All Districts Meeting
Department of Neighborhoods
Politics
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Reporting
Edited and summarized by the Detroit - MI Documenters Team
Note-taking by
chandler vaughan
The meeting showcased FY25 budgets for several departments. Representatives presented preliminary budgets from the Public Lighting Department and Public Lighting Authority, as well as the Fire, Health and Police Departments.
Live reporting by
Amanda Absher
The meeting showcased FY25 budgets for several departments. Representatives presented preliminary budgets from the Public Lighting Department and Public Lighting Authority, as well as the Fire, Health and Police Departments.
Amanda Absher
@TheAmandaAbsher
Hi! I’ll be live-tweeting today's Detroit Department of Neighborhoods All Districts Meeting for #DETdocumenters @DetDocumenters media partners: @BridgeDet313 @chalkbeatDET @freep @metrotimes @Michigan_Public @media_outlier @PlanetDetroit @wdet @wxyzdetroit
03:20 PM Sep 30, 2024 CDT
The meeting begins at 5 pm. On today's agenda - Annual Public Budget Meeting Part 2: City Service Department. Find streaming information and follow along here: detroitmi.gov/events/all-dis…
detroitmi.gov/events/all-dis…
No agenda has been posted. In the Zoom, folks are chatting about who will present and getting a slideshow set up.
Kim Dandy (District 2) introduces Donnie Johnson (Office of Budget) for the Annual Public Budget Meeting. Johnson introduces the other speakers for the department presentations.
Johnson gives background about how the budget is built. The budget process for FY 26 is just kicking off. He gives a brief summary of each step of the process.
Johnson explains that Detroit has diverse revenue sources. This is a good thing and indicates healthy sources of income. He highlights the Retiree Protection Fund.
Note that this meeting will be recorded if you wish to view later.
Johnson says some parts of the budget cannot be influenced, but some can. He says they seek public input for priorities for the budget.
To take part in the budget, you can email, attend a budget meeting, attend your district priority forum, or look for more information at detroitmi.gov/budget
detroitmi.gov/budget
This slide indicates the dates for the District Priorities Forums. You can join by Zoom or call in.
Moving on to the departmental presentations. First, the Public Lighting Department, presented by Dan Woitulewicz.
Woitulewicz says PLD has three main functions - Administration/Overhead, PLD Reserve, and Streetlights.
Woitulewicz provides the FY 25 Budget, and the measure of success in their department.
Next is the Public Lighting Authority (PLA), presented by Mark Hall joined by Thomas Herrod.
Hall talks about the current initiatives, including replacing poles at the end of their life, replacing first generation luminaires, gap lighting, and decorative pole replacement.
Hall highlights the improvements in spacing, lighting, consistency in these images on 7 mile.
Hall provides the metrics of how PLA measures success. He says they hope to see a reduction in pole knockdowns with the bond project.
Hillman describes some of the services DFD provides. At this time, there are 107 participants on Zoom.
Hillman says most of the staff (about 1200) are EMS and fire suppression.
Hillman describes initiatives at DFD, including CPR training, opioid response, a nurse hotline, and increased medical response.
Hillman says EMS response time is the shortest in the department's history, and fire response time is "well below" the national average.
Hillman provides department contact info and a link for CPR training.
Next is Christina Floyd, Deputy Director of Detroit Health Department, to speak on her department's budget.
Floyd describes previous initiatives, such as Narcan distribution, and how they are spreading awareness of the department using strategic communications.
Floyd says there was an increased community impact across the board.
Floyd highlights the wide range of services provided by the department, including crime prevention, lead prevention, and WIC.
Floyd says they have many initiatives, but highlights three related to maternal child health expansion, access to (addiction) recovery services and education, and launch of Samaritan satellite service center.
Floyd says these initiatives were directly influenced by community voices.
Next is Commander Michael Parish from Detroit Police Department. He says DPD is the largest department in the City of Detroit, with apx 3,000 officers.
"As our department is very large, we also have a very large budget"
Department initiatives focus on improvements to DPD facilities.
Parish says crime reduction efforts have been "overwhel mingly successful."
Ruth Johnson asks what data is available that past investments have paid off. Johnson responds by saying they are "outcome coding" - where the budget office works with another department to look at qualitative and quantitative outcomes.
The next commenter says that they expect more than 54% of homicide cases to be closed with a $441 million budget. She also says she does not feel like they are always getting transparency and accountability from DPD, referencing Sherman Butler's case.
Parish responds saying Chief White created a Family Unit to give family members the information they need. He also says White took a step towards transparency by releasing video within 45 days in all officer-involved shootings.
Parish highlights that in the shooting mentioned, the bailiff was not a DPD employee, he was contracted with the court. Parish says that DPD is exceeding the national average in homicide closure rate.
Next commenter, Renard Monczunski, asks about the relationship between DDOT fares and spending. He also asks how cannabis revenue are being used. Johnson says transportation fares funds the operations of DDOT (among other sources).
Johnson says that parts of marijuana revenue are diverted to social equity programs and funding grants for funding marijuana ventures. He says the rest generally goes to the general fund.
The next commenter asks about the tree trimming budget allocation ($500k), and if it is just for tree trimming and not tree removal. Hall says those funds are used to raise tree canopies that obstruct lighting or wires.
Johnson says that Floyd let him know that youth substance use funding comes from marijuana funding, in response to the earlier question.
The next question is for PLA. She asks if the poles that are taken down are going to be used anywhere else. She says poles are needed to light alleys. Dan Woitulewicz from PLA says that poles can never be reused for safety reasons once they come down.
The next commenter thanks DPD for coming to their block club meeting and handing out gun locks. She asks if they can invite DFD to a meeting to hand out smoke detectors, radon detectors, teach CPR. Hillman says "absolutely."
The next comment is for Commander Parish. They ask if his department knows anyone in Lansing connected with auto insurance. They say the insurance rates say Detroit is dangerous, but DPD stats say otherwise. Parish says DPD does not regularly testify in Lansing, but others do.
The next commenter says there is not enough legal representation for the community, and some of the DPD funding should be used for that.
The next commenter compliments the Improve Detroit app, but asks about an inquiry she submitted for an area with no streetlights where people tend to loiter. Kim Tandy asks her to follow up with her and they will check to see if the area meets lighting standards.
Another commenter asks if the lighting department generates any power. He also asks if the public health department will be involved in more things like they used to be, and how the infant mortality rate is doing.
Deputy Director Floyd notes that services like birth records and inpatient mental health used to be available. She says they're looking to increase services. She says they saw increases during and after COVID in infant mortality, and they are making efforts to bring it down.
Tandy reviews the contact information for district managers before concluding the meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 6:33 p.m. This concludes the Detroit Department of Neighborhoods All Districts Meeting meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for October 7, 2024 For more meeting coverage, check out . documenters.org
documenters.org
Agency Information
Department of Neighborhoods
The Department of Neighborhoods (DON) provides a direct link between the City of Detroit and block clubs, community groups, business owners, faith and school leaders, and everyday residents. The 14-member team includes a district manager and deputy district manager in each City Council district. Their top responsibility is fighting blight and rebuilding and strengthening the fabric of the neighborhoods. The managers directly engage thousands of residents and volunteers in both major initiatives like Motor City Makeover, Halloween in the D and tax foreclosure prevention and smaller efforts, such as vacant lot clean-ups and house board-ups. However their work goes far beyond that. District managers help residents form block clubs and community associations; drive community engagement on neighborhood planning projects and other initiatives; resolve citizens’ complaints; and educate residents on a broad range of City programs and policies.