District 4 Community Advisory Council
Detroit City Council4401 Conner St Detroit 48215 (Directions)
Eastside Community Network
Check the source website for additional information
Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Detroit - MI Documenters Team
District 4 CAC members raised concerns about a City Clerk's Office error that confused potential candidates about election filing deadlines. Residents also discussed the city's Solar Neighborhoods Initiative, and the use of eminent domain to seize properties.
Hello Detroit🌷
I’ll be providing live coverage of the District 4 Community Advisory Council at 6:30 pm tonight for @detdocumenters.bsky.social
Stay tuned 📻
03:34 PM May 12, 2025 CDT
Hm…thought this meeting started at 6:30, but it says “Scheduled: 7:00 PM” on Zoom🧐
Dennis Bryant is screen sharing the agenda, but it’s not clear where it may be publicly available. Meeting is being called to order at 6:46pm.
Roll call was difficult to understand, but there’s a quorum. Dennis Bryant, Scotty Boman, and Adrian Green are among those on Zoom.
Wishing I had been able to join this meeting in person! It’s been hard to follow on Zoom so far. Sounds like agenda was printed for in-person attendees.
Boman has added an agenda item under new business to discuss Election Commission limiting ballot access to CAC candidates.
Agenda approved.
Minutes for last month’s meeting have not been recorded yet. Apparently, secretary was not able to hear on Zoom during last meeting and transcript was unavailable until today.
Minutes for April meeting has been tabled until June meeting.
I believe we are moving to public comment now. Audio on Zoom is echoing, so it’s hard to hear. Apparently, someone from Latisha Johnson’s office is present at tonight’s meeting. Joanna Underwood from Mary Waters office just spoke about her concerns with landownership. Hard to hear the rest.
Time for community leaders’ updates.
Really hard to hear speakers who are not close to host’s laptop mic.
This link was shared in chat:
Unidentified speaker is saying that this week is Police Week and urging people to thank officers. D4 has 5th precinct and 9th precinct.
Unidentified speaker said the city has commissioned a study between I-94 and Outer drive to Woodward to reinvest in the community. Not clear what exactly the study is on.
So I think those previous comments were by community leaders updating CAC on current projects and initiatives.
Ok now we are officially starting public comment period. Chairperson of CAC says anyone making public comment tonight should also put it in writing because it’s easy for verbal comments to get lost.
Public commenter raised concerns about Solar Park Project. She wants to ensure there is community input on the project—not just city council or administration reps.
Another public commenter discussing Solar Park Project. Concerns about land taken up by solar panels and apartments. She says solar panels should be placed on roofs.
Public commenter mentions DTE rate hikes, saying half of FL is underwater and it’s too hot in AZ, so people will soon flock to places like MI. Concern that DTE will have too much power and control.
Host has low network bandwidth and you can tell! Apparently, it was difficult for people on Zoom at the last meeting too.
Unidentified speaker says that communities selected as candidates for Solar Panel Project due to vacant land, but who voiced opposition were taken out of consideration. However, communities where only a couple people were able to speak out were not considered in opposition.
Some kind of disagreement about land boundaries between CAC member and community member. CAC member is proponent for renewable every and sustainability. Says Sandra Turner Handy showed up to remove incinerator that was killing people in the community. Need to look into this to see what she means.
This discussion about the benefits of the Solar Panel Project has gone overboard. Green put this in the chat:
Chairperson tried to adjourn meeting, but Boman said he wants to fact check misinformation about eminent domain. He reads offer from city to buy property from owners for Solar Panel Project. Letter says if owner does not sell, city will be forced to utilize eminent domain to take the land.
Boman read this letter aloud. People are requesting copies of letter to be shared publicly.
Although meeting is scheduled until 8, chairperson says they are being asked to leave the building.
Boman is co-host and has shared letter on his screen. Here are the photos I snagged quickly!
Meeting adjourned at 7:57pm. Last few agenda items were not discussed.
This concludes my live coverage of the District 4 Community Advisory Council meeting. For more information check out the link below⬇️
If you believe anything in this live coverage is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@outliermedia.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
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Agency Information
Detroit City Council
The Detroit City Council is the legislative body of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The Council is responsible for the creation of local laws—called ordinances. Additionally they pass resolutions, motions, and the proposed city budget. The full-time council is required to meet every business day for at least 10 months of the year, with at least eight of these meetings occurring at a location besides city hall. The council may convene for special meetings at the call of the mayor or at least four members of council. Areas of responsibility for the Budget, Finance and Audit Committee include, Budget, Finance and the Auditor General.
City Council members are elected on the same cycle as the Mayor and will be elected in 2021. Seven members represent the seven council districts, while two members are elected at-large.