Last Wednesday evening, October 22, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan was at Kingdom Apostolic Ministries on Fort Street to meet with residents of District 6 for a charter-mandated community meeting.
“Tonight is not a night to talk about the governor’s campaign, the mayor’s campaign, the city council. Tonight you talk about issues that you have in your neighborhood,” Mayor Duggan said.
This was the last of the charter-mandated meetings for Mayor Duggan, who is currently running as an independent candidate in Michigan’s governor race in 2026. In this forum, attendees were invited to ask questions and request city resources for issues affecting their neighborhood and them as residents of District 6 in Southwest Detroit.
At the meeting, residents offered a mix of gratitude, frustration, and impassioned requests. Duggan and his staff responded in real time, with the mayor calling out department heads mid-meeting to promise investigations or solutions. The 45-minute session reflected both the progress and the lingering challenges that still remain to be resolved in the city.
As with anything political, there were differing opinions on the mayor’s efforts. Most dramatic among the opinions expressed at the meeting was offered by an attendee dressed as a character from the world of Alice in Wonderland.
Resident Joanne Warwick dressed up as the “Mad Hatter” to forcefully ask why the city was developing large solar fields instead of rooftop installations on city buildings. Even though the website for the City of Detroit states that it is the City’s goal to power all of the city’s municipal buildings by 2034, the topic became contentious.
“A rooftop gets you a few solar panels. An acre gets you enough solar panels to power 137 city buildings,” Duggan said.
This was only one of a handful of tense moments.
Jahdante Smith waited in the microphone line and slammed the mayor for his gubernatorial run, sarcastically thanking him for “coming out as a Republican”.
“He came out to be Republican and he stopped hiding behind the Democrat Party. He has not done anything for the Black or Brown community. Our city has come a positive way for big development but not for residents of the city of Detroit,” Smith elaborated after the event.
Beyond these moments, residents raised concerns about the transportation system such as lack of benches at bus stops, inconsistent service, and negative bus driver interactions. Residents noted the current bus delays and inadequate shelters from Michigan’s unforgiving weather.
“I’m 63 and I can’t keep [standing] at buses,” said Tracy from District 5.
According to the DDOT 2023 Title VI Onboard Survey Report, 19% of riders are 58 or older. Benches are an important and necessary addition to bus stops.
The issue of bus scarcity came up at the meeting. Mayor Duggan announced that the city of Detroit currently has 180 buses in service on the roads, and 45 new buses have been purchased by his administration. He credits Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s recently passed FY 26 Budget, which includes a $160 million investment in public transit. The budget will redirect gas and sales tax revenues toward roads and public transit.
In an emotional plea, Mary Perry, a senior who lives downtown, stepped up to the microphone with photographs of mold creeping across her apartment walls.
“[The landlord] won’t fix anything,” Mary Perry said. “They’re trying to force us out.”
Duggan called on his staff to intervene. City attorneys confirmed that while some units in her building are protected as affordable housing, others are being converted to market rate. This has been increasingly common as rents in Downtown Detroit continue to rise.
“If they’re using failure to maintain the building to push people out, we need a legal response,” Duggan said. “We’re going to make sure you’re treated okay.”
Throughout the evening, city officials committed to respond to environmental complaints, transit issues, and housing code violations. As the meeting came to a close, a resident bid farewell to Mayor Duggan’s final charter-mandated meeting with an expression of gratitude to Mayor Duggan and his staff.
“Everyone that has touched my life – I can’t call you all by name, but I want to thank you from my heart for what you meant in my world and my city.”
Estefania Arellano-Bermudez is a Latina freelance writer living in metro Detroit. She is a regular contributor to EL CENTRAL Hispanic News and a member of Planet Detroit’s Neighborhood Reporting Lab.
This article and photos were made possible thanks to a generous grant to EL CENTRAL Hispanic News by Press Forward, the national movement to strengthen communities by reinvigorating local news. Learn more at www.pressforward.news.
