Tenants' Rights Commission (First Meeting) — IN-PERSON ONLY
Tenants' Rights Commission
Housing
Thursday, April 17, 2025
4:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m. EDT
8431 Rosa Parks Blvd Detroit, MI 48206 (Directions)
Joseph Walker Williams Recreation Center
First-ever meeting of the Detroit Tenants’ Rights Commission.
There was no official meeting notice posted online, and the commission does not have a webpage yet. A meeting flier was emailed, however, and can be viewed at the source website below.
Check the source website for additional information
Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Detroit - MI Documenters Team
Live reporting by
Amy Senese
In the first meeting of the Tenants Rights Commission, members introduced themselves. Public commenters shared concerns regarding rental housing, including problems with landlords and repairs. City Councilmember Mary Waters provided updates on the city’s rental ordinance.
This meeting will be held in person at the Joseph Walker Williams Recreation Center, located at 8431 Rosa Parks Blvd in Detroit. It will feature community updates, an open mic session, and networking opportunities.
The Tenants' Rights Commission will be a nine-member body tasked with developing policy recommendations to reduce evictions, enforce landlord compliance, and help city departments educate tenants and landlords on issues related to residential rentals. bridgedetroit.com/next-steps-for…
bridgedetroit.com/next-steps-for…
Here's more reporting on the unanimous vote to create the tenants rights commission from @NushratR via @bridgedet313 bridgedetroit.com/detroit-city-c…
bridgedetroit.com/detroit-city-c…
After the vote, the Detroit People's Platform raised two concerns about the commission. One, that it is not written to ensure that a majority of those on the commission are tenants in Detroit, and there is no call for representation by low-income tenants. detroitpeoplesplatform.org/housing-justic…
detroitpeoplesplatform.org/housing-justic…
That's all for now, I'll be back live reporting at 4pm from the Joseph Walker Williams Recreation Center. In the meantime, catch up on the latest from @media_outlier outliermedia.org/newsletter/wha…
outliermedia.org/newsletter/wha…
The voting members appointed to the Tenants’ Rights Commission: Council Appointments: Doneisia Davis, Sherri Smith , Tenesa Sanders , Jamie Junior Mayoral Appointments: Rogelio Landin, Steven Hawring, Chad Fleno Joint Appointment: Josephina Ramon
One of Mayor Duggan's appointments, Rogelio Landin, is running for Mayor of Detroit detroitnews.com/story/news/loc…
detroitnews.com/story/news/loc…
Here's more reporting on the Tenants Rights Commission taking shape from @PolarBarrett's City Council Notebook from November last year. This link is the latest notebook. Click on the subscribe link at the top left to stay updated! mailchi.mp/bridgedetroit.…
mailchi.mp/bridgedetroit.…
@PolarBarrett I’m here at the Tenants Rights Commission meeting, we are waiting for the meeting to begin. Here is the agenda:
@PolarBarrett We are waiting for one commissioner and Council person Mary Waters to arrive, here’s the scene at the Joseph Walker Williams recreation center
Approximately 30-40 people are in attendance, and members of the media are also present.
Mary Waters gave a brief welcome, speaking about how children, seniors, and tenants more broadly deserve to live in safe conditions, bringing up the tragic death of Camaya Davis, who died after falling through the floor to the basement. fox2detroit.com/news/baby-girl…
fox2detroit.com/news/baby-girl…
Joanna Underwood, a long-time housing advocate and member of Mary Waters' staff, is speaking about the 2 year fight to get the Commission established through the City Council vote.
The commissioners are now introducing themselves. Chad Fleno works in the mayor's office. Sherri Smith, single mother of 2, is a legacy Detroit and works with many community orgs such as Community Movement Builders and Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network (DBCFSN).
Mary Cox, retired school teacher (40 years), secretary of the Jefferson Apartments tenants council. Tenesa Sanders works with tenants at Detroit Action and has experienced homelessness herself. Detroit Action Commonwealth got started organizing from soup kitchens and shelters.
Josephina Ramon is the joint student appointee, appointed by the City Council and Mayor Duggan. Jamie Junior is a disability justice advocate and activist who works with Detroit People's Platform and Detroit Disability Power. Junior is an ADA coordinator, a lifelong Detroiter.
Doneisia Davis spoke first, but I missed what she said about her background. Notably, mayoral appointees Stephen Hawring and Rogelio Landin are absent. They have decided to use Robert's Rules for meeting procedures. They will rotate meetings at various rec centers.
Mary Cox will serve as the temporary secretary, and they have appointed a temporary Chair and Vice Chair. Mary Waters is standing in front of the table of commissioners, facilitating. There is a discussion of their budget, the need to hire attorneys, etc.
The budget will total 500,000, with a recurring allocation. They operate under a charter similar to the Board of Police Commissioners. The budget currently comes from the Buildings and Safety Budget, under Director Bell.
Julie Schneider at HRD will help with yearly reports. Joanna Underwood is recommending that the commission look at the tenant's rights commission in Ann Arbor as an example.
They moved through the agenda quickly and will now begin the resident open mic.
1. A resident from 48226 who organizes with fellow tenants. Upset that Bedrock damaged their library meeting space, assuming she's talking about the downtown library behind the Hudson's development.
2. Speaking about abandoned and/or vacant homes that are being destroyed. Talking about a senior homeowner who can't come home because of squatters. Concerned about her neighborhood. Has concerns with renters.
3. from Eastside district 4. Concerned about people who have taken care of abandoned homes. They should have the opportunity to own these homes and become tax payers, speaking to adverse possession.
4. Senior tenant: water leaks, never cleaned carpets. The management won't talk to tenants. Tenants are afraid to confront them for fear of retaliation.
5. Valerie Austin: Commission needs a good website. A lot of city website links are not helpful. Wants to see a focus on apartment buildings that change management companies, and then try to put out all the low-income tenants.
6. Steven Rimmer, Detroit Tenant's (DTA). Wants the commission to take things seriously, people's lives are at stake. Wants the commisison to advocate for the Right to Renew. Tenesa Sanders is asking if he would be happy with adding 'Right to Renew' to a Tenant's Bill of Rights.
Steven Rimmer says that the Right to Renew is urgent and he wants to see what they can do to support it.
7. Steven from the Detroit Heimlich Apartments (not sure if that is the right building) is not feeling very festive about the first Tenants Rights Commission meeting because of the retaliation and pressure he and his neighbors are experiencing.
8. Meeko Williams wanted to speak about a couple of mayoral appointees, Steven Hawring and Rogelio Landin. It sounds like at least Hawring has been removed from the commission.
Williams would like to see the meetings broadcast broadly. He would also like to see them investigate out-of-state landlords. He recently searched for housing and had considerable difficulty finding a place.
9. Mimi, works at Central Christian Detroit CDC and is a housing counselor. Q: How far in advance does a landlord need to give a tenant if they make a change in the lease? Saying that there are both terrible landlords and terrible tenants.
Mimi continued by saying there are a lot of investors waiting to buy properties from landlords that are struggling with repairs. Tenesa Sanders is consistently saying, we need to get your contact info and hear the stories of tenants.
11. Rebecca, Detroiter & tenant. Has a difficult landlord who would not renew the lease & has them on a month-to-month lease. Their rent has increased, and she had to buy a new hot water heater. She would like to stay where she lives, but they are moving to evict.
12. Has had issues with her landlord. The landlord entered her place during her father's funeral. She missed some of the funeral because the police were dispatched. She kept calling the housing office and got no response. They are trying to evict her.
13. Unhappy with Duggan's Proposal N, Demolition bond. He thinks that many of those houses could have been saved and rehabbed. Believes that the Rental Ordinance has done damage. Thinks the new class of landlords is pushing out mom-and-pop landlords.
14. A bus driver who has lived in her home since 2017. In 2022, she fought for her house when the property manager wanted to throw her out. The real owner of her house is in Dubai. The mortgages and rent are out of control in Detroit.
connecting this thread https://x.com/amysenese/status/1912979043256803639
15. Patrice and her daughter moved three times last year, they are getting ready to move again. One of the moves was into a new building and she spoke at the ribbon cutting, then began to have issues in the building with plumbing, her dryer was not venting to the outside...
...she began to have issues with mold. It sounds like Southwest Solutions was the management company and made sure inspections were passed. They began to have breathing issues. She was about to move 2 weeks ago, it sounds like she's experiencing retaliation from past landlords.
Tenesa Sanders is the only person responding to all the comments, continuing to encourage speakers to connect with them so they can sit down and talk more extensively.
Mary Waters is talking about the new rental ordinance, they just approved the budget this week for new inspectors.
Sherri Smith, who is the temporary chair, is wrapping up the meeting and encouraging everyone to stay connected. Waters said they will work on the new website. Adjourned at 5:57 PM.
Here’s the commissioners posing for photos with Mary Waters and Joanna Underwood. This concludes my coverage of the first meeting of the tenants rights commission.
If anything in this coverage is incorrect, email documenters@outliermedia.org with 'Correction Request' in subject line.
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