$828K allocated to beautify downtown Detroit parking lots

Detroit Documenters attended and reported on 16 meetings over the first two weeks of 2024. Whether politics or development, transportation or utilities, education, health or policing — we covered it all!

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Detroit Documenters attend public meetings and take notes on what politicians say, when they said it and who they said it to. We share Documenters notes, live tweets, transcripts, recordings, meeting agendas, presentation packets and other documents with the public for free by publishing them to detroit.documenters.org. This gives everyone access to a record of what Detroiters say they need and want as well as how people in power respond to those they are expected to serve.

See our answers to frequently asked questions regarding how we make editorial decisions about democracy coverage in Detroit.

Check out what we discovered below, with a deeper look at community input for Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) on service and safety, upgrades coming to downtown parking lots and personnel changes at the Board of Police Commissioners (BOPC).

Transportation

Community members offered familiar input to DDOT at its most recent meeting, with complaints about a lack of timeliness, cleanliness and safety on buses. Director of Operations Melvin Barkley said DDOT set up a committee to look at on-time performance and to monitor operators.

“We want to be able to do a more targeted effort at looking at the on-time performance of routes,” Barkley said. The department will also look at “individual drivers to see if part of it is behavioral or if there’s some other issues at work.”

DDOT also rolled out some January service changes, including the bus rapid transit pilot, which comes with additional bus stop amenities and increased frequency on several routes. The service changes began Jan. 22.

There was also a lot of discussion about safety. Renard Monczunski from the Detroit People’s Platform Transit Justice Team requested a summit on safety and security to have “a more nuanced conversation beyond policing.” DDOT Chief Safety Officer Corrie Holmes said the department is working on a code of conduct for passengers.

The final draft plan for DDOT Reimagined will be available to the public on Feb. 1, with a public hearing on Feb. 15 and public comment open until March 17.

Transit advocate Syri Simpson said she wished the department would stop “reimagining” DDOT and address some of the issues advocates have been voicing for the past 20 years. She said the department should fire the DDOT Reimagined consulting team.

1/18/24 Detroit Department of Transportation, Virtual Community Input Meeting
Documented by Pamela Taylor

1/9/2024 Regional Transit Authority of Southeast Michigan, Detroit to Airport Express Service Public Hearing: The authority is preparing to launch daily bus service between Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and downtown Detroit this spring. One-way tickets would cost up to $15, with up to 16 round trips available each day.

Documented by Ashley Williams and Colleen Cirocco

Policing

The BOPC fired Melanie White and Lawrence Akbar from their staff positions last week. White and Akbar previously spent years serving as acting board secretary and acting chief investigator, respectively. Both stepped down from those positions in 2022 at the insistence of city lawyers. The city charter prohibits current city employees from taking the top leadership positions at the BOPC. White then returned to her previous position as executive manager of policy and Akbar resumed his role as supervising investigator.

Last March, both White and Akbar were suspended from their positions amid multiple investigations, but remained on the payroll until Thursday’s vote.

Victoria Shah, who had replaced Melanie White as board secretary — the highest staff position for the BOPC — resigned last week, leaving a leadership vacuum. This board organizational chart dated Jan. 5 shows 11 open investigator positions and openings for an analyst and legal assistant. It has not been updated since the departures of Shah, White and Akbar.

Administrative Assistant Robert Brown will be the acting board secretary until the position is filled. Brown previously acted as board secretary during the time between White’s removal and Shah’s appointment.

1/18/2024 Detroit Board of Police Commissioners
Documented by Meghan Rutigliano and Tamia Davis

1/11/2024 Detroit Board of Police Commissioners, Evening Community Meeting: Board Secretary Victoria Shah resigned, and a search firm was enlisted to find her replacement; a new photo array and lineup policy was approved.

Documented by Amelia Benavides-Colón and Christiana Beckley

Development

1/10/2024 Detroit Downtown Development Authority (DDA), Board of Directors: The board approved a more than $828,000 beautification plan for the parking lots in the Lower Woodward Avenue area. The DDA is urging lot owners to pave and landscape the lots in time for the NFL Draft. It promises to pay 100% of the cost of improvements if owners agree to a full improvement package or up to 75% each if they don’t.

Documented by Kristin Fehrman and Perry Sylvester

Parking lots included in beautification plan. Locations retrieved from Detroit Documenter Perry Sylvester’s capture from the meeting presentation, which includes costs. Credit: Outlier Media

1/9/2024 Detroit Planning and Development Department, Hotel Water Square CBO Meeting #1: Detroit-based developer Sterling Group introduced the Hotel Water Square project, complementing upscale apartments already located near the convention center downtown. (Two Neighborhood Advisory Committee members were then elected at the Jan. 16 meeting.)

Documented by Anna Harris and Chandler Vaughan

1/10/2024 Buildings, Safety Engineering, and Environmental Department, Special Land Use Hearings: A plan to preserve and develop the historic William E. Higginbotham School into 100 affordable housing units awaits a recommendation from the Planning and Development Department.

Documented by Bridget Scallen and Maria Fortner

1/18/2024 Detroit Planning and Development Department, Greater Warren/Conner Community Meeting: The department hosted the third community engagement meeting for the Neighborhood Framework Plan and will release a final proposal for community feedback in April 2024.

Documented by Amber Umscheid and Gina McPherson

1/18/2024 Detroit City Planning Commission (CPC), Regular Meeting: Commissioners reviewed a proposed market-rate townhouse development in Corktown. The CPC has many questions for the Mayor’s Office about the City of Detroit solar farms initiative. Director Marcell Todd provided updates on redistricting: A sixth map will be presented at a 10 a.m. public hearing at the Jan. 23 City Council Formal Session.

Documented by Marianna Alva-Wies and Roshaun Harris

Politics

1/16/2024 Detroit City Council, Formal Session: The council rejected paying for downtown murals painted without a council-approved contract. Discussion began on imposing an entertainment tax; changes to state law would be needed first.

Documented by Colleen Cirocco and Damien Benson

1/9/2024 Detroit City Council, Formal Session: The CPC returned to the drawing board after residents complain they don’t want their districts changed. Director Marcell Todd said the commission will introduce a new redistricting map next week with boundaries changed as little as legally possible.

Documented by Afua Osei-Bonsu and Kayleigh Lickliter

1/18/2024 Highland Park City Council: Council President Jamal Thomas urged his colleagues to learn from how Detroit is driving growth.

Documented by Bridget Scallen

1/18/2024 Wayne County Commission, Full Commission: Commissioners approved the purchase and deployment of 100 additional vending machines to supply free Narcan in areas with high rates of opioid overdoses.

Documented by Heather Alder and Sonja Stuckey

Utilities

1/10/2024 Great Lakes Water Authority, Operations and Resources Committee: Committee members were confused about a “redundancy” contract of $18 million for work already covered in a $26 million contract awarded in 2022 to a different supplier. The committee approved the contract anyway and sent it to the Board of Directors for approval.

Documented by Robert Dewar

Education

1/12/2024 Detroit Public Schools Community District, Finance Committee Meeting: Superintendent Nikolai Vitti described the long process through which Detroiters will finally learn how the $94.4 million settlement from the “right to read” literacy lawsuit will be spent.

Documented by Perry Sylvester and Rukiya Colvin

Health

1/18/2024 Schoolcraft Improvement Association, Special Community Meeting: Residents continue their legal fight against a concrete crushing operation.

Documented by Carole Hawke, Chandler Vaughan and Eric McCormick

Written by Outlier’s Lynelle Herndon and Noah Kincade with Documenters Amber Umscheid, Amelia Benavides-Colón, Bridget Scallen, Carole Hawke, Heather Alder, Meghan Rutigliano, Perry Sylvester and Roshaun Harris.