Welcome back. I’m still Malachi Barrett.
BridgeDetroit is on Mackinac Island for the annual policy conference hosted by the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce.
We’ve been talking with local and state leaders about challenges facing Detroit and how they’re responding.
Here’s a recap of news items pulled from interviews and panel discussions on the island.
Duggan: Invest in mental health
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said state failures are putting police officers on the frontline of responding to a widespread mental health crisis.
“When the state’s mental health system fails, people have psychotic breaks,” Duggan said. “You know who deals with them? Police officers.”
Duggan and Police Chief James White held a Wednesday conversation on a spike in mental health calls since the COVID-19 pandemic and a specialized police unit created in response.
Duggan said a lack of psychiatric care facilities has left people with few options to find support. He cited the state’s decision to withdraw from providing mental health services in the 1990s, causing the closure of Detroit’s Lafayette Clinic.
The mayor called on lawmakers to invest in community treatment centers, psychiatric crisis centers and long-term treatment beds. He suggested gradually shifting funds from the prison and jail system, arguing that it would result in fewer incarcerations.
“If you can reduce the mental health crisis, you’ll see reductions in everything from domestic violence to drug abuse,” White said.
White shared success from the mental health co-response unit, which includes officers equipped with green uniforms, non-lethal equipment and vehicles with green lights that are meant to be less intimidating. Officers respond to mental health calls alongside clinicians.
The presentation featured body camera footage showing the unit in action.
“I want you to watch and see what our officers are now doing to try to de escalate and disarm folks,” Duggan told the audience on Mackinac Island.
Videos included a 2023 incident where officers safely disarmed a man with a gun, and a Feb. 17 incident where police disarmed a knife-wielding woman who was reportedly suicidal.
The Detroit Police Department received 15,900 mental health calls in 2023. DPD responds to barricaded gunmen once per week, often involving suicidal residents.
Duggan said the police department created a “duplicate mental health system.” Police logged 3,000 addresses in the 911 system associated with repeated mental health calls.
More than 1,000 residents with mental health issues have had three or more interactions with police in the last three years.
Eastern Market leaders ‘nervous’ about I-375
Businesses in Eastern Market are worried about losing revenue during construction of the I-375 rebuild project.
Eastern Market CEO Dan Carmody and soon-to-be successor Katy Trudeau said they’re eagerly awaiting a state plan to address disruption during the multi-year project. Construction is expected to start next fall and end in 2028.
We’re very nervous about it, as there’s not an established mitigation plan yet,” Trudeau said. “It’s a huge unanswered question.
“It’s going to take a lot of work from the private and nonprofit sector to develop a really robust mitigation strategy to prevent as much of that from happening as possible.”
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has committed to create plans for traffic management, vibration monitoring and other construction impacts.
A construction mitigation strategy will be provided through a contract for progressive design-build services. MDOT has yet to announce what entity will receive the contract.
“It’s going to put a lot of strain on businesses,” Carmody said.
Representatives of other organizations, like the Greektown Neighborhood Partnership, have also expressed anxiety about the lack of a construction mitigation plan. It was also cited in a petition signed by nearly 500 residents calling for MDOT to improve public engagement.
The Downtown Detroit Partnership reviewed the project’s design and is expected to release a set of recommendations next month.
Trudeau and Carmody said MDOT made changes to the design based on their feedback.
Changes included preserving on-street parking along a retail corridor on Gratiot Avenue and pledging to give the city control over service near the interchange.
Downpayment assistance Phase II
Detroit renters can receive up to $25,000 to buy their first home through a down payment assistance program set to relaunch this summer.
A first round of the program helped 448 Detroiters become first-time homeowners. It ended in December. A second round is expected to open in late June.
Residents can sign up to receive an alert when applications open. Applications already received will continue to be processed until all funds are exhausted.
Duggan said the program has helped Detroiters who are paying expensive rents and could afford a cheaper mortgage but struggle to save up for a down payment.
The first round was funded with $12 million in federal pandemic relief funds. Duggan said the second round includes an additional $15 million plus $5 million from partner banks. He suggested long-term funding could come from philanthropic sources.
Laura Grannemann, executive director of the Rocket Community Fund and the Gilbert Family Foundation, said the program’s first round was “extremely successful.”
Grannemann said there have been “good conversations with the city” about the downpayment assistance program, though the foundations haven’t committed to provide funding.
She also suggested a shared equity model would make the downpayment assistance program sustainable in the long-term.
This approach involves a nonprofit or government entity covering part of the cost for low-income homebuyers in exchange for a share in the resale value. The revenue would then feed the downpayment assistance fund.
“If we really wanted to do this at scale it makes sense to look at alternative models,” Grannemann said. “We’ve started those discussions. It’s a complicated model.”
Land value tax uncertain
One year after Duggan used his Mackinac Policy Conference address to promote a plan to overhaul the city’s property tax system, it’s unclear whether Michigan lawmakers will advance bills needed to make it happen.
The “land value tax” system would create different tax rates for the value of structures and the value of land. Duggan said the change is needed because Detroit’s current property tax system overburdens homeowners while allowing land speculation and abandonment.
Bills introduced in the Michigan House were tabled last year after failing to gain enough support from lawmakers.
House Speaker Joe Tate, D-Detroit, said there’s “ongoing conversation” when asked whether the proposal has a future.
“I think there’s still life for it,” Tate said. “It may be something we may be able to move or something we can look at for another legislative session.”
Tate said he’s “trying to identify solutions to lower the property tax burden” for residents that could include other proposals.
“I feel this is a place we can still have discussions around and can be one of many solutions,” Tate said. “There still needs to be more education, more conversations with my colleagues in the chamber.”
RenCen future in ‘brainstorming mode’
The future of Renaissance Center will have major implications for the ongoing redevelopment of Detroit’s riverfront.
General Motors announced plans to move its corporate headquarters from the iconic site to the Hudson’s building. Billionaire Dan Gilbert owns the under-construction skyscraper, and is involved in conversations about what’s next for the Renaissance Center.
Gilbert said those conversations are early – in “brainstorming mode” – and involve city leaders. He didn’t share much about the direction of those conversations, but suggested redeveloping the complex.
“Everyone is interested in making sure that the waterfront is redeveloped in a beautiful way,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert said GM’s decision to move into the Hudson’s building and reinvent the Renaissance Center is a “big bet,” comparable to Ford’s redevelopment of the Michigan Central station.
Detroit also needs large investments in affordable housing, nightlife and activities for young people and public transportation, Gilbert said.
“If you look at any big city or metropolitan area, who doesn’t have some regional transportation efforts going on?” Gilbert said. “We’re one of the few if not the only one that doesn’t.”
I wish you guys had a Gand Rapids reporter like Bennett