Call to order a regular meeting as City Council Tuesday,
March 12th, 2024 at 7:00 PM Please stand
for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge
All pledge allegiance.
Flag to the flag of the United States of America
and to the republic for widget stands, one Nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Roll call Madam Secretary,
President Roy.
Here.
Councilman Dwyer?
Here. Councilwoman McGee. Here. Councilman Boeke.
Present. Councilman Lafferty? Here. Councilman Nunan. Here.
Moore is President. We have a quorum. Madam Chair.
Thank you. Next item.
Next item is for adoption of the consent agenda. So moved.
Support Lafferty with discussion.
Discussion. Councilman Lafferty.
Thank you. I'd like to remove items four C as in Charlie
and four J as in Juliet.
Any further discussion?
Uh, makers of the motion Comfortable with moving both items?
Yes. Okay. Ms. Moore?
Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes.
Mr. Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee?
Yes. Rogan sees a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is for adoption of the agenda.
So moved with discussion
Support Lafferty.
Uh, discussion Ms. Moore? Yes.
Uh, 10 A is being removed.
What was item? Um,
four C on the consent agenda is
now 14 F.
What was four J on?
The consent is now
14 G.
Any further discussion? Hearing none?
I'll call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes.
Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr. Newan? Yes.
Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan sees a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Uh, next item is six six. A calendar of pending matters.
Motion to receive and file with discussion
Support Lafferty Uh,
discussion Council Member Moore. Thank
You very much. Um,
just as a reminder, on 1212,
this council requested the clerk to update Muni code, um,
uh, and that's not been done.
Uh, on 1219, the council requested the civil service,
um, um, rules and regulations, rules and procedures,
and the backup information to, and meeting notice
and agenda from February, 2022.
We also asked in there for who made the decision
to violate the Open Meetings Act.
Who authorized an attorney to appear there
for the Civil Service Commission on the 19th of January?
Um, uh, well, we can skip that one.
'cause I think that's taken care of.
I think the, uh, mitten is,
the shelter is closed at this point.
And on the 23rd of January, there was a request
for all agreements with Qsn Technologies,
and that request also has not been fulfilled.
Um, do, does anyone know if, um, mitten is closed
for good or for the season?
We can probably take that off if
Most, most likely.
I, it's all the confirmation I've received as well.
Okay. Yeah. We'll, by next meeting we'll take that off Ms.
Camp since it's not relevant anymore.
Any further discussion? All in favor,
Aye. Aye.
Any opposed? Motion carries. Next item. Next
Item is seven a approval of the minutes
of the regular meeting of February 27th, 2024. So moved.
Support Dwyer, uh, support. Nunan. Uh, any discussion?
Hearing none. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Nunan? Yes.
Uh, Ms. McGee? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer?
Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Madam Secretary?
Yes. Rogan sees a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is eight.
A approval of the bills
of the General Revenue Funds. So moved.
Support Dwyer. Any discussion? Hearing none.
I will call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes.
Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr. Noonan? Yes.
Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan sees a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Uh, yes. Eight B.
Approval of the bills of the water
and sewer system. So moved.
Support Lafferty. Any discussion? Hearing none.
I will call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes.
Mr. Dwight? Um, Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes.
Mr. Noonan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan C is a yes.
Motion carries. Next item.
Madam Chair, I have to make a correction.
Um, I have to add a resolution.
I thought this was covered under 14 B
and it's not Mr. Knapp.
Okay. So we will add this as
if I can amend the agenda,
Uh, without Objection.
Yeah, a motion. Do we need a new motion?
Yes. New motion. Motion.
I'll move to amend the agenda.
Thank you. Anyone? Support, support. Support. Support.
Nonan. Uh, what, um, Ms. Moore? Yes.
Melody Supported support. Said support
Me. Oh, sorry. Ms. McGee.
Thank you. Maybe you
Did too.
Uh, MS. Camp, can we make this? 14 B one? Mm-Hmm.
Let's do that since they kind of go together.
So this, um, resolution will be 14 B
one, which is city request
for congressionally directed spending allocations.
Okay. Sorry. Thank you Mr. N.
Mr. I'll call the question. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Ms. McGee?
Yes. Uh, let's see. Ms. Moore? Yes.
Uh, let's see. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr. Nunan?
Yes, indeed. Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is nine. Audience participation.
Thank you. Um, members of the audience who would like to,
uh, speak at this time can do so, uh, by
grabbing a audience form, uh,
and putting it in the box there.
Uh, this is a reminder that per our council rules
and procedures, you must write your name
and address on the audience form,
or give your name and address at the podium.
You have three minutes. Uh,
and this is for agenda items only.
We do have a new clock, so I will, uh, ask folks
to let us know if it's not working and
or if there's any, uh, challenges with it.
So, uh, first is Greg Donahoe.
And can you let me know that it's working when I head start?
Okay. Thank you.
It's working. Perfect. Thank you.
Good evening. Greg Donahoe.
My address is on the form speaking about agenda items 10 B,
13 B and, uh, 14 A regarding 10 B, I'm happy
that a, uh, sunshine Week resolution is, uh, being offered.
Uh, I would encourage counsel to, uh, take that resolution
to heart and, uh, possibly when counsel, uh,
enters contracts
or other agreements under its own authority, not ones
that come from the city that you approve, we know
where those are, but that you consider posting those either
to the same page where you post, uh, agenda items
or somewhere similar
where it's readily accessible, uh, to the public.
So the text of the resolution, uh, looks good
and certainly, uh, contains, uh, hopeful
aspirational, uh, goals that we should, uh, all be for
regarding 13 B.
Uh, there wasn't any detail on it in the, uh, packet,
but the land bank resolution, I strongly encourage counsel
to not consider a city run land bank any further.
The county has currently suspended action on this city run.
Land banks in Michigan are rare.
The ones that do exist
and are utilized, contain just a lot of problems.
It's a level of administration a city
should not have on its own.
If anything should be done,
it should be done in concert with the county.
I encourage counsel to suspend action on this any further,
uh, legal support and expense on it, uh, at a minimum
until we see what the, the county, uh, does with a, uh,
Macomb County Land Bank.
Regarding, uh, the appointments, uh, I was heartened to see
that the, uh, the community outreach, I'm not sure what
that position does, uh, now is a Warren resident.
I understand if that's the case.
It's, it's only my business to the extent that somebody in
that position should be within the community.
But I further understand
that if he now is a Warren resident,
which was in the mayor's announcement, welcome Ms.
Mayor, uh, that I'll take that at face value
and welcome him to the city.
I'm disheartened that, uh, our, uh,
building maintenance director, if I got the position wrong,
forgive me, is not a Warren resident.
I realize that we can't always get qualified people
who live within the city, but it should be a
factor of consideration.
I hope when you take that up, you consider it.
And then, uh, for all the positions,
I know the third one is, but I'm not sure the first
two are within the budget.
If they are not, I hope that's a topic
of discussion tonight.
Uh, because, uh, there needs to be consistency.
You rightfully call the last administration out when, uh,
they, that administration engendered, uh,
positions that weren't in the budget.
And to be consistent now, despite the fact
that you have a far more collegial relationship
with the current mayor, should be the case.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next is,
uh, Mr.
Papazian.
Hello, counsel. Um, excuse me. I'm coming off of a cold.
Uh, I came here tonight just
because I wanted to talk on item 14 B,
which is the grant application
for Shaw Park, the cricket fields.
Um, I know there's a couple citizens,
or a little disheartened that this was on the agenda tonight
because they're not able to make it because of Ramadan,
and I assured them that's not the reason why it was
on the agenda tonight.
Um, but anytime money is to be spent in favor of our parks
and improving our city, uh, I'm in favor of that,
and I know that you'll speak more on this tonight
and, uh, make the right decision.
Thank you.
Thank you. Next is Mr. Sutliff.
Okay. Hello. Um, I also wanted
to speak about 14 B and Shaw Park.
I'm always interested in anything having
to do with Shaw Park.
Uh, and it's good to see there are some, uh, a DA compliant,
uh, features gonna be part of that, like, uh, parking spaces
and grills, barbecue grills.
Um, but I am, and,
and I'm, I'm glad to see, you know,
more recreational activities being,
being accommodated, uh, in the city.
But I do question, excuse me.
The, uh, cricket field is, uh, said
to cost $530,000,
and that really took me back.
Uh, I think you can build a pretty good McMansion
for $530,000.
So I don't know what's so complicated about a, uh,
cricket field unless it includes bleachers
and a concession stand.
Um, so, uh,
and the other thing, excuse me, the other thing about
that is a, there's a paved, uh, parking repairs, I guess,
that's budgeted.
Uh, and I hope that, um, Mr.
Dedo speaks with, uh, Dave, Dave Elli,
who has been looking into permeable pavement as a way
to reduce, um, uh, burden on our storm water system.
So I hope that, uh, there is some conversation
that takes place between those two. Thank
You. Type of pavement
Permeable.
Mr. Nash, are you here for the public hearing? Okay.
I'm gonna hold your to the public hearing
unless you have something to add from the agenda.
Okay. I'll hold your, uh, comment for the public hearing.
Uh, next is Saeed Ahmed.
Hello, good evening.
Uh, thank you for giving me an opportunity.
I'm here to speak, basically support the construction
of a cricket field in Warren City.
And, uh, my name is Sida Ahmed,
and I've been living in Warren for about few years now,
and I have came here before for it too.
And so I'm glad to see the application is on again.
And just wanted to provide some information that, uh,
cricket World Cup 2024 will be host in USA
and, uh, New York and Dallas are hosting games for it.
So maybe in future, if there's a fielding warrant,
maybe one day we'll get to see it here too.
So I hope, uh, you all will support that, and thank you.
Have a great night.
Thank you. Next is Mr. Howard.
Uh, Michael Howard, 2 3 7 2 5 Biman
Avenue, Warren, Michigan.
Uh, you know, the consent agenda doesn't really get a lot
of props, you know, when you come to agenda items,
but I noticed one of those, uh, on there was my local park.
Um, and it just, I just wanna say the park looks beautiful.
It was one of the things that I, for I think a year
and a half advocated for improvements on the park, the,
from the parking lot to the play structure,
which I was a little nervous when I heard there was gonna be
a diet of the size of the play structure.
But it's beautiful. The size works out.
The, uh, the basketball court is great,
and I've never seen more people at
that local park than I have in the
eight years that I've been here.
Um, so any improvement, like other sets to our local parks,
whether that's, uh, to the cricket field,
I'm looking forward to say, teaching
my kids how to play cricket.
I have no clue how to do it.
So someone else is gonna have to, um,
any improvements to the park is much needed.
It's not just about recreation,
but it's about mental health.
It's about family services
and just a better quality of life.
So thank you for the continued investment of parks.
Thank you. Next is Commissioner Bernard.
Good evening counsel. I just wanna speak about
items A and B.
Uh, I'm ha I was happy to see, uh, another diverse person,
uh, that our mayors really trying to do that at diversity
and inclusion, so I was happy to see that.
And I, uh, I just wanna send out congratulations to ou,
uh, for his appointment.
And then, uh, item B, uh, I am in favor of
that cricket field, and I'm, I'm happy that, um, you know,
it's here, it's coming,
but the only thing that I, I want to just keep in mind is
that it be inclusive that other children can use
that if we're gonna spend that kind
of money on just something, I'm hoping that,
that it's not just gonna be geared towards one, uh, one, um,
group of people, you know?
So I'm hoping that there's something in there
that's gonna allow other kids to be able to learn how
to play cricket, because I've asked them, you know,
if some kids, if they knew how to play it, they don't.
But however, my daughter works, uh, with Red Cross,
and she's been riding up to Ann Arbor,
and they do have a cricket field.
And that, um, particular, uh,
sport brings a lot of money to that city.
So I, I'm looking forward to the, uh, money that, the income
that it'll bring to the city,
because knowing that now that we're going with these, uh,
um, electric cars, we're gonna lose that gas tax.
This is another way we can, you know,
bring money into the city.
So I'm happy to hear about that.
So I am in favor of that cricket field as well. Thank you.
Thank you. Uh, I just wanna say thank you
to the communications department for this lovely clock.
Uh, and the monitor, it makes, uh,
managing audience a bit easier.
So thank you to the communications department
and for everyone who, uh, test drove it today.
Uh, next item,
Next item is announcements.
10 B Sunshine, week resolution.
Motion to approve with discussion support, Lafferty
Discussion.
Um, thank you Madam Chair.
Uh, last year for Sunshine Week, this, uh,
the city council passed a good government, um, resolution.
And, um, of course, as many of you know, um,
that was published, but it's not been put on Muni code yet.
So we're hoping that happens.
Um, I'll just read this resolution.
Whereas Sunshine Week is a national initiative spearheaded
by the American Society of News editors
to educate the public about the importance
of open government and the dangers of excessive
and unnecessary secrecy.
The first nationwide Sunshine Week took place March 13th
through the 19th 2005.
And whereas Sunshine Week was established
to spark a discussion about the importance
of open government and public access to government documents
and meetings, sunshine Week was also a way to draw attention
to the media's role in advocating
for government transparency.
And whereas without the diligent work of a free press,
many citizens would not have access to accurate information
that directly impacts their daily lives.
And whereas an open
and accessible government is vital to establishing
and maintaining the people's trust
and confidence in their government
and in the government's ability
to effectively serve its citizens,
and free press is an essential part of that mission.
And whereas during Sunshine Week in 2023,
the Warren City Council adopted the
open government ordinance.
This ordinance requires the city clerk
to publish all meeting agendas, backup minutes resolutions,
and audio video recordings of city boards
and commissions on the city websites
so the public can access these documents at no cost
with little hassle, and
therefore be it resolved by the city council
that the members of this legislative body declare March 10th
through the 16th, 2024 as Sunshine Week in the city
of Warren, the City Council realizes every resident has a
right to access to government meetings and public records,
and is committed to openness
and transparency in all aspects of its operations,
and seeks to set a standard in this regard,
be it further resolved that the city council requests
that the open government ordinance
that was adopted in March, 2023
and published in the newspaper in October, 2023,
be fully in, implemented by the Clerk's Office
and the City administration,
and that a full copy
of the ordinance be published in Muni code,
the city's contracted code publication company.
Um, in the last couple of weeks, I have been, um, requested,
uh, documents and resolutions,
and of course, um, it has always been the, um, uh, policy
of the council office to give any document that's asked
for without having to fo it.
If we have it immediately available, we give
that information out as long
as it's not protected in some form or, or manner.
Um, we are having a, uh, city Pride celebration in June,
and I sure hope that the ordinance, um, dealing
with anti-discrimination is on Muni code by that time
because it contains provisions of
nons nondiscrimination against L-G-B-T-Q community.
And it sure would be nice that we at least have
that published by June.
Um, the, um, all official resolutions,
while I can give a resolution from the City council office,
it only has my signature,
and it's only official when it has the clerk's signature.
And once the clerk signs that,
that should be on the city website.
So anybody that needs access to a resolution passed
by this council should have it ready, readily available.
Not just the public, not just the press,
but also internally for other departments in the city
that need it for lawsuits or contract negotiations
or whatever they need them for.
That information should be there.
And we don't, we have boards
and commissions that aren't correct.
They are not properly on the website. Dates are wrong.
This council, there are people that have been appointed
that's never come to this council.
And so the information's not reliable on the website
that needs to get right,
because you have to be able to depend on the information
that we're putting out to the public.
And, um, I'm hoping that in honor of Sunshine Week,
we all work together to make those things happen.
Thank you.
Any further discussion? Mad President, uh,
Council member Lafferty.
Thank you. Couple of weeks ago,
I enjoyed a special event at the Ukrainian Cultural Center.
It was the sweetheart dance.
And for many years I've enjoyed the, uh, the father daughter
or the daddy daughter dance, and with, uh, not one,
but both of my daughters.
And it was, I've always heard the, you know, the commons.
Well, what about moms and sons?
What about, you know, uncles and aunts
or adoptive, uh, families?
You know, where, where's our dance?
And this dance was beautiful. It was a dance for all ages.
Uh, there were several, uh, senior citizen couples there,
there were plenty of other couples there of, of all ages,
and moms and sons and dads and daughters.
It was, it was a beautiful event.
Patrick Studios, thank you again to Mr. Patrick.
He always does a fine job in taking photos of all of the,
the families and, uh, uh, capturing their joy of the moment.
And the Ukrainian Cultural Center, of course,
put on a, a beautiful event.
And, uh, Greg Troma was spinning, uh, spinning records.
I'm, I'm dating myself,
but he was, uh, he was playing those digital tunes, uh,
to the, to the kids delight.
And, but I have to give credit where credit is due.
Our parks and recreation department put on this event,
they did an outstanding job.
And I wanna recognize Mr.
Turca, who's in the audience for that event.
Uh, you
and your staff, I know Denise and, and others were there.
Uh, they put their, their heart and soul into that.
And it showed, and, uh, very enjoyable, uh,
during the, the dancing, I was, I was dancing
with my daughter Autumn,
and I had a, a moment of introspection.
And I'm looking at her, you know,
I'm looking into her beautiful eyes and just looking at her
and, and thinking about my life.
And it was, it was at that moment
during the hokey Pokey that I really turned myself around.
So, thank you again to the Parks and Rec department.
The, I, I do have some additional news,
Mr. Lafferty, really
quick.
We need a motion in support for the Sunshine Week resolution
ahead of, I need the motion,
so I'm sorry, we need to vote on it.
Of course. Uh, all in favor of the Sunshine Week resolution.
Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Motion carries back to you.
Sorry. Really turned that one around
The, I do have some good news.
The Warren Historical District Commission, uh,
did approve last night the construction permit
for Warren's Skate Park.
And so we are going to be embarking Yes, yes, absolutely.
We are going to be embarking on
a tremendous opportunity for our, our, uh,
skateboarding community and, and rollers and,
and, uh, BMX pump track.
The design is outstanding, integrated into the park,
into a, a beautiful scenic area with, uh, walking paths.
And as I understand it, all of the trees that are in
that park in this area are integrated into the design.
Not one tree will be removed.
And so very, very happy to hear that.
I'm sure others, uh, mm-Hmm.
Will be happy to hear that as well.
So we're preserving the nature of the park,
and we're building in, uh, a beautiful aesthetic amenity
for, uh, people of all ages to enjoy.
So that's, uh, more to come. Sure if Mr.
Trudo will fill us in at a later date.
I do have one more item.
The Spring Carnival will be held at the Warren Community
Center this Saturday from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
and you'll get an opportunity to have photos
with the Easter Bunny inflatables, uh, planting
with the Warren Garden Club face, painting, a petting farm,
an egg hunt, and bike helmets.
So admission is free
and everyone is welcome to attend. Thank
You, Madam President.
I'm so glad that Jonathan got the carnival.
I was going to bring it up if he hadn't.
But, um, also, uh,
tomorrow is the free Warren Senior Healthcare Seminar
in the city of Warren City Hall.
And, um, so 11:30 AM Thank you. Enjoy
Madam Chair. Thank
you. Um, I hope I'll, I took notes really,
really quickly 'cause I was on the phone with, um, the, uh,
Joe Sheer, um, from the, um, Warren, uh, fire department.
Everybody is aware of the, uh, tragic, uh, fire
and explosion that happened last week in Clinton Township.
Um, there was a call for county hazmat, um, at which time,
um, Joe Shear left his home, came to Warren,
and, um, got ready and went to the scene.
Um, also Truck four, um, went to the scene
and stood, you know, they, they had
to stay about half a mile away
because of the danger at the site.
And Joe Sheer, um, set up camp
and ran the, um, Warren Fire Department's drone
for about two and a half hours, um, following the plume
and making, um, estimates of how fast things were moving.
And, um, his, uh, help was essential in making the decision,
um, because the drone was over the neighborhoods of how
to make the decision whether they had to evacuate
or whether the people could shelter in place.
And, um, I think we should all be very, very proud
that we have that equipment.
Um, we have the people that can operate it,
and that they were there to help.
Um, they were invaluable in, um, lending Aid, um,
as many departments all over the, the county, um,
showed up to help.
And, uh, I don't know if everybody's aware,
but the county dispatch went down, it was overloaded.
Sterling Heights went down.
Warren was dispatching for other areas,
and everybody came together.
And, um, and it just, so it really, it's, it's heartwarming
to see when something like that happens.
Everybody just goes to where they need to go and lend aid
and, um, make sure the, uh, help is there
for the people that need it.
Um, you know, tragically, uh, a life was lost there.
Um, and, uh, of course the damage is, you know,
very, very extensive.
But I'm very proud,
and I hope you're all proud of our fire department.
Um, they were able to, uh, do some really, really good work,
and I commend them for that.
You're here. Any other announcements?
Madam President? Uh, council member Dwyer?
Yes, I, um, just wanted to speak briefly about the, um,
abrupt departure last Tuesday of our,
uh, police commissioner.
Um, I was just, uh, personally disappointed
and saddened to see it handled in the
manner in which it was handled.
I think he was treated unfairly and unjustly.
Um, the event took place last Tuesday, shortly
after two o'clock, where three people from the mayor's
office went up to the commissioner's office,
basically handed him a letter stating, uh,
your services are no longer needed,
you are to leave immediately.
Um, I know that the commissioner, uh,
was blindsided by that.
He had announced his retirement for April 19th,
and he then did ask the three up there from the mayor's
office if he could stay at least until Friday.
Um, he did wanna have a chance to make the roll calls
of his officers and say his goodbye.
And, um, unfortunately was never given that chance.
When he did make that request to the three
that were in his office to stay till Friday, he was told no.
I mean, they did provide him with a ride home,
which I guess was really nice,
but I think it was just, um, not the way to send him off.
He's been in, um, public safety law enforcement
for over 60 years, starting in Detroit, moving on
as police chief in Farmington Hills.
Uh, he's two stints here in Warren.
Police Commissioner, uh, four time, um,
county commissioner in Oakland, uh, two time term,
uh, M-A-C-T-P, Michigan Association, chiefs
of Police, uh, president.
And, um, he, as many of you know, is probably one
of the most, well-respected
and well-known law enforcement officials,
officials here in southeast Michigan, uh, if not the state.
So I would just, um, in concluding I would like to thank
and commender commissioner my dad for a job well done
over those many, many years of public service.
Thank you.
Any additional announcements? Yeah.
Point of order. You didn't call me for the audience, uh,
agenda participation, I put in a form.
Mr. Bell, have a seat. Your, uh, agenda is at the end.
You did not list an agenda item on the form,
and so you're at the end of audience I in everybody
Witnessed it. I
mean, you have Mr. Bell, Ms.
Camp can explain to you why I was asking
You, but We are running a meeting.
Okay. Thank you, Ms. McGee.
Yes. We have one other announcement.
Um, the 2024 NFL draft, um, is gonna be one
of the biggest events that take place in the city
of Detroit, and I'm very proud
that we're gonna participate in it.
Um, our mayor is here,
and I'm sure she's probably gonna talk about it,
but I wanted to bring it up
because I will hope in the future, whether it be 10 years
or 15 years from now, that the city
of Warren will be the city of choice
for all these large events that take place, um, in the city.
And so, us being the neighbor to the city of Detroit,
I'm glad that at least we're gonna participate with the, uh,
NFL drafter will take place.
The fun and experience will take place on March the 23rd,
um, from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM
and they will have all type of activities, uh, for families.
I look forward to seeing everybody there.
Thank you. Any other announcements?
Okay, next item.
Next item. Next item is 11 A, which is a public hearing
consideration and adoption
of a resolution approving the demolition of a house
and garage at 1 1 2 0 8 Stevens
through the Nuisance abatement program.
Motion. Anyone? Sorry, I'm opening public hearing.
I will open the public hearing. Is the petitioner here?
Anyone here to speak? Mr. Nash,
How you doing today?
Um, I live right next door.
Uh, the boarding that they put up on the house, uh,
last year, they come through, cleaned out the house, got rid
of all the drywall, everything,
and then they didn't put everything back up correctly.
There's wild animals climbing
inside out of the, uh, out of the house.
Uh, some of the boards are off,
and I can't even open up my windows
because of the smell of burnt coming.
You know, it's, it's just ridiculous.
And it's, uh, every time someone stops by like,
oh, what happened next door?
And it's been a almost a year now,
and the house has been sitting there with nothing done
to it since they cleaned it out.
Thank you. Yep. You guys have a wonderful day.
Thank you. Anyone else here
to speak on the public hearing?
Okay. I will close the public hearing
and turn it over to counsel for action.
Motion to approve. Motion to approve support.
Lafferty. Any discussion?
Okay. Hearing none, I will call the question. Ms. Moore?
Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes.
Mr. Newnan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan C is a yes.
Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 11 B, which is a public hearing consideration
and adoption of a resolution approving special assessment
Role number 5 29 relating to the demolition
of a house located at 28 21 heli,
I will open a public hearing.
Is there anyone here to speak on this item?
Okay, hearing none. I will close the public hearing
and turn it over to counsel for action. Motion
To approve support.
Uh, motion by Lafferty. Support by Bokey. Any discussion?
Hearing none. I will call the question. Mr. Lafferty? Yes.
Mr. Bokey? Yes. Uh, Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes.
Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Noonan? Yes. Rogan C is a yes.
Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 11 C, which is a public hearing request
to vacate easements.
Vacate the existing north south eight feet wide,
eight foot wide utility easement located on
the rear of, of lots.
10 65, 10 66,
and north 17 feet of lot 10 67.
And vacate the existing East west five foot wide utility
easement East 8.5 feet
of Piper's Van D**e subdivision number five,
located on the northwest corner of Van D**e Avenue
and Tofa Road 21 647 Van D**e Avenue,
section 33, Valentino ADA,
PEV 2 3 0 0 0 2.
I will open the public hearing.
Is there anyone here to speak on this item?
Can you give your name and, uh, relation to this item?
Yes. My name is Valentino Ra.
I am, uh, the, the, the,
I'm the one who's doing the project on the building.
Okay. And the reason I'm requesting the public, uh, utility
easement vacation is to legalize the approachment of the
existing, uh, the existing building
that was constructed in the early forties.
The building is currently legal
and nonconforming, so we're just trying to get that easement
of the old utilities kind of done so we can kind
of start a project over there.
What kind of project is it?
Uh, it's a, it's a, it's an old laundromat.
It's been sitting there, I don't know,
from, from the forties.
So we got it. I'm trying to make it into a shopping center,
uh, bring a couple different things into the city.
So that's what I'm working on now.
But that's one of the biggest things to kind
of finish is the easement to get it vacated.
So we can start this thing.
Thank you. Of course.
Anyone else here to speak on this item? Okay.
I will close the public hearing
and turn it over to counsel for action.
Motion to approve Support. Lafferty.
Any discussion? Hearing none. I'll call the question.
Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr.
Bokey? Yes. Uh, Mr. Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes.
Rogan sees a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 12.
A consideration and adoption
of a resolution approving contract
for healthcare savings plan, administrative
and investment service. So moved.
Support Lafferty. Any discussion?
Hearing none. I'll call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr.
Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr. Nunan?
Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan sees a yes.
Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 13 a Council secretary,
Mindy Boar discussion in Ray Food
truck ordinance. So moved.
Support Lafferty. Uh, discussion.
Madam Chair. Thank you.
Um, I have been approached by, uh, residents, you know,
walking door to door in the summer, um, expressing, um,
desire to have food, more food trucks and more.
And, um, I've spoken to a few, um, um, brokers
of food trucks and owners
of food trucks in the last couple of months.
And my request would be that we have, um, uh, Mr. Schroeder,
uh, research an ordinance, um, to allow the permitting
and licensing of food trucks in Morin.
Uh, I know the county has some oversight
because of the health and safety of food, um, distribution.
And so there's probably some coordination
between their role and ours.
But, um, we're seeing, you know, them pop, pop up
and they should probably should be licensed.
And, um, some communities even have, um, um,
I think it's Clinton Township,
somebody said like on Thursdays, um, they might have one
of the trucks come in the neighborhood and, uh, areas.
And I know I can remember if my kids were little
and the food truck was coming on
Wednesday, they'd be lined up.
So I think it, it's an interesting thing for us to look at.
Thank you. Any other discussion?
Madam President? Uh, council member Lafferty.
Thank you. Uh, great idea. Ms. Moore.
I'd like to also, uh, add onto that there are,
uh, little fleets.
That's what they're called. Uh,
I've seen one in Traverse City, uh, on my travels up there.
And it's more of a,
and I'm not sure if that's the intention of,
of this ordinance, but perhaps, you know,
it can expand to it.
Uh, the little fleet, I know Ferndale has one.
Traverse City has one. I'm sure they're,
they're in additional places where you have more
of a semi-permanent structure in the center.
It's a pavilion. Uh, there'll be a, uh, soft drinks and,
and other beverages there, maybe a brewer.
And then around that pavilion,
that gathering area are a number of food trucks.
And so, of course, in Michigan it's seasonal,
but what a great, uh, great area to, you know,
bring food trucks together in a, in a particular area.
More semi-permanent, in addition
to having a taco truck at the end of the street.
I can, that's, that's awesome.
Can Madam chair, one more
Comment. So thinking
about expanding upon that,
we've got some great areas in the city that,
that could certainly, you know, be developed
and support, uh, a fleet like that. Thank you. Thank
You. Mad,
I'm sorry, Madam Chair. While
Mr. Lafferty was speaking, we probably are gonna need
to look at also popups down the line.
Mm-Hmm. Popup businesses for, you know,
we might wanna look into that for some
of the festivals we have
or events, you know, that might be a nice thing for us
to incorporate into some of our celebrations and things.
So I don't know if, you know, we wanna look at
that at the same time or talk about
another time. Yeah. Mr. Madam
Secretary referring the popups to, um,
attorney Schroeder also.
Okay. Good.
Popups. I'm sure they're called something else in an
ordinance other than popups.
We can call them popups. Okay.
So the motion is to have Mr.
Shorter review, uh, the feasibility
of a food truck ordinance, uh, the fleet concept
and, uh, popups or temporary businesses.
Yes. Okay. Makers of the motion. Good with that? Yes.
Okay. Uh, any further discussion? Okay.
I'll call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Dwyer?
Yes. Uh, Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr.
Bokey? Yes. Mr. Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes. Ancy is a yes.
Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 14 a notice of mayoral appointments.
Alu Jabari, community Outreach Director Aisha Bahar,
administrative Coordinator.
And Jeff Reeves, building Maintenance Superintendent.
So moved. 13 B What did I,
I'm sorry, I forgot you, Jeff.
Sorry. 13 B Council attorney Jeff Schroeder.
Discussion in Ray Land Bank update.
Sorry, I was looking at the mayor.
Need a motion in support. Motion to approve. Thank you.
Mr. Lafferty and McGee is support,
uh, Mr. Shorter,
Certainly.
At the last council meeting, the council voted to explore
a land bank authority for the city of Warren, the creation
of a land bank authority.
This opportunity was created
because the county of McComb turned down a county land bank.
Had that land bank been approved by the County Board
of Commissioners by a the end of February.
Um, then this opportunity would not have been available
to the city of Warren.
Um, and
after the council voted to, uh, explore this process,
I had a conversation with the state Land bank director, um,
who interestingly started his career working
for a state representative in Warren many years ago.
Has strong connections to the city of Warren,
really believes that this would be
really good for the city of Warren.
And I wanna point out that this land bank would be different
than, for example, what you see in the city of Detroit.
We see in the city of Detroit has had a land bank for years,
there've been issues and troubles with that land bank.
Um, the city created its own land bank there under its
charter and ordinances.
What's being proposed here is an intergovernmental agreement
between the city approved by the city council
and the State Land Bank authority.
So it would be an agreement between the state land bank
and the city to create a land bank for the city of Warren.
A land bank ultimately would have as members
likely the city treasurer, um, likely a member
of the city council and three appointees
of the Chief Executive officer, who's the mayor.
Um, and that would constitute the land bank.
This is based upon the initial draft of a land bank, um,
intergovernmental agreement, uh, that is being proposed
by the State Land Bank director.
He also mentioned to me, uh, that the,
he would advocate for state funding for the city.
I mean, he's a governor's appointee.
He could help advocate for state funding for the city,
for this land bank to help us get going
and help us, you know, get the inventory and manage it.
This is actually a large project.
This is' a small ordinance or resolution.
Um, and I think that we're still in the exploratory phase,
so I think everybody in the city would need
to understand the implications of this and it's, and,
and what the duties would be.
So he has offered to come, uh, meet
and, uh, talk to the city.
Uh, so, um, I'm going to get some dates and times from him
and, uh, we'll try to work something out
where he can come make a presentation.
Um, I have the initial documents.
Again, it's exploratory, um,
but it's certainly an opportunity for the city,
um, to take advantage of.
I know the county, um, you had the Republican Treasurer
and the Democratic executive in favor of it.
You had the Warren Commissioners in favor of it
that represent Warren, and somehow it was defeated.
I don't know the politics at the county,
I just know it's now an opportunity for the city.
And we're trying to explore that opportunity.
So we're gonna continue to con communicate
and then bring back probably a presentation from the Stand
State Land Bank Director.
And if everybody still wants to move forward,
then we'll work on the documents to, to get that going.
Madam President Marty, Uh, Mr. Newton. Mm-Hmm.
Uh, so what are some of the, uh, major advantages
and disadvantages of a land bank?
Because I'm not particularly familiar with land banks,
it sounds like it could be a really good idea if you're,
if you have the ability to buy land, that's,
for instance, underutilized.
Is is that the point of it?
There's a lot of ways the Land Bank can obtain properties.
We see tax foreclosed properties.
We could have properties that are gifted.
Uh, it could purchase property.
And that's one of the things
that the Land Bank director will explain when,
when he is here.
And also, the sort
of intergovernmental agreement will define under
what circumstances you can obtain property.
One example, you talk about advantages
and disadvantages we've seen over the years
that somehow the city has obtained property.
Right? And I don't know if you called right now
and asked for a list of all city owned property,
uh, it might be available.
Um, but we've also known that people have some,
in some cases they've bid on this property.
In other cases, the city made a deal to sell it to 'em
for a dollar, right?
I guess it depends who you are if
you're gonna get that deal or not.
And it, it, there's no consistency. Okay?
So this would bring all
of the available city owned properties under one umbrella,
and you'd have a uniform process for bidding
and obtaining properties, redeveloping properties.
There's really a lot to it.
In fact, I'm just starting to sink my teeth into it.
So I'm not, I can't tell you I'm an expert yet on this,
but, uh, certainly the, um,
state land bank director is very passionate about it
and very knowledgeable and is very anxious
to come explain all those benefits to you.
But I know that certainly in a community, in,
in our conversations with Warren that has a lot
of aging infrastructure
and homes, we wanna bring investment back in the city.
You want these properties.
You wanna have a plan for the properties instead
of having a everything be a one-off, you wanna plan
and you also wanna be able to get funding from all sources
to help with these properties.
So that's, that's a 10,000 foot view, maybe even more. Yeah.
But hopefully that,
That's great. It's, it would certainly
be great to not have the, uh,
excesses and abuses
that I think we've seen happen in the past.
And, um, also the, the sense that there's more fairness
for everyone in the city to be able to, able
to have the chance if there's gonna be
property sold for a dollar.
If anybody should be able to buy it,
why shouldn't everybody have a chance to buy it? Thanks.
Thank you, Mr. Nunan. Any other discussion?
So I would just a motion to receive and file Mr.
Schroeder's update. Uh, all in favor? Aye.
Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next item now,
Sorry. Uh,
14. A notice of mayoral appointments.
Alo Jabbari, community Outreach Director, Aisha Bahar,
administrative Coordinator.
And Jeff Reeves, building maintenance
Superintendent. So moved
Support, Uh, motion by More support by Mr.
Noonan. I see the mayors in the audience if she would like
to come and talk a little bit about her appointees.
Thank you, Madame President.
It is my honor this evening
to join my esteemed colleagues on the city council
for the opportunity to introduce my newest
mayoral appointees.
I commend the council on their introduction
of a Sunshine Week.
Um, um, uh, uh, resolution, uh,
we share committed.
We have committed to shared values
around accountability and transparency.
And I also want to reiterate my commitment to collaboration
and rectifying the failures of the previous administration.
Uh, in conversations that have been shared in the community.
Recently, I noticed a pattern of misunderstanding, um,
and misinformation around the roles of appointees.
And so I'd like to take this opportunity
to provide a teachable moment.
Appointees are selected to serve in multiple functions.
Appointees are liaisons
between departments and the mayor's office.
They're liaisons between departments and city council.
Uh, appointees also provide oversight of de of departments.
And for my administration, I have high expectations
that appointees will also serve as leaders of people.
Appointees are an extension of an administration.
They're tasked with implementing the policies
and vision that the mayor was elected
by the community to provide.
And so, as such, appointees are not city
employees in the traditional sense.
They're not union members. They don't earn pensions.
Appointees accept positions
as at will employment at the
discretion of an administration.
Appointees are expected to deliver on the policies
of the administration.
And if and when appointees can no longer fulfill these jobs,
they can either resign their position
or they may be asked to resign
at which time the administration would seek a qualified
candidate prepared to implement these policies.
Um, and as such, I have the opportunity to 0.3,
introduce three appointees this evening.
The first being Ulu Jabari.
He has been hired to serve
as a community outreach director in our community.
He is a worn resident.
Ellu has a degree in human services from
the University of Detroit.
Over 12 years of experience with the state of Michigan
and the Department of Health and Human Services.
Ellu has experience as a community organizer
and is a business owner with over 25 years
of community outreach experience in collaborate,
collaborating and organizing in the community
and statewide partnerships.
He has experience in civic engagement and voter education,
and his enthusiasm is infectious.
Aisha Bahar has been appointed
to administrative coordinator.
Aisha Bahar is a Warren resident of over 10 years.
She's a graduate of Warren Mont High School
and attended Macomb Community College.
Aisha has more than six years experience
in customer assistance.
She's passionate about helping people. A B of two.
Aisha has chose to put down roots
and raise her family in Warren.
And after two months in working as a temporal,
Aisha demonstrate a dedication to assisting residents that,
uh, contact the mayor's office with questions
or concerns earning an appointed position.
Jeff Reeves has been appointed
to building maintenance superintendent
after more than 15 years of service to the city of Warren.
He's held positions and worn sanitation, water,
and building maintenance departments.
He's skilled in construction, electrical, plumbing,
carpentry, and maintenance of water
and sewer line app, uh, apparatus.
Jeff trained in Mason Masonry with bricklayer local one.
And his experience, knowledge
and leadership has earned him the respect of his department.
I expressed my gratitude to Mr. Reeves
for accepting a position with my administration.
Thanks again for the opportunity to speak
to the qualifications of these appointees,
and thank you for the opportunity
to work together on requesting congressionally directed,
directed funding for the benefit of wor residents.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Uh, Madam Secretary? Yeah.
I, um, Mr. Knapp, do you have the information on the
salaries and where we stand on the budget items or I
Okay.
Yeah,
You had a discussion about that,
But I did not, uh, get a chance.
I didn't know till like four 15.
Okay. So I'll, I'll get with him later in the week.
And so I have a, a, a full breakdown of,
'cause I know all the names of the titles have changed,
and, um, the line items have changed.
And, um, you know, Mr. Fox
and I disagree on line item what it means in this context.
But, um, we'll just leave that as it is.
But I'll, I'll get with him later
and figure out where we are on, um, the numbers
and the positions.
Um, 'cause I think I have 1, 2, 3,
I think I have five people now
that have been appointed in the mayor's office.
The mayor Specifically? Yeah.
I believe that was provided when the first
round was introduced.
We provided those descriptions and reorganization depart.
We, but I don't know what the, I'm asking Mr.
Um, Knapp, where we are on the numbers
and how they all break down.
Just a total. I know there was a spreadsheet
of, but I just wanted, I know
That was reviewed. So everything
that's being done is within the budget.
Right. I just wanna know what each, what each
of them are now in, in, in a fashion,
like how we do budgets.
Yes. You know, we put the title and then we put the amount.
That's all I'm looking for is something, um,
what the title is and what the amount is.
And I'll talk with directly, make sure we get that.
Yeah, it's, it's simple. I'll get with them later.
Thank you. Any additional discussion?
Okay. Um, I will call the question,
we'll vote on all three together
unless anyone has any objections.
So really a receive and file. Okay.
We should change it to a, my motion.
To a motion to receive and file
Support Lafferty.
Okay. Thank you. Uh, all in favor? Aye.
Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Congratulations.
Congratulations. Yeah. Next item. Next
Item is 14 b consideration
and adoption of a resolution approving application
with Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund
for Shop Park playground upgrades
and new cricket playing field,
and committing to matching funds for the project
of 67% in the amount of $657,000.
Motion to approve with discussion
Support Lafferty with discussion
discussion. Ms. Moore. Yeah.
Um, Mr. Nat, if I may, can you speak to this?
Really what I wanted
to clarify is we are not committing to anything.
We are giving our, uh, support of going out for the grant
and, but we're not giving our final
approval for anything tonight.
That's correct. There hasn't been an award.
Once there's an award, then we have
to decide about the matching funds.
Okay. That's really what I clear up.
And that'll, that will apply to the next item as well,
that we are showing our support for going forward with, um,
these grant applications. Right.
With with those, there's no matching
funds involved. Right,
Right. And I
will just bring up that this res, this act, this,
this actual grant was, um, done last year
and it was pulled, um,
for some unknown reason at the very last minute.
So we lost out on that last year. We lost a year.
Um, but anyway, I'm glad to see that,
um, we've done it again.
So that you've answered my questions. Thank you so much.
Okay. Thank you Mr. Lafferty.
Uh, thank you. I did wanna mention, uh, Ms. Moore had,
had alluded to it that it was,
it was pulled from the agenda.
Uh, I do wanna make mention it was pulled from the agenda
during an election season
because this issue, once again was made a political issue
and it had no business being a
political issue in the first place.
It has no business being a political issue.
Now, I wanna thank Mr. Todo for bringing this back.
This is money that we should have been, uh,
awarded last year.
Uh, we did not, uh, we did miss out,
I believe on a second grant that was part of it.
There were two grants at that particular meeting
that were pulled by the administration.
And again, it was done for political reasons,
but the grant was in excess of a million dollars for,
uh, investment in, in Shaw Park, one
of the parks the most underutilized parks and can,
and has so much potential to serve that area.
And I, I'm very excited about this.
I hope this grant is fulfilled.
There's a lot of opportunity for investment.
Uh, unfortunately we lost some of that capital
that would've come from the federal government.
But this one, I'm very much looking forward to it.
Whether or not it brings the, the specific transformations
that are are mentioned here in the resolution.
I hope they do. I hope they bring those changes
because the more people we attract,
just like the skate park, it was mentioned yesterday,
you put a skate park in to an underused portion of the city,
you are going to be, people are going to be driving
for miles to use that facility
to enjoy these amenities.
And what do they do after they enjoy those amenities?
They visit the shops, the restaurants,
they spend their money here in Warren, exactly
where we want them to be.
And that has a reciprocal effect on the neighborhoods.
Suddenly things start looking better.
You improve one section.
And I remember hearing about it for, for years,
even from the time, uh, Ms. Moore, when you were on,
on council previously.
Uh, the questions about blight
and the establishment of the blight court
and something that I think we should bring back.
But, uh, because it was so effective, I believe that, uh,
if beautification begets beautification,
and it's, it's opportunities like these that we should be,
uh, Ms. May, since you're sitting in front of us,
hire a dozen grant writers.
Let's get every single grant
that we have the opportunity to obtain.
Let's do it. So, thank you.
Thank you, Madam President. Uh, Ms. McGee.
And then Mr. Newnan. There
We go. Um, yes, I
just was trying to understand the 67%.
If someone can explain,
Mr. Knapp, do you have a,
Well, the, the project,
the project cost estimated cost was what,
$957,000, I think. Mm-Hmm.
Okay. So 67, that's,
that's a requirement for the grant.
The matching funds. They set the
percentages that we have to meet.
Okay. And the breakdown
of what's gonna be included in the park is where, um,
Mr. Trudo,
Good evening. Good evening
Counsel. Uh, Dino Trudo, parks and Recreation.
Okay. Um, I'm not sure, was it in the back
of the paperwork?
Was the breakdown of, uh, what we proposed to the state
or what we will propose to the state of
when we do the application of the, uh, cricket park
and the upgrade of parking lot and the play structure,
and that's all included.
So once we, uh, apply for the application, apply
for the grant, um, hopefully at this point, uh,
the state is looking and excited about this project
and they're maxed right now is, uh, they switched it
to a $300,000 max for, uh, this grant.
So that's how we, uh, Mr.
Lafferty last year was a little less.
We were able to, uh, put less percentage last year.
This year, the, the requirements, uh, went up
a little more percentage.
So we had to, uh, increase it, uh, a little more to get
to the max is 300, uh, thousand dollars for us.
So, but this money is still, uh,
in last year's budget, uh, council Secretary Moore,
that was, um,
still there from last year from
when we were gonna propose it.
So, um, we transfer it over, it will be sitting.
Thank you, Ms. Micki.
Um, yes, I want to continue.
I see some of the things that it's gonna be included,
but I, I was hoping,
because it's Shaw Park on the south side of Warren, um,
hoping that we bring entertainment
to the south side of Warren.
I know we oftentimes have those entertainment type
of events, um, here at City Hall
and thinking maybe we can include a stage
or something, um, so that we could have some type of event
that take place where we have music
and things of that nature, um, at the, uh, at the Shaw Park.
So is that something we're looking for in the future,
looking to do in the future
or just right now we're just doing the basics of
fixing up the park, um, parking lots
and things of that nature. Well,
The ones in for this park here is, uh, just the basics
of the cricket court and, uh,
the play structure and the restrooms.
And that was, were the basics for that.
But on a positive note, um, mayor Stone asked us to bring,
uh, uh, movies to the parks.
And one of the parks, uh, we're gonna bring the movies
to this year, instead of at City Square is Shaw Park.
We're gonna bring it in one of the Friday nights.
We're gonna do several different, uh, parks, uh, three
to four different parks, and we're gonna bring the movies
to the parks and we're gonna have activities
and anything for different parks this time.
Butcher's one. Shaw's one, we veterans won.
So we're gonna switch 'em all around this year.
So that's on the positive though. Yes.
This project here, um, was just for the, uh,
the cricket court that we feel there's two locations in the
city for parks, uh, that have enough room
for a large cricket court is pretty big.
And the two locations that we've always talked about is,
one of 'em is Shaw Park.
And it's wide open. No trees are gonna be removed.
It's a beautiful location.
And you know that walking path in all the back
area, it's all tree.
It's beautiful. Um, just like the skate park, I believe,
and we've all talked about it,
that this is gonna be a destination
park when it's completed.
Um, it will be, you know, close
to a million dollars spent there.
Um, it'll be beautiful
and I think it'll be well used instead
of under underutilized like that.
So I'm excited.
I hope the state agrees to it,
and, uh, we'll continue working on other parks.
Um, we'll be up here again.
There's a couple bids that are going out, um, for
other parks that are gonna be upgraded.
Mm-Hmm. Um, so at the hel park,
we are working on the bathrooms there.
That bid will, uh, it's a little,
taking a little longer than I was anticipating,
but here in the next, hopefully next few weeks,
we're gonna be doing a final walkthrough.
And here in April will be for the, uh, restroom upgrades
and that for helm much park bathrooms for the, um, for the
athletic area in the center there for concession stand.
We're gonna do that. And, uh,
we'll have the waterpark coming along, um, here at Wigan.
So we're making progress, we're making baby steps,
but, uh, yeah, I'm excited.
I'm excited. The skate park was a very large last night.
There was a three, you know, three year process.
And, uh, thanks council.
It was the old council and this council and Mr. Lty.
And, um, you know, we got that through too.
So I'm hoping the state, uh, proves this.
And it'll be a, it'll be a wonderful project and,
but we'll keep that in mind.
Um, maybe when it's how much time, uh,
we put something there for that.
So, um, we'll have to see. Thank
You. Okay. Thank you.
Um, Mr. Trudo, perhaps you can,
um, schedule some time with Ms.
Mi to go over the master plan of the parks.
I know that, that, that exists
and, um, perhaps you can provide some
input and or her perspective.
I would like that. Yes. That'd be wonderful.
Thank you, madam. Just one second.
May maybe we could provide a copy.
Do we, we have extra copies
of the master plan I have in the white.
Do you have that copy? Yeah, I
Have. I was gonna say it's online
also. Okay.
Thank you, Mr. Noonan. Right.
So, um, some citizens are wishing that
the cricket field were at Homage Park.
And I would just like to say that the wording in
the agenda today was that this is just the first.
It says it's the first cricket field.
It doesn't say it's the last.
And if this is a tremendous, um, if this is a tremendous win
for the city, if it's well used
and, uh, very popular, maybe we'll need another one.
And so I, I hope everyone will work
to make this a successful park.
I also very much, uh, like, uh, uh, cricket field.
I also very much like Vice President McGee's notion
of making Warren have more, um, more of a popular
entertainment venue like Sterling Heights has had, um,
to bring in possibly, um, pretty good sized bands
and, um, make, make Warren more of a destination.
So thank you very much.
Thank you, Madam President.
Uh, Mr. Lafferty, thank
You to Ms.
McGee's point. It sparked a memory from when I was young.
I think Owen Jacks was still Parks rec director,
and we used to have a semi trailer
that opened up one, almost one entire side used to open up,
and it created a stage and another part folded out.
It had a built-in speaker system, uh,
amplifiers microphones,
and I believe there was probably a generator of some sort
that, that powered it.
But it was designed for mobile entertainment, uh, similar
to what you're referring to.
Instead of, you know, uh, limiting to one park,
we could have, uh, look back into that concept.
I don't know what happened to it. It probably fell apart
after so much use, but I remember that, uh, very well.
Uh, mayor Bonkowski would, would introduce the, the symphony
or the concert band or, or various bands would be out there.
The kids would play in the park
where all the parents listened to the music.
Uh, it was very popular back then.
So maybe, maybe that's an opportunity to, uh, share, uh,
musical events throughout the city
and looking to, uh, restore that particular item.
That sounds so great idea. Ms. McGee. Great idea.
That sounds wonderful.
Thank you. Any further discussion? Okay.
Hearing none, I will call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr.
Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr.
Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes. Uh, Rogan C is? Yes.
Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 14 B one, which is a resolution
of authorization of congressionally directed spending
requests for forewarn public capital projects.
Um, they are these, this is, um,
the city is sending funding requests to Senator Gary Peters
for four proposed projects needed for the Warren community.
One, how much park refurbishment, um, and reconstruction.
A DA compliance modification for city buildings. Three.
Water resource recovery facility, solids management
and energy recovery improvements.
And four Mound road reconstruction.
Um, eight mile road to I 6 96.
The, um, proposed project funding submittals
and applications are supported by Warren's master plan.
The current and approved five year recreation master plan
and long-term, budgetary plans, um, et cetera.
Um, new, new universally accessible restrooms,
park shelters, and place scapes are needed
to upgrade and maximize.
How much parks accessibility Since these facilities have
outlived their useful lives
after being installed in the 1990s,
the total cost is
5,993,727.
The CDS share is requested
to be 4,495,000, um, 300.
Um, the a DA, uh, compliance modifications
for city buildings, um, uh,
the total cost is 3,375,000.
Um, the water re resource recovery is a total
of 100 million.
The CDS share is requested to be 6 million.
And the mound road reconstruction,
the total cost is 32 million.
And the CDS share is requested
to be 6 million.
Motion to approve
Support. Lafferty.
Any discussion? Hearing none? I'll call the question.
Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr. Boye?
Yes. Mr. Nunan? Yes, of course. Ms. McGee? Yes.
Rogan C as a Yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Next item is 14 C.
Request of the police department
for an additional appropriation of funds in the amount
of 273,000 from the police local drug forfeiture
to cover the costs of purchasing additional police vehicles,
consideration and adoption of a resolution.
So moved. Support Dwyer.
Any discussion? Hearing none.
I will call the question. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes.
Mr. Bokey? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes. Mr.
Nunan? Yes. Rogan sees a yes. Motion carries. Next item
14 D, request of the sanitation division
and engineering division for an additional appropriation
of funds in the amount of $65,000
to cover the increased cost
to purchase two high durak Python automated side loader
vehicles, and to cover the consulting
and engineering services to provide a condition assessment
of the city of Warren's transfer station building
and site consideration
and adoption of a resolution motion
to approve with discussion
Support. Lafferty
Uh, discussion Ms. Moore?
Yes. I, I have, I'm curious, um,
why we're doing a condition assessment
of the transfer station
and site, um, that has gone out to bid.
And I think we've received the bids on who's gonna take over
that transfer station.
Um, and I'm wondering why we're doing this now.
I mean, this, anyone, this was
done in the, I thought this was
WW condition assessment last Year, right?
This was done last year. Um, I dunno if it's different.
I know there was a condition assessment
of the transfer station, and
because there was tried to be litigation about it
and it was a, um, so I really don't know.
Um,
Is there any, and I don't know why this is thrown in
with the automated side loader vehicles
and then then throwing in this transfer station.
Um,
Would there be two items? Yeah,
I, Madam, per madam Secretary, I would suggest
that we bifurcate this item into two
and perhaps we table the other.
Um, let me see what, if we can, what the, the numbers are.
Is there anyone from the
administration that can speak on this? Mr. Knapp? No,
There's nobody here from these departments.
Sanitation, engineering.
Let me see if we can do this.
Yeah, they're not, I don't see a breakdown. Oh, I do. I see.
Um, the vehicles at 40,000 in contractual
services for 25.
So we could, we could change this to, um,
40,000 until we get the answers.
We could approve the, um, side loader, um,
and reduce, reduce that by 25,000
until we get an answer on that.
So, So I would, I would suggest that we approve, um,
$40,000 for the vehicles
and table, um, the $25,000
for the, um, assessment of the transfer station.
So, point of order. Madam, Madam, president. Yes.
The resolution does not even mention
the, the review.
It's contractual services. I think
I, I'm looking at the cooperative purchasing agreement
for supplies, goods, or services.
But it's, it's not specific.
Contractual services should be for the firm
and vehicles of 40,000.
Maybe we should to maybe Do you wanna table it?
But it, it's, it's not in the, in
Transfer two, they're transferring from the fund balance.
25,000 would be for the engineering firm
and 40,000 would be for the vehicle.
Okay. Right.
We can, we can just table the items for two
Weeks. Let's table this. This is a mess.
Okay.
Motion to table Support.
Uh, there's a motion to table. Uh, Ms. Moore?
Yes. Mr. Lafferty?
Yes. To table. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. To table. Mr. Bokey?
Yes. To the table. Mr. Noonan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes.
Rogan sees a yes. Item is tabled to ideally.
Next meeting? Yeah. Next
Item. Next item is
14 e.
Request of the sanitation division to award the purchase
of two high Durak Python,
automated side loader sanitation vehicles utilizing the
source well cooperative contract in the amount of 722,000
for both vehicles consideration
and adoption of a resolution.
Motion to approve with discussion. This
Would be tables contingent on
The funding. That's what I was
gonna talk about.
Support Lafferty. Ms. Moore has a motion
on the table Mr.
Lafferty's support?
I, I would, yes. Um, I am thinking that
the extra 65,000 was to make up
the amount they didn't have in the account.
So I think that we should probably table this too,
because they won't have the money. So, motion to table
Support. Lafferty.
Okay. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes.
Mr. Bokey? Yes. To table Ms. Mr. Nunan. Uhhuh?
Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan C is a yes. Uh, item is tabled.
Next item is 14 F, which was four C.
Consideration and adoption
of a resolution approving a request from
Mark Anthony Contracting, Inc.
For a temporary concrete batching facility at the northeast
east corner of Tank Avenue and Lorna Avenue. So moved.
Support Lafferty with discussion.
Discussion. Council member Lafferty.
Thank you. There is, we already approved
the permitting for a temporary batching plant.
It's still in existence at this corner.
I dunno if there's anybody from the administration here
that can speak to this.
It's, it's the, the way the resolution is written, it's,
it's almost as it's asking to establish it,
but it's, there's already one on the property.
So I was curious if,
and I don't remember if it was Mark Anthony Construction
that, uh, we already permitted before
and if we are renewing a permit
or if this is an extension of
that initial agreement. So
Anyone from the administration can speak on this?
No. Okay. Uh,
It doesn't seem to have a timetable.
I don't
Mr. Lafferty,
I will, I will move to table this
to the next meeting. Could
This be an additional one?
Okay, Mr. It wouldn't make sense.
Mr. Lafferty is a motion to table. Is there Support.
Support, Uh, Mr. Lafferty?
Yes. To table. Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes.
To table. Mr. Bokey? Yes. To table. Mr. Nunan? Yes.
Uh, Ms. McGee? Yes. Rogan C? Yes. Item. Ms.
Tabled. Next item. Next
Item is 14 G.
Um, which was item four J on the consent.
Proposed resolution providing public notice of intent
to sell property at 13,723 Collier Warren, Michigan,
parcel number 13 36 3 0 1 0 3 5
for $102,000
and approving the sale following 30 day notice period,
accepting grant easement consideration
and adoption of a resolution.
Motion to approve with discussion,
Support, Uh, discussion.
Council member Lafferty.
Thank you. Through the chair to attorney Michaels
Councilman.
Good evening, ma'am. Evening,
I was looking at the purchase agreement
and your, your letter stated that there was a, uh,
a short term rental restriction,
but the letter didn't state
that it looks like you had probably put in a blank space
for it and then didn't go back to fill it in as to
how, how short it was.
The purchase agreement states
that it will be a six month, uh, restriction.
No, no short term rentals.
Shorter than a period of six months.
Now, at the January 23rd meeting
for the Rural Avenue item that we, uh, we took up
and considered, we, uh, agreed that,
that petitioner had to abide by a rental period of not
to be shorter than 12 months.
So I would like to be consistent going forward,
that we have a, a, at least a 12 month statute
rather than six months or one for this one, one for another.
If we're going to adopt something, uh,
our standard should be, we should set a standard.
So I'm asking to change, uh,
and amend this agreement, page two of the purchase agreement
under conveyance, uh, which would be paragraph two,
subsection four to read as follows.
The property will not be rented, leased,
or sublet for a term shorter than 12 months.
It sounds like. Good policy of course.
But I have a commitment for six months from the buyer.
We could add 12 months,
but I'm not sure if he could agree to it.
I I understand that. I understand.
And so, like many settlements that come to counsel,
when we are hearing from an attorney in a, in a court case,
we give direction.
Here's what you can negotiate.
So on behalf of the body, uh, I am proposing
that we amend this, and I'm asking you to go back, uh, the,
I'm asking counsel to approve for you to go back
to the purchaser
and say, this is counsel's, uh, uh, authority
to amend the agreement.
No less than 12 months. Take it or leave it.
Okay. That's fine. If I may address that, yes,
Of course, ma'am. Absolutely.
We'll go back and let them know
that that's the standard.
But the buyer did agree.
We've added restrictions to the sale. Mm-Hmm.
That were not a part of the original packet, such
as not growing marijuana and keeping it maintained.
And the short term rental was also something that we,
we required.
Mm-Hmm. But we'll definitely ask for, we'll let him know
that 12 months is, is the standard.
If there's an issue, we'll come back.
Very good. I'll, I'll just ask
for my colleagues to support that. Amendment.
Amendment. So the motion is to approve with the
condition that, uh, Ms.
Michaels or the city legal department goes back
to the buyer, uh,
and puts in a 12 month, uh, restriction for rentals.
Any discussion on that? Makers of the motion are good.
All right. Uh, we are on 14 G.
So, uh, hearing none, uh,
hearing more discussion, I will call the question.
Ms. Moore? Yes. Mr. Lafferty? Yes. Mr. Dwyer? Yes. Mr.
Bokey? Yes. Mr. Nunan? Yes. Ms. McGee? Yes.
Rogan C is a yes. Motion carries. Next item.
Thank you, Ms. Michaels. Next item is audience
participation regarding general topics.
Thank you. First, uh, audience member is Mr. Watts.
Good evening. Gary Watts.
So, I'm a little disappointed that we chose
to se sell a piece of property to a person
that owns multiple rental homes in this city
that's not accomplishing anything.
People, that's bad. So, I'm here.
Uh, I wanted to talk about our police situation tonight.
I too, like Mr. Dwyer said, I'm very disappointed.
I had the good fortune to work with Mr.
Dwyer a few times over the years,
and, uh, especially the last four years.
He did a great job, 60 year career
that I don't think anybody could come up against.
And to treat him like that, um,
is unacceptable in my opinion.
Um, the comment was made
that it was a difference in hiring policy
and that there was gonna be a hiring freeze.
Now it's, now it's my understanding,
after everybody printed, it was a hiring freeze.
Now it's, it's being backed off.
So I don't know what's going on
here, but I can tell you this.
Today we're 21 police officer, short folks,
our runs are at an all time high.
I watch these runs year in
and year out my whole life here, we're at an all time high.
Our police officers do one heck
of a job out there, 21 short.
If anybody knows anything about police hiring, first
of all, it's tough these days.
Number two, it takes six months to a year.
If you hire a pre-certified officer, if you hire somebody
that's gotta go to the academy, it
takes probably a year and a half.
We probably have about 10 officers.
The last seniority list, I looked at, 10 officers
that can retire between now and September, October.
If those 10 choose to retire,
we're gonna be down 31 officers.
And if anybody finds a better job
that's at the department, they may leave.
This is a serious situation to take the hiring out of the,
out of the police department
and put it back to the very HR department
that created the problem to begin with.
The acting director is totally incompetent.
She created the problem with the cadets.
She created a problem with the police department,
and now they put it right back in the same spot.
This is unacceptable.
I call on you guys to get something done about this.
We need police officers on the street today,
not a year and a half from now.
It's gonna be a rough summer if we don't have
Those. Have those officers. Thank
you.
Thank you. Next is Mr. Bell.
Alright. Jerry Bell. Warren Resident.
Uh, now I know, uh, you counsel, uh,
president Rogan.
C you are allowed to answer questions.
Other council members can't, but you can.
Uh, you want to help us understand why you didn't let me
speak during the, um, audience participation for the agenda.
I clearly filled out a form. It was witnessed. Sure.
But why Ms? And I'll give you some of my time. You
Can't, you can't speak over me if I'm going to explain it.
So you have to gimme a moment. The agenda,
our rules were changed.
That you have to speak to an agenda item
and list the agenda item on your form.
There was others that didn't list it. Yes, they did.
Okay. Look at each one. Okay.
So last two weeks ago, you told me to come to the podium
and speak on what agenda item
that I'm gonna be speaking about, correct?
I, I don't recall. I,
I, I, I, yeah, you did.
Okay. It's on video. And I'm just gonna say this, Ms. Rogan.
So you've been trying to silence me right along with
Councilwoman Mindy Moore.
You've been trying to silence me even from the last, uh,
before you guys ran and got reelected.
You've been trying to silence me.
It's been an attempt for the longest you had me
removed out of here.
You knew you were wrong. You knew you were wrong.
I've gotten so many calls even from council members
because you did what you did.
But here's how I approach situations like that.
Now, looking at all these lawsuits that's out here,
you know, I'm not the one
that filed a lawsuit, although I could.
I have a lawyer. I have two lawyers. I could file a lawsuit.
So I hope to try to get this resolved in a way
to, whereas we don't have to take this legally.
Okay? And as far as I'm concerned, where was Mr. Schroeder
two weeks ago when you did this?
What is he up there for?
He should have told you that you were wrong
and you know, you are wrong.
You're not gonna speak on that. I'm sure you're not.
But what you did was totally wrong. You threatened Mr.
Vander Linden by having him
removed This.
This isn't the way it goes. And nobody's stupid.
Everybody knows their rights. You have a problem, Ms.
Rogan, and you don't need to be chairing any meetings,
but we're gonna discuss this hopefully privately
with our lawyers or whatever.
We're gonna discuss this, so
therefore we won't take it to the residents
and they be affected by the things that you're doing.
Or, or, or you and Mr. Schroeder and Mindy or whatever.
Look, bottom line is, we'll deal with this, okay?
We're gonna deal with this with lawyers.
I, I'm, make that clear.
I don't want you to think it's a threat.
'cause you're, you, you always claim
that somebody's making threats against you.
But we'll deal with this with our lawyers.
Okay? Thank you. Thank you.
Next is Mr. Osh.
Good evening counsel. Curtis Osh,
a resident pastor here in the city.
I'm concerned about a number of things.
Um, there's a particular resident, uh, Ms. Harris,
I'm sure she gets direction from somebody up there.
She's been harassing us for more than a year.
Cyber bullying us, stalking us,
trespassing on our property, taking pictures.
Today, she accused me of taking church money
and gambling at the casino.
She has video to prove it, which is a straight up lie.
I don't go to the casinos.
She's weaponizing our city government against our church.
Um, she called the city's maintenance department
and said, we had a vehicle parked at, uh, our place
that didn't have a plate.
It has a plate. It just has a nonprofit plate,
which looks a lot different than a normal plate.
It's a five year plate. It's a valid plate.
Uh, she says that, uh, it wasn't a plated vehicle.
It was the city towed our vehicle.
'cause she kept harassing them.
She's weaponized city government against our church.
She's constantly posting stuff over and over again.
We've been in the city 32 years doing good work.
I've never had this kind of problem except now.
Then, um, the little man over there, Mr.
Nunan, came to the Senior Housing
Commission meeting the other day.
And, uh, he had to be rape me, shame me, embarrass me,
bully me, and, uh, um, make all kinds
of disparaging comments about me at the Senior Housing
Commission meeting.
What a little man. He's not even half the man that I am.
And, uh, shame on you.
I mean, what are you doing for the community, Mr. Nunan?
I'm giving food to over 6,000
of our residents every single month.
And for you to take a lowbrow
hit at me under the belt, shame on you.
And you can't even look at me. 'cause you're a coward.
You're nothing short of a straight up little man coward.
No problem. And we want sunshine.
Mr. Schroeder, are, are you under contract?
Not under contract. We have a city attorney, the nemesis
of the former mayor, the former city attorney.
They're gone. Why are we still paying you?
We've paid you hundreds and hundreds
and hundreds of thousands of dollars
you're still collecting today.
We're gonna give you the Land Bank ordinance to look at why,
why don't we give that to our city attorney staff
to have them look at it.
We just write you another blank check over and over again.
Give him another assignment. Give him some more work to do.
Shame on all of you.
Who's got a pair up there
that's actually gonna do what's right in this city?
Were you acting on behalf of yourself
or were you acting as an elected official Mr.
Nunan, when you chose to take your little man baby tactics?
And who's the little puppet behind the string?
Thank you, Mr. Osh. Commissioner Nar.
All right, I'm gonna try to do this in three minutes.
I wanna talk about timing and just
because of what happened today, it's really good
that I bring this up in the tap.
In the tapestry of life,
timing plays an intricate role weaving together the threads
of destiny and shaping our experiences.
It is an elusive force, simultaneously fleeting
and eternal that governs ebb
and flow of events dictating when opportunities arise
and when challenges must be faced Like a master conductor.
Timing orchestrates the symphony of our lives,
guiding us along a path pa with both triumphs
and setbacks, it whispers in our ears, urging us
to seize the, the right moment
or patiently await a more opportune time
in the realm of human endeavor.
Timing is a, is paramount.
It determines when a seed link should be planted.
A battle fought or love declared those
who possess an acute sense of timing, an almost intuitive
understanding of when to act
and when to hold back,
often find themselves riding the crest of success.
They are masters of the art
of seizing opportunities at the opportune moment,
turning fleeting chances into lasting triumphs.
Yet timing is not merely a matter of luck or good fortune.
It requires a keen eye of patterns, an ability
to discern the subtile cues hidden within
the tapestry of events.
It demands patience, resilience,
and the wisdom to know when to press forward
and when to exercise restraint.
Yet timing is merely a matter of luck. Oh, I'm sorry. Okay.
It requires patterns and ability
to serve sub accused pattern.
Okay. In the grand scheme of things,
timing transcends our own mortar existence.
It governs the rise and fall of civilizations, the evolution
of species, and unfolding of cosmos itself.
It is a cosmic force that shapes the destiny of all things,
reminding us that we are a part of a tap, a larger tapestry
woven together by the threads of time.
However, timing is not a unyielding master.
While it may set the stage, it is ultimately up to us
to dance within its rhythm.
When timing favors us, let us not squander its gifts.
Let us act with boldness
and determination, knowing that the time is right
for our dreams to take flight.
Yet when circumstances seem to conspire against us,
let us not despair.
Let us use this time to cultivate patience,
refine our skills, and prepare ourselves
for the day when the stars align once more.
As the great philosopher
and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote,
timing is everything.
Let us embrace this truth
and strive to live our lives in harmony
with rhymes of the universe.
Let us seize opportunities when they arise.
And let us wait with patience for the right time to act.
For in the dance of timing, we find both joy of fulfillment
and the profound beauty of the unknown. God bless you.
Thank you, Mr. Papazian.
Mm-Hmm. Ooh.
I guess I'd like to start with,
I'm not being paid to be here or anything.
Um, one thing I would like to say is I would like to,
to thank a few of you up here.
I, I see Mr. Newan, uh, Ms. McGee and Ms. Rogan. Mr.
Lafferty, I see so many of you out.
We do a, a coffee event once a month.
Uh, Ms. McGee was wonderful enough to show up the last one.
Uh, for the first time in all the years I've lived in
Warren, this is the most active with the community council
that I've ever seen.
And I would like to thank you
for all of the hard work you do.
I know it's not easy being up there, uh, doing
what you think is right and getting yelled at by everyone.
Um, but another thing I wanted to bring up is, some
of you may know I'm a, I have a hobby, uh, pinball.
And there is a place in Farmington Hills, unfortunately,
that was just booted out of their city.
Uh, marvelous Marvins mechanical museum.
They do not have a home. Uh, this place is a landmark.
It's a Michigan landmark.
And I think it would be a real mistake if Warren didn't at
least try to reach out
and bring a cool business like them here
now is a really great opportunity.
There's so many of these wonderful businesses
that are losing their homes.
And if we're gonna talk about building a downtown, one
of the best ways to do it is
to bring the businesses here first
and then build around them.
Um, and I think this really gives us an opportunity at least
to have a conversation
and show that our city is willing to work
with cool businesses to try and make our city cool.
Uh, other than that skate park got approved this week,
I obviously couldn't be happier.
Um, I'd like to thank Mr.
Todo for all the hard work he's put on it.
I know I've been really hard on him over the past couple
of years, but, uh, I've seen the park.
It's pretty outstanding. Of course, I'd like
to make a couple tweaks, but, um, if not
for his hard work and Mr.
Lafferty's hard work, this would've never happened.
And I would like to say thank you from the bottom
of my heart, uh, for making this come, uh,
to pass large Escape Park in Michigan.
And it is gonna be absolutely stunning. Thank you.
Thank you, Ms. Sanker.
Good evening, counsel. You know, a lot
of people are being disfranchised
because they don't have a computer and
therefore they don't have access to
what is on the council agenda.
It seems reasonable to me that the agenda should be posted
on Channel five prior to the meetings.
So residents may see what is being discussed.
I know the agenda usually comes out on Friday prior
to the meeting, so it could be posted Friday, Saturday,
Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
On Channel five, the People's channel.
Many things on channel five are redundant.
We see it over and over and over again.
I'm sure there's ample room to post the council agenda
that is made up of the people's business to be shown.
Isn't that why we have channel five for that purpose?
Information Citizens then, when watching the meeting,
could keep a check on items that they are interested in
to find the outcome
and to determine if they would like
to be part of the audience.
This is not just for a certain district, but for all of you.
Because all of you serve the needs of all the people.
The agenda is for everyone in the whole city, not just those
with computer access.
How about it? How long will it take you
to put the council agenda on Channel five
prior to the meetings?
Actually having council agenda shown on Channel five
may increase the popularity of that channel.
We shouldn't have to beg to get this done.
Having the agenda posted on Channel five is a way
of servicing the people to the full.
Let's see how fast it can get done.
This is part of our civil rights.
Don't let the request get shuffled in the basket. Thank you.
Thank you. Next is Mr. Vander Lenin
Clark. How are you running?
Before I even said a word.
You're at the podium. Mr. Vanner linen.
Okay, well let's start with Ms. rogenSi. Ms.
rogenSi, you stepped on Mr.
Bell's first and 14th Amendment of Rights.
I feel you owe Mr. Bell an apology.
Your actions at the last council meeting showed
not just me, not just Mr. Bell, not at just everyone here.
Everyone that's watching of you lost
control with this council.
But the audience, uh, you have different rules
for different people and how you
and why you should step down as president.
We had a group here that was screaming about a ceasefire.
We didn't fill out a form,
didn't have a citizenship, didn't have to tell their name.
You allowed them to walk up independently one at a time
and speak for over five minutes.
Some were even up to seven. One lady spoke twice.
Did you get in their face? Did you yell and scream at them?
Did you greet them like you did Mr. Bell,
who was sitting in his chair,
you owe him an apology.
You owe me an apology and I'll wait for it.
I thought So. You're a coward, just like the mayor is.
She's a coward. She didn't even have the decency
to go to Mr.
Dwyer herself and fire 'em.
She sent three other administrators.
'cause she hid in her office sitting on her hands
doing absolutely nothing.
She's a coward. She doesn't return phone calls.
She's always in the meeting by herself.
It's her solitaire. That important, that important.
And she has to play the game on our money, time on our money
and not get nothing accomplished.
Now, Ms. Sinker talked about the council meetings and stuff.
There's no reason we can't make these meetings more
EDA certified.
Why we can't have Zoom meetings.
We can all come here
or those that with our 80 a, uh, dependency
can simply watch on Zoom.
And then when you press the magic button, they can talk
and they have their three minutes.
Now, I sent you Athene, uh,
after the last council meeting informing you
that you broke the first and 14th amendment
and that there was prior case law stating
that you do not have to fill out a form.
You do not have time is up. Van, you put up your address.
Your time is up. Thank you.
My time was up before I even started.
Have a good night. Thank you.
I want that apology. Have a good night.
Mr. Mr. Vander Lin. Thank you.
I want that apology. Please, please have a seat.
That is the end of audience. Next item.
Next item is, um,
council rebuttal.
Madam Chair. Yes.
And I would just like to piggyback a little bit on what Mr.
Uh, Watts said.
Um, the Warren Police, uh, neighborhood watch
on December 8th,
or oc uh, I'm sorry, March 8th,
issued the total police calls for last year.
And this year at the same time.
Last year, there were 10,484.
This year were at 12,743 for the same time.
And the calls last week in 2023 were
1361.
And this year they're 2095.
It's a lot of calls and they're increasing.
And I don't think that we can, um, take the chance of, um,
not hiring and filling those, uh,
open police officer positions that we have.
Thank you,
Mr.
Uh, in reference to what Mr. Watts says.
I totally agree with him.
Uh, 21 officers is too short for the city, uh,
for the police department to, um, protect the city
as a former police officer.
Uh, I know what it feels like when you're in a car
and you know, the other cars are tied up only
because you don't have enough personnel out there.
It's not a good feeling yet.
We, we did the job
and the Warren Police Department does the job.
I cannot sit up here like Mr. Watts said and do nothing.
Uh, we have to do something.
If the HR is gonna do the hiring, we should have a plan,
uh, how fast we're gonna get these
officers, good applicants.
And I promise you, I'm gonna inquire
and report back to, uh, the residents, uh, as
to the progress of hiring these police officers.
Thank you Mr. Watts.
Madam President through the chair, if I may.
Yes, Mr. Dwyer, I, uh, concur with Councilman Boze.
Um, we are currently down 21 officers. Boy,
Councilman Boeke.
You called him Boze. Oh boy.
Yourself. Sorry. Strike that. Oh boy.
Sorry about that. Um, anyways, going back to
what I was saying, we, uh, currently are down 21 officers.
By the end of the year, we're looking to be down
by over 30 officers.
And what happens is not filling those positions,
not only leaves officers out there shorthanded
and response time slowing down, but it generates overtime
because now you're getting officers, um,
some working overtime and they're all for it.
But if the officers aren't wanting the overtime,
they're now getting forced into overtime.
And that really doesn't do well, sit well as far
as morale goes, um, out there with our officers.
So, I mean, we get to, we need
to get moving on this staffing as soon as possible.
And yes, the problem is putting it back down to HR
is just gonna slow the process down,
and it's gonna make it harder for us to get officers, um,
and even very qualified officers.
So we need to get things going in the right direction.
Thank you.
Thank you Ms. McGee, vice President McGee.
Now we're on the officers.
I, I want to talk about something.
I'm totally in agreement with you,
but I believe that, um, city Council should be more involved
with the hiring process as well as hr.
I know you, I got, I see that look on your face, Mindy,
but a lot, I know it's, it's, it's more than likely illegal,
but just have an understanding of what the process is
for hiring our officers.
Um, as some may know, I'm a business global process leader,
and I also am, am a HR professional.
We need to understand the city council need, uh, understand
what the hiring process is all about when it come
to the police officers.
And I think that we need to make, make that clear
to not just us, to the people of Warren.
They deserve that.
Thank you. Sure. Mr. Nunan.
Well, I, I, uh, I'm sorry if I have offended anybody
relative to what I had to say about, um, Reverend Curtis
Osh at the Senior Housing Commission meeting.
I should have made it clear that I was only speaking
as an individual, though people in the audience were saying,
you're a councilman now.
That's true. I am a councilman now,
and I should have only spoken for myself
because I wasn't there, uh, with the
city council's authorization
to call out someone
who I thought was sitting on the Senior Housing Commission,
despite Not following the city charter
in regard to former felons.
We have it in our city Char Charter
that former felons cannot serve on our
charters, on our commissions.
And I was trying not to be offensive or rude about it.
It's just, uh, I believe that's the way it is.
Also, um, uh, appointment
from our mayor appointment list, uh, four,
Curtis Osh never came over to us.
He is not sitting, um, on the commission properly.
And I think that calls into question as far as I can tell.
I think that calls into question everything
that the commission does while they have
him voting on things.
And not only, not only just the Senior Housing Commission,
but other commissions also seem to have people
who are not properly on there according to the City Charter.
And I don't mean it to be offensive, I just mean
that these are matters that I believe should be corrected so
that our city is running correctly so that, uh,
there's less exposure to legal challenges.
And, um, so I'll leave it to the audience
and, you know, our, our TV audience, uh,
the people in the room to de determine.
Was that rude? I, I don't have anything to say about,
uh, you know, it seems like Curtis,
Reverend Curtis Osh is doing a lot of good work.
I don't think I have anything
particularly bad to say about him.
He is a former felon, as far as I know,
and as far as I can tell,
he should not be on serving on
the Senior Housing Commission.
Um, and I think that the, um, city attorney
who was sitting on the commission said
that she'd get back to me about it.
I thought she was gonna get back to me the next day.
I haven't heard from her yet, you know,
so anyways, I, I apologize if I've heard her, you know,
offend anybody's feelings.
That was not my intent.
Thank you, madam. Anyone else? Madam Chair? Mm-Hmm.
Just one comment, Ms. McGee.
I did not mean that we shouldn't understand about the
policy, just I don't think we wanna get involved in the
actual hiring, but you're absolutely right.
We should know what the practices are.
I mean, we found out
that they were advertising in the Detroit News in a hard
copy, and the people can't apply for jobs online.
I mean, that's, that's a problem.
And there may be restrictions.
We don't know, perhaps with the consent, uh, judgment that,
uh, is exists between the Department
of Justice and the city of Warren.
That was, I don't, back in 2002 or 2003, it was right
before I got on council.
But there could be some re some mandates
or things in that judgment that says, you have to do this,
this, but maybe we could go back, speak
with the Justice Department, have that, have
that modified in some way that brings it up
to present day Mm-Hmm.
Because it just doesn't make sense to
advertise in a hard copy of the Detroit News.
I don't know. My, I don't know if my kids ever looked at a
hard copy of the Detroit News.
They don't. And we, they should be,
we should have all online application.
I think we'd get a lot more response to all
of the open positions if people could do that.
And you probably know that better than the rest of us.
And it's not just the police department. Right?
Right. It's Every department.
We need to get up to speed with the current hr, um,
Requirements and
Process program so that we can get people
Hired. Right. And
Ms. McGee all across the board, Ms.
Ms. McGee probably has great ideas
how we can accomplish all that.
And that would be much appreciated.
She'd share those, certainly. Thank you.
Anything further? I just wanna say thank you again
to the communications department.
This clock is very helpful, uh, so
that there is no objectivity around the timing
of folks coming up to the podium.
So thank you very much for, uh, this today.
Mm-Hmm. Next item. Motion
To adjourn support lafferty.
All in favor? Aye. Motion
Carries. We're adjourned.
Thank you.