Today in the notebook
- Detroit’s only cider mill getting permits
- Council asks for land bank audit
- Duggan seeks savings fund, expecting revenue drop
- Voting sites in schools are getting costly
Welcome back. I’m still Malachi Barrett.
Council President Pro Tem James Tate will seek his colleague’s blessing to lead the next City Council starting in 2026.
Tate, who is running unopposed for reelection in November, said it would be “an absolute honor” to serve at the helm of the council. He would seek to build consensus among the nine-member body.
“The (mayor’s) administration understands the power of the body, and sometimes I don’t think we do, so I really want to ensure that we move in the next term as a body and not as individuals,” Tate told BridgeDetroit last week. “I believe that we can help our colleagues, but also the community as a whole, if we work stronger and closer as a team. We have to cooperate together.”
Tate, 51, is the longest-serving member on the council and often serves as a moderating voice during heated discussions. He was first elected in 2009 and has represented District 1 since districts were created in 2013. As pro tempore, Tate is responsible for serving in absence of President Mary Sheffield.
The council president is selected by a majority vote of all members. The president is responsible for leading council sessions as chair, appointing committee assignments and preserving order during meetings, among other duties outlined by the Detroit City Charter.
The president and pro tempore serve for all four years of their term on the council.
The next council will have at least two new members, as Sheffield and Council Member Fred Durhal III vacated their seats to run for mayor. The body could look significantly different if challengers beat incumbent Council Members Angela Whitfield-Calloway, Scott Benson, Gabriela Santiago-Romero, Mary Waters and Coleman Young II.
Like Tate, Council Member Latisha Johnson is running unopposed.
Tate said he wants to improve the public’s understanding of how the City Council makes decisions and how residents can influence that process.
When Tate first ran for office nearly 15 years ago, he argued that elected officials aren’t focused on issues that affect residents. Tate says he talks to Detroiters who feel the same way today but he’s come to understand the work is far more complex than he originally realized. He’s proud of setting up programs to tear down dangerous trees and pass balanced budgets, but there’s much left to be done.
“My goal is always to just try to get people to see council members in a different light, not just as being up in this ivory tower,” Tate said. “Why should you just struggle as an individual? Why not get people in office that actually have the same values, that have the same morals?”
What page are we on?
Today’s notebook covers the Sept. 16 formal session.
Dig into the agenda, read Detroit Documenter notes or watch the recording for more details.
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Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story misrepresented plans at Detroit Farm and Cider it was amended after talking with Owner Leandra King.
Overheard in CAYMC
Here’s a recap of intrigue raised by residents during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting and other notable items discussed by the council.
Transportation Riders United was honored for 25 years of advocacy for improving equitable public transit in the metro region. Santiago-Romero said the group’s sustained organizing yielded many accomplishments, like adding bus terminals, expanding regional connections and securing additional funding.
Transportation Riders United Executive Director Megan Owens, Campaigns Manager Joel Batterman and activist Michael Cunningham II accepted the award. An anniversary gala is scheduled for Sept. 25 to celebrate the group’s achievements.
Detroit’s Election Department responded to voter fraud claims by activists who believe they found evidence of illegal voting in the Wayne County Jail. Ramon Jackson and 180 Church Pastor Lorenzo Sewell said they found 281 people who used the jail as their address when registering to vote.
Daniel Baxter, chief of operations for the Elections Department, said that’s not illegal or even that shocking. People who are awaiting arraignment, trial or sentencing can register to vote by absentee using the jail as their address. However, Michigan law does not allow people convicted of a crime to vote while confined and serving their sentence.
A moment of silence was held for Detroit 300 President Eric Ford and Jeffrey Thomas, co-owner of Sweet Potato Sensations, who both died recently.
Duggan wants surplus fund protect budget
Mayor Mike Duggan is asking the City Council to put $42 million in surplus funding into a corporate income tax reserve fund to protect the budget from a possible disruption of funding.
Duggan explained in a Monday press conference that tax cuts in the “Big Beautiful Bill” signed into law by President Donald Trump could cause the city to lose $16 million in corporate income taxes. He’s also expecting tariffs to cause a drop in manufacturing profits, resulting in potential revenue losses for Detroit.
The city’s 2024-25 fiscal year ended in June with $60.2 million in surplus dollars. Duggan wants to put a portion of the extra money away in case it’s needed to cover a budget shortfall.
It’s the 11th year in a row that Detroit has ended its fiscal year with a surplus. The mayor said Detroit department heads have done well in keeping positions open when possible to save money.
Duggan said tariffs are beginning to cut into manufacturing profits that Detroit depends on for tax revenue. Duggan said he hopes Trump strikes a deal with Canada to resolve the tariffs but the city is “prepared for the worst case.”
Durhal, who chairs the Budget Finance and Audit Committee, voiced support for the plan. He said council members will be asked to vote on the allocation later this year.
Council begrudgingly pays for election sites
The City Council authorized a $297,653 contract with Detroit Public Schools to keep polling places in 55 academic buildings for the 2025 elections.
Council members expressed concerns about being charged for services that were once offered for free, but ultimately voted unanimously to approve the funding. Chris Maduka, chief of staff for the Department of Elections, said Detroit Public Schools started charging the city in 2022 when economic pressures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic made it more difficult to provide services free of charge.
Last year, the council unanimously supported a $201,516 contract to rent school buildings for the 2024 elections. The funding came from a U.S. Alliance for Excellence grant.
City contracting documents cite “inflation, and the increased cost of labor and maintenance” as reasons why the charge started. Maduka said changing the polling sites would displace 180,000 registered voters, and changing sites is illegal within 60 days of an election.
The contract covers the cost of overtime for security guards, custodians and building engineers. It includes payments for staff members at Cass Technical High School, Bagley Elementary and A.L. Holmes Academy for the Aug. 5 primary and upcoming Nov. 4 general election.
Young said he doesn’t like adding strain to the budget long-term, and noted that the city could charge schools for building inspections and other services. But ultimately, he said it’s important to ensure elections run smoothly.
Maduka said school buildings make up a third of Detroit’s polling sites because they are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Maduka said the Elections Department will seek alternative locations for future elections, calling the cost “exorbitant.”
“We do realize that the cost of this is becoming untenable,” Maduka said. “We want to make sure we don’t displace hundreds of thousands of voters, we also have to be mindful of our budget. We will speak to DPS regarding seeing if we can get something that mitigates the cost.”
Detroit Farm and Cider seeks permits after legal battle
Detroit’s first and only cider mill is seeking permits and licenses to operate after settling a legal dispute with the city.
A public hearing will be set to consider a rezoning request that will allow Detroit Farm and Cider to conduct retail sales, youth education programs, host farm animals and run a bed and breakfast on its farm in the Durfee neighborhood. Detroit Farm and Cider is also seeking a special land use permit. Detroit Farm and Cider owner Leandra King said the rezoning would allow the farm to obtain a business license.
The farm, billed as the only Black-owned cider mill in Michigan, was sued by the Detroit Law Department for owning livestock without a permit. King said she won a jury trial, and now the farm is working with the city to obtain necessary permits and conform with city codes. The Law Department has no issue with the rezoning, according to Planning Commission documents.
King said she’s also trying to purchase adjacent lots from the Detroit Land Bank Authority to build parking lots, but the land bank wants $75,000. King said the cider mill is no longer open, but the orchard is fully functional along with youth programs and a bed and breakfast.
“So many people loved it,” King said. “It wasn’t until we started having issues with politicians that it got shut down. If you’re not a restaurant it’s really difficult to get businesses permitted.”
Jehovah Shalom Church of God Inc. is petitioning for a separate zoning amendment on the same block to allow for a childcare center and school, a retail bookstore, coffee shop, an office for counseling services, a gallery and rental hall.
The City Planning Commission recommended approval of the rezoning requests. A letter of support was also written by Rev. Faith Fowler, executive director of Cass Community Services. Fowler said King has been “an educational treasure” for the neighborhood and provides fresh produce to CCSS.
The City Council will also consider an overhaul of zoning regulations that would affect the locations allowed for lofts, residential-commercial development, body art facilities, brewpubs, microbreweries, small distilleries, and small wineries and miniature golf courses.
Council asks for audit of Detroit Land Bank Authority
The City Council is asking state partners to investigate the Detroit Land Bank Authority.
Waters led a resolution requesting a forensic audit of the DLBA by the Michigan Auditor General. It was approved 7-0, while Benson and Whitfield-Calloway were away from their seats during the vote. The resolution doesn’t force the Auditor General to act.
Benson asked Waters to instead direct her request to the city’s Auditor General. Waters said she felt more comfortable with a state investigation because the land bank was created under state law and city officials have limited authority.
The resolution states, “numerous and recurring constituent complaints have been brought before the Detroit City Council regarding the operations of the DLBA, including issues of transparency, property management, and equitable disposition of parcels.”
Waters said she also asked Attorney General Dana Nessel for a legal opinion on the Nuisance Abatement Program, which the DLBA uses to sue owners of vacant and blighted properties.
“I don’t believe we should be granting the land bank authority to take private property,” Waters said. “We have a lot of issues with this land bank. Anywhere that I go, people (say they) have been hurt one way or another by this land bank. I’m not getting the results we’ve been looking for here and I don’t want us to incur the cost of such an audit.”
The land bank continues to operate under an agreement with the city that expired at the end of 2023. It manages an inventory of 58,443 vacant parcels and 3,790 buildings, it reported in July.
Waters has proposed several changes to a new version of the agreement being drafted by the City Council. Some of the items include giving residents who lost homes to foreclosure the first right to purchase land bank property, requiring DLBA board members to live in the city and several measures to improve transparency and proper notice of Detroiters living in land bank homes.
Tate is seeking to adjust the duration of the agreement from three years to just one year, allowing the incoming City Council and new mayoral administration to have input soon after taking office in 2026.