City Chatter: Budget season is upon us
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Welcome back to our regular feature on city government and politics.
👋 Politician's farewell: State Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Detroit, won't seek public office again, the Michigan Chronicle reports.
- Whitsett, whose term lasts through the end of the year, ran unsuccessfully for Detroit City Council in November and was bested by Denzel McCampbell.
- She's become known for breaking from the Democratic Party and for being absent from statehouse sessions. She called the decision not to run again a spiritual one, adding that she couldn't reconcile her faith with Democratic Party stances.
🗓️ Revealing plans: For a first peek at how Mayor Mary Sheffield's campaign promises translate into reality, look no further than her first budget proposal, slated for Monday.
- City Council will then dive into the proposed budget department by department and vote on it in early April.
💰 Funding shuffle: One of Sheffield's big early moves was to create a Department of Human, Homeless and Family Services. Officials told City Council last week they're funding it by carving out about half of the $91 million Housing and Revitalization Department budget.
- The new department will take on issues like homelessness, home repair and homeowner property tax exemptions, per BridgeDetroit.
🌿 Herbal takeaways: The city aims to study how equitable Detroit's cannabis industry is, per City Council documents.
- This is noteworthy because Detroit went through a lengthy process, including litigation, to create an equity program that helps longtime residents participate in the industry.
- It's a tough time in cannabis, with declining sales and a new 24% wholesale tax.
🚨 Secrets made public: We've been following confidential memos on how the city and federal ICE agents interact that were prepared in response to questions from City Council.
- Those confidential reports were recently released to the public.
- One initial takeaway: Detroit can't limit ICE operations, but it can limit use of city resources to support ICE enforcement, per the Detroit News.