Welcome back. I’m still Malachi Barrett.
Detroit Planning Department Director Antoine Bryant is in hot water after executing contracts without City Council approval.
The Detroit Board of Ethics (BOE) voted Tuesday to open an investigation into Bryant for potential violations of the city’s ethics policy.
It’s largely centered on Bryant’s decision to authorize a $215,000 mural contract with Street Art for Mankind in violation of the City Charter.
Board members voted on the same day we published a report on how Bryant’s emails revealed missteps with the downtown mural project.
The ethics panel also cited Bryant’s decision to amend a 2021 sales agreement with the Detroit Parade Company for the Brodhead Armory site without council approval.
Council President Mary Sheffield and Pro Tem James Tate raised concerns about the armory agreement several months ago. A Legislative Policy Division report found Bryant appeared to violate the charter.
Board investigators will spend the next weeks gathering evidence and allow Bryant an opportunity to respond before deciding whether to hold a hearing.
Read our latest report on the developing situation.
What page are we on?
Today’s notebook covers the June 4 formal session. Council Members Latisha Johnson and Angela Whitfield-Calloway were absent.
Dig into the agenda, read Detroit Documenter notes or watch the recording for more details.
Did a friend forward you this? Sign up for BridgeDetroit’s free newsletters to catch the next one.
Meetings are usually kicked off with an invocation from a religious leader. Legislative Policy Division Director David Whitaker stepped up to sing the Lord’s Prayer.
Bobby Ferguson denied contract work with Detroit
The City Council held firm on a decision to prevent Bobby Ferguson from doing work with Detroit.
Ferguson is a contractor connected to former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick who was convicted of corruption, bribery and extortion in 2013. He served eight years of a 21-year prison sentence and was released in 2021.
A federal judge found Ferguson used his relationship with Kilpatrick to grab taxpayer-funded contracts.
Detroit’s inspector general banned Ferguson from doing business with Detroit as a contractor or subcontractor until 2033.
Ferguson failed to contest the finding, so council members felt no need to honor a late request for an appeal hearing.
The inspector general’s report shows Ferguson extorted Detroiters by inflating costs.
Ferguson’s legal penalties included an order to pay back $6 million to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department.
“Ferguson’s conduct evidenced an inability to act as a responsible contractor,” the report found. “He engaged in an unprecedented level of corruption that had a huge impact on the City of Detroit and contractors.”
Plug up fire truck exhaust
Federal pandemic relief funds will pay to clean up contamination from fire truck emissions.
A $150,593 contract with Ohio-based Rossman enterprises, Inc. pays for automatic exhaust capture systems.
The Detroit Fire Department’s Ladder 30 and Engines 55, 57 and 60 will be equipped with technology that reduces exposure to toxic gasses.
The systems are advertised to remove cancer-causing diesel particles.
Duggan’s island chat
BridgeDetroit was unable to interview Mayor Mike Duggan during the Mackinac Policy Conference last week. We tried, but our request was denied.
However, Duggan did sit down with the Detroit News. The full interview is behind a paywall, but a few insights are worth sharing.
Duggan claimed to have changed politics in Detroit, declaring that “us-versus-them politics is basically dead.”
Duggan said candidates who espouse this mindset are “clobbered” in City Council races and have no shot at becoming mayor.
It’s unclear whether Duggan himself plans to run for mayor after his term expires in 2025, though every politico I talked to on Mackinac Island last week expects him to run for governor.
Duggan indicated he’s not making any announcements until after the presidential election.
Duggan’s absence would set up a major power struggle that will be interesting to watch. I have a few leads on potential candidates, but I’ll need to do more reporting before sharing speculation from political observers.
Duggan also spoke on affordable housing, saying the city needs a mix of rents offered for people of varying incomes. The city invested $1 billion in affordable housing in the last year, and Duggan said another $1 billion is probably needed for the next five years.
“We need to make sure the folks who stayed in the city don’t get pushed out,” Duggan said. “What I can’t have is a city full of $1,500 and 2,000 a month. That’ll push people out and we’ve been really effective at building new affordable housing.”
More green for marijuana prevention?
Youth drug prevention programs lack the funding to address a rise in marijuana use in schools, according to a new report from the council’s Legislative Policy Division.
The report urges the council to consider increasing state marijuana revenue dedicated to substance abuse prevention programs.
The city used 2% of marijuana sales taxes last year, which amounts to roughly 23 cents per child for substance prevention.
Council Members Scott Benson and Whitfield-Calloway raised concerns about youth marijuana use. Benson advocates for increasing funding for prevention, while Whitfield-Calloway is seeking a ban on marijuana billboards.
Whitfield-Calloway cited a Mississippi court ruling that found the state can restrict marijuana billboards.
Detroit parks advocate honored
Deputy Chief Financial Officer Meagan Elliott was honored with a Spirit of Detroit Award in recognition of her work to equitably improve city parks.
Elliott is transitioning into a new role as CEO of the Belle Isle Conservancy next month.
She told me it’s a full circle moment – Elliott recalled working on the city’s first parks plan after Detroit began leasing Belle Isle Park to the state.
Elliott said the city redirected funds opened up by the island transfer into neighborhood parks. Now she will be in charge of strategic planning for the popular island park.
She was also involved in programming Detroit’s $827 million pandemic relief fund.
Council Member Fred Durhal III credited Elliott with equitably investing in neighborhood parks and planning the Joe Louis Greenway.
“We know she will continue to serve Detroiters by focusing her full energy toward the city’s most beloved assets,” Durhal said.
