson believes it would be beneficial to have more dialogue with the community about what they want to see prioritized in the city’s budget.
Johnson is looking at getting rid of the Detroit Land Bank Authority entirely, and turning the inventory of properties back over to the city. . The land bank manages properties for the city by acquiring properties through various means, including city ownership, tax foreclosure auctions and a nuisance abatement program and then selling or transferring them to individuals, community partners and developers.
She doesn’t know who she’s voting for mayor but Johnson said she’d advocate for District 7 regardless of who is elected. “I can work with anyone, as long as we’re on the same page that I represent District 7, and I’m here to advocate for District 7.”
Johnson said she wouldn’t seek support to become the next council president in large part due to the fact that she believes the role should be assumed by an at-large council member.
Denzel Hines-McCampbell
Age: 33
Education: Graduated from Michigan State University in 2013 with a Bachelor’s in Political Science and General Management
Occupation: Managing Director for Progress Michigan
Neighborhood: West Outer Drive
McCampbell said two reasons he believes he’s qualified for City Council are his experience working on public policy at various levels of government and the knowledge he gained about the council’s authority and the city’s overall structure while serving on the Charter Revision Commission.
“I just have that deep knowledge and passion behind really centering the neighborhoods and the needs and being innovative about the solutions we can push at the council table,” he told BridgeDetroit.
McCampbell said the top three challenges facing Detroiters are affordable housing, public transportation and well-resourced neighborhoods.
For affordable housing, McCampbell said he’ll work towards expanding down payment assistance and senior home repair programs, build up the Right to Counsel program and Tenants Rights Council and support nonprofit housing. He’d do so by leveraging resources and talent, and improving the permitting process so nonprofits and community land trusts aren’t locked out of development opportunities.
McCampbell’s vision also pairs workforce development and training with housing development by creating a public works program in partnership with the skilled trades so Detroiters have a broad range of opportunities and can participate in the revitalization of Detroit.
Public transportation is an economic justice issue, according to McCampbell, and the need for increased route frequency is among the top challenges that keep Detroiters from quality employment, groceries, healthcare and other essential services.
McCampbell said he’s committed to ensuring neighborhoods are “well-resourced:” city services that are abundant, frequent, high-quality and administered and delivered by Detroiters.
To accomplish this, his office would have a “robust” constituent services program to address the problems residents experience in District 7, such as city trees and lots that need to be cut. This also means tackling issues, such as public safety, with a “whole-of-government” approach, McCampbell told BridgeDetroit. Ensuring residents are connected to resources when they need to get out of a violent situation, such as housing, transportation and mental health resources, helps address the root causes of poverty and crime.
McCampbell told BridgeDetroit that community input and transparency in the decision-making process are essential, especially as it relates to the city’s budget, which the next city council will begin deliberations on in their first three months of taking office. “For me, transparency increases the leverage that I will have at the council table to really fight for the issues that my residents are working on,” he said.
“I think we also have to be very clear about how we are using public dollars and making sure as much as possible stays in the public domain, and that the city and its residents are actually benefiting from those things.”
His approach for tax incentives is based on the needs of Detroiters and an assessment of what’s needed in the area surrounding development could help inform decisions, he said. Additionally, McCampbell wants to improve the community benefits agreement process to ensure developers are holding up their end of the deal and that Detroiters have input from the very beginning of projects. “I think we need to make sure that folks are actually keeping up their end of the promises.”
When it comes to the Renaissance Center, McCampbell said, “The notion that something that was already built with public dollars, and then to use public dollars to demolish it, and then the goal is it still being in private hands…. If public dollars are being used for something, it needs to be a public entity.”
McCampbell supports renewable energy and efforts to achieve a carbon-neutral future, and although he supports solar fields, he wants Detroiters to benefit from the investment, such as reduced energy costs.
“I really want to be innovative in this way as we’re using public land, public dollars. How can we make sure that residents, especially those who are around these projects, are getting even more of a benefit?” he said.
“Ideally, I would like to see that function back in the city’s hands,” McCampbell said about the Detroit Land Bank Authority, adding that it’s a significant undertaking that would take time to accomplish. In the meantime, he said he wants to work towards a solution to increase Detroiters’ access to city-owned properties.
Regina Ross
Age: 67
Education: Masters in education, Doctorate in counseling and theological studies
Occupation: Teacher
Neighborhood: Joy-Schaefer
Ross wasn’t available for an interview with BridgeDetroit and didn’t respond to questions provided via email.
Ross unsuccessfully ran for City Council in 2017 and 2021, and most recently fell 59 votes short of Fred Durhal III, who is now running for mayor. She also ran for state House in 2016.
According to her campaign website, Ross is a member of the District 7 Community Advisory Council and has a masters degree in education and a doctorate degree in counseling and theological studies.
Her social media indicates she’s a DPS teacher and three-time winner of “Teacher of the Year.” She was also featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show.
Her vision, according to her campaign website, is “rooted in opportunity, revitalization, and safety.”
Karen Whitsett
Age: 57
Education: n/a
Occupation: Michigan House of Representatives
Neighborhood: Littlefield Neighborhood
Whitsett didn’t respond to BridgeDetroit’s requests for an interview.
Whitsett is serving her fourth term in the state Legislature, and currently represents District 4 as a Democrat. Her name has made headlines on more than one occasion as she’s repeatedly clashed with her own party. In 2023, Whitsett was the sole Democrat in the Michigan House Health Policy Committee to vote against the Reproductive Health Act, an 11-bill package pertaining to abortion access. Most recently in December, she joined Republicans in boycotting lame duck session in the final days of the year and walked out of the chamber, refusing to return to vote and denying House Democrats the ability to pass several remaining bills before the end of the term.
Whitsett graduated from Cody High School and, prior to seeking office, was a community organizer and union supporter. As a state representative, Whitsett’s website says she is focused on “preventing and reforming tax foreclosure processes, protecting vital senior citizen services and assisting entrepreneurs secure resources to develop our community.”
There are two write-in candidates running in District 7: Dustin Campbell and McClendon Starks.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that Regina Ross was a three-time “Teacher of the Year” and was featured on the “Oprah Winfrey Show.”
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