Update: Since the initial posting of this article the Wayne  County Clerk’s office has posted some of the write-in votes for Gregory Creswell (3)  and Washington Youson (24). This confirms that there are three elected Community Advisory Council members for District #4.

Detroit, MI – On Tuesday community activist and community college Professor Scotty Boman was elected to Detroit’s Community Advisory Council (CAC) in District #4.  With 100% of the Precincts reporting he had 91.3% (20,305) of the vote with the remaining 1498 votes going to write-in candidates. In October 2019 he petitioned to create the political office he was ultimately elected to.  According to the Michigan Bureau of Elections’ “Election Officials’ Manual “… a minimum number of write-in votes is not required.”

Only two people submitted the required paperwork to have their write in votes counted: Gregory Creswell and Washington Youson. Since five CAC seats were available they are presumptive winners. Both candidates have run for office before. In 2017 Youson ran for the District 1 State Representative in a special election, but lost the Democratic primary and was not advanced to the General election. If he won he would have run against Gregory Creswell, who was running as a Libertarian for that same office.

Creswell said, “Ever since 1992, I have been active in politics by running for office and volunteering for other candidates. It’s a nice experience to engage the citizens of Detroit…To answer their questions, and to join them in discovering answers. It will be an honor to serve District #4. I will serve with honorable distinction, pride, and respect. I fully thank the voters of District 4 for their support.”

The two vacancies will be filled by 4^th District Councilman Andre Spivey, and the five will conduct a search for persons well-qualified to serve as senior citizen’s issues representative and others as Youth Representative (This is the only body in Detroit government to have a voting member under 18).  The Councilman will chose on Senior citizen and youth representative from the list.

Scotty Boman spent the Summer of 2019 collecting 1,570 signatures on a petition to create a Community Advisory Council for Detroit’s fourth District.  District Four is the second of Detroit’s seven districts to establish a Community Advisory Council (CAC). Boman, filed the petitions on Tuesday October 1^st following a brief news conference with Detroit’s Fourth District Councilman Andre Spivey.  According to the Detroit City Charter, “The purpose of these Councils is to improve citizen access to city government.”

The Seventh District was previously the only district in Detroit to have a CAC.  The CAC is composed of two appointed and five elected members. Seventh District voters chose the five elected members in the Presidential election in 2016. In spite of being in existence for four years, the Detroitmi.gov website has conspicuously omitted any mention of their Community Advisory Council, its meetings, it’s members, or how to contact them.