Update (6PM Sunday now) Meeting Scheduled for Friday January 29 7PM

Posted on January 28, 2021 by boman4detroit

I regret to report that neither appointed member attended the meeting.

The Charter requires us to select a list of potential Youth Members and Senior Issues Representatives by the end of the month. This defaults to Monday since that date is on a Sunday.

We will reschedule for Sunday night at 6:00 PM with the hope that the appointed members will fulfill their duties. I am thankful that my fellow elected members have given up their private time for three meetings.

This problem stems from a definition of “quorum” in the City Code that we must have 4 members attend, instead of a “majority” as stated in the Charter. So the 100% of members who attended on Wednesday, and the 60% who attended tonight (assuming there are 2 appointees) aren’t recognized as a quorum by the City Council even though each was sufficient to conform to the only definition of quorum in the Detroit City Charter.

The District 4 Community Advisory Council will meet on Friday January 29th to confirm motions that tentatively passed at the January 22nd and 27th meetings including the nomination list of a Senior issues Representatives and Youth Representatives.*

After speaking with the Legislative Policy Director we have learned that residents of District 4 can submit additional names to be on our list for the appointed offices of Senior Issues Representative and Youth Member. This list will be finalized at the end of the meeting.

We expect the appointment of two additional members by Councilmember Spivey. This will bring us into conformance with the Detroit City Code regarding the quorum rule. We scheduled the Wednesday January 27th Meeting with the hope that the appointment of at least one additional member would have happened by then.

According to the Legislative policy director and Councilmember Spivey’s Chief of staff the list of Senior Issues Representative and You Member nominees (Which is due on January 31st) Will still be accepted on Monday.

Topic: District 4 Community Advisory Council. Official Meeting.
Time: Friday January 29th, 2021 at 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting online:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85312530504?pwd=VFlyeXFETWJ0M0RVWTRrdEh3Ky92dz09

Or join by conventional phone call:

(312) 626-6799
[Please enter Meeting ID and Passcode when prompted followed by “#”]

Meeting ID: 853 1253 0504
Passcode: 372912
Please use “*6” to mute or unmute and use “*9” to raise or lower your hand.

* Because of the quorum rule the votes were tentative, not official. Assuming all three elected members are present, they will comprise a majority of the five members in office Friday night. Two more will be appointed in February.

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Emergency Notice of Unplanned Meeting Scheduled 8 PM 1.26.2021

Posted on January 26, 2021 by boman4detroit

Update

The discussion mentioned below took place with assurances that Councilmember Spivey  would be making an appointment in time to have at least four members in place before the deadline to produce and approve a list of persons for the positions of Senior Issues Representative an Youth Member. We also learned that the deadline of January 31st moves to February 1st since the 31st is on a Sunday. Please attend our January 27th meeting for more details.

Tonight’s call (original post mentioned bellow) will not be subject to the Michigan Open Meetings Act.

This is based on a reading of the Michigan Attorney General’s publication “Open Meetings Act Handbook” where it says, “May a quorum of a board gather outside an open meeting without violating the OMA?” Here I am acting on the assumption that this conversation will “not involve discussions of public policy among the members of the board…” but will instead be for the purpose of listening to our Council Representative, his staff, and the Legislative Policy Division. We will not “deliberate toward, or make, a decision” on any matters discussed therein without fully disclosing and discussing it at Wednesday’s scheduled public meeting of the District 4 Community Advisory Council.

Finally, it is the Chair’s understanding that this meeting is not “designed to receive input from officers or employees of the public body.”

Notice: Detroit District 4 Council Representative Andre’ Spivey has called a meeting of the entire District #4 Community Advisory Council along with other officials. It is scheduled for 8:00 PM tonight Tuesday January 26th 2021.

One issue of dispute is what constitutes a quorum.  The only mention of quorum in the Detroit Charter is a “majority of members.”  There are three members so that would mean two members would be a quorum.

The City Council’s definition of quorum (Which they have published as an ordinance) is four members.  As Chair of the District 4 Community Council, I reject the validity of quorum that exceeds 100% of the members, since this would make it impossible for processes mandated in the Charter to be fulfilled, and the City council and it’s ordinances are subordinate to the Charter.

The Michigan Open Meetings Act defines any meeting of a quorum of a bodies members as being subject to the open meetings act.  This includes advanced posting of the meeting.  Thus I am posting notice here to ensure compliance.

If our Council Representative fulfills his Charter mandated duty and fills the two vacancies on our CAC, this conundrum goes away.  We look forward to that happening.

If the appointments take place, I will remove this post.  Otherwise I will be be posting the Zoom link here shortly before the meeting.

Sincerely,
Scotty Boman, Chair
District 4 Community Advisory Council

 

 

Posted in City Council action, Community Meeting | Leave a comment

Second Meeting of the Whole Scheduled for January 27

Posted on January 25, 2021 by boman4detroit

The District 4 Community Advisory Council will meet on Wednesday January 27th to confirm motions that passed at the January 22nd meeting including the appointment of a Senior issues and Youth Representative.

After  speaking with the Legislative Policy Director we have learned that residents of District 4 can submit additional names to be on our list for the appointed offices of Senior Issues Representative and Youth Member.

We expect the appointment of an additional member by Councilmember Spivey.  This will bring us into conformance with the Detroit City Code regarding the quorum rule.

Topic: District 4 Community Advisory Council. Official Meeting.
Time: Wednesday January 27th, 2021 at 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting online:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85312530504?pwd=VFlyeXFETWJ0M0RVWTRrdEh3Ky92dz09

Or join by conventional phone call:

(312) 626-6799
[Please enter Meeting ID and Passcode when prompted followed by “#”]

Meeting ID: 853 1253 0504
Passcode: 372912
Please use “*6” to mute or unmute and use “*9” to raise or lower your hand.

Posted in Community Advisory Council, Community Meeting | Tagged , | 1 Comment

First District 4 Community Advisory Council Meeting

Posted on January 16, 2021 by boman4detroit

Detroit Community Advisory Council is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting

This is the first meeting of this elected public body.
It is an open meeting.

Topic: District 4 Community Advisory Council. Initial Meeting.
Time: Friday January 22nd, 2021 at 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting online:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85312530504?pwd=VFlyeXFETWJ0M0RVWTRrdEh3Ky92dz09

Or join by conventional phone call:

(312) 626-6799
[Please enter Meeting ID and Passcode when prompted followed by “#”]

Meeting ID: 853 1253 0504
Passcode: 372912
Please use “*6” to mute or unmute and use “*9” to raise or lower your hand.

Download Agenda here.

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Thanksgiving Gift For District #4 Residents!

Posted on November 20, 2020 by boman4detroit

Please see this flyer Councilmember Spivey shared

Link to the form to reserve a box.

District 4 Give-away

District 4 Give-away

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Detroit District #4 Residents Elect Their First Community Advisory Council

Posted on November 13, 2020 by boman4detroit

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 4th 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 1st 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.

Posted in Community Advisory Council, News Release, Press Release | Leave a comment

Two Write-in Candidates File to Be on the District 4 CAC

Posted on October 31, 2020 by boman4detroit

Detroit, MI – District four voters may chose from two write-in candidates for the District 4 Community Advisory Council.  They are Washington Youson and Gregory Creswell.

This Tuesday, you can vote for up to five, but only votes for Scotty Boman (balloted) , Gregory Creswell (write-in), and Washington Youson (write-in) will count.  There is no minimum number of candidates voters may chose.

Washington Youson.Gregory Creswell.
Washington Youson (Left) and Gregory Creswell (right). Source: Ballotpedia.

Michigan election law requires local write-in candidates to file a Declaration of Intent with their County Clerk by the second Friday preceding the election they are running in.  This year that was October 23rd.

There is only one balloted candidate (Scotty Boman), and their are five seats to fill.  So the most likely out come is that all three eligible candidates (Boman, Creswell, and Youson) will be elected.  According to the Detroit City Charter, and the municipal code, the remaining vacancies will be filled by the District representative on the Detroit City Council.  That person is Council Member Andre Spivey.

The next step will be for the new CAC to submit recommendations for a senior issues and youth representative to the Council Representative, and he will chose one person from that list for each position.

Posted in Candidates, Community Advisory Council | Leave a comment

Three Candidates File To Be CAC Members

Posted on July 22, 2020 by boman4detroit

Correction:  This post was based on erroneous information and remains here for transparencies sake. It also remains so that anyone referencing it later will see this correction. Regina Ross and Clinton C. Topp are from the Seventh District and filed one year prematurely. The district wasn’t specified in the original document, and CAC candidates were listed together.  Since only the District 4 CAC was up for a vote in 2020 the clerk may have assumed Regina Ross and Clinton C. Topp were seeking top be on the same CAC. Scotty Boman is the only candidate who’s name appeared on the ballot for the District #4 Community Advisory Council.

Detroit, MI – Three candidates for the District 4 Community Advisory Council have filed petitions with the Detroit City Clerk’s Department of Elections.  They are Scotty Boman, Regina Ross, and Clinton C. Topp. These candidates will be on the General Election ballot on November third, and will not appear on the primary ballot (which has already been printed).

The only other candidates to file with the City of Detroit to be placed directly (without winning a primary) onto the General Election ballot are 15 board of education candidates, and two Candidates for the District 2 vacancy on the Board of Police Commissioners.

Both the Community Advisory Council members and Detroit Community School District Board members are non-partisan.  Partisan candidates and candidates without party affiliation will also bypass the primary if they are not running as Democrats or Republicans. In 2018 Libertarian Party qualified to have a primary (Based on 2016 Presidential vote totals), but they lost that status based on gubernatorial vote totals.

Link here for a list of the candidates.

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District 4 Community Advisory Council In Effect By Statute

Posted on June 15, 2020 by boman4detroit

Detroit, MI – The requirements to establish a Community Advisory Council (CAC) for district 4 were met last October when the petitions were submitted, but that wasn’t the end of the story.  The City ordinance that should reflect the Charter was not updated and District 7 remained the only district with a CAC under the municipal code.

The Department of elections follows the municipal code, and those statutes must be approved by the Detroit City Council.  This needed to pass through a committee before going before the body of the whole.  Those responsible weren’t in any big rush, then at the beginning of the year we got an unwanted surprise in the form of the COVID-19 virus.

The City Council rarely met, and when they did the committee meetings (or the placement of the District 4 CAC on the agenda) kept getting postponed. Then, on May 20th the Internal Operations Standing Committee scheduled a Public Hearing relative to the District 4 CAC for Wednesday, May 20th, 2020 at 10:10 A.M. via Zoom.  The committee approved it, so then it was ready for the body of the whole.

The City Council approved the ordinance to amend Chapter 12 of the 2019 Detroit City Code, Community Development, on May 26th with a waiver of reconsideration. Once a waiver was attached, the Clerk gave the business of that day to the Mayor’s Office no later than the end of business that following day for his signature. He had up to 7 business days to return that business with his signature to the City Clerks Office.

The City Council legal office enacted the ordinance and sent it to the Detroit Legal News for publishing. The Detroit Legal News typically publishes items requested three to four days after receipt.  Apparently nothing is official until it is published in the Detroit Legal News.

On June 2nd it was published.

District 4 Community Advisory Council ordinance approved. Posted Jun second.

District 4 Community Advisory Council ordinance approved. Posted Jun second.

How to get on the ballot

Those wishing to be on the November ballot must collect a minimum of 200 valid signatures from registered voters in District 4 by July 21st.  They must be collected on a non-partisan nominating petition.  The word “primary” must be stricken and “general” written above.  Contact the Detroit City Clerk for additional details.

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Public Hearing on Establishing a Community Advisory Council in District 4

Posted on May 18, 2020 by boman4detroit

Link to PDF of the official document

May 12, 2020

Ms. Tonja Long, Law Department Ms. Christina Kennedy, Law Department Ms. Lakisha Barclift, Legislative Policy Division Mr. David Whitaker, Director, Legislative Policy Division

RE: Public hearing on establishing a Community Advisory Council in District 4.Public Hearing – District 4 CAC

The Internal Operations Standing Committee has scheduled a PUBLIC HEARING relative to the above captioned matter for WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2020 AT 10:10 A.M. via Zoom. Please plan to be present.

To attend online: https://cityofdetroit.zoom.us/j/330332554 – Meeting ID: 330332554  To attend by phone only, call one of these numbers: +1-929-436-2866, +1-312626-6799, +1-669-900-6833, +1-253-215-8782, +1-301-715 8592, or +1-346248-7799

Enter Meeting ID: 330332554##

Very truly yours,

Janice M. Winfrey City Clerk

JMW/ag

cc: Ms. Avery Peeples, Legislative Liaison, Mayor’s Office Ms. Paul Corbett, Legislative Policy Analyst, Office of Council Member Roy McCalister

 

Posted in City Council action, Community Advisory Council, Events, publui hearing | Tagged , | Leave a comment