Live reporting by
Amber Umscheid
Both budget hearings were postponed and a discussion about District Detroit continued. Planning & Economic Committee approved the District Detroit tax abatements, sending the matter to the full council for consideration.
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Amber, she/her
@organizedoracle
Good morning! I'll be live-tweeting today's Budget Hearings for the DIA and the Planning & Dev Dept at 10am for #DETdocumenters.
@DetDocumenters media partners: @BridgeDet313 @chalkbeatDET @freep @metrotimes @MichiganRadio @media_outlier @PlanetDetroit @wdet @wxyzdetroit
@DetDocumenters media partners: @BridgeDet313 @chalkbeatDET @freep @metrotimes @MichiganRadio @media_outlier @PlanetDetroit @wdet @wxyzdetroit
08:43 AM Mar 16, 2023 CDT
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Today's agenda is below 👇
I will be covering the 10am Detroit Institute of Arts budget hearing and the 11am Planning and Development Department budget hearing and any related public comment. Then I will link to the next live-tweet thread starting at 2pm. https://t.co/Jzl8GBH9yD
I will be covering the 10am Detroit Institute of Arts budget hearing and the 11am Planning and Development Department budget hearing and any related public comment. Then I will link to the next live-tweet thread starting at 2pm. https://t.co/Jzl8GBH9yD
![](http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1374443943534813185/jttCVWjs_normal.jpg)
🚨 The 10am @DIADetroit Budget Hearing was moved to executive discussion and will not be happening today.
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City Council recessed the budget hearings and called back to order the Planning & Economic Development Meeting to continue a discussion they were having.
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Some notes from the P&E Meeting -- Over 3,000 workers at the LCA as of today including third party contractors. Keith Bradford, Olympia Development President, stated 48% are Detroiters. The starting wage for the majority of employees is $15 or above.
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Olympia Development of Michigan does not currently contribute any funds to the city of Detroit. It was asked if they would institute a 2% ticket surcharge for all entertainment to allow direct revenue to the city?
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Keith stated ODM is not responsible for the operations of the arena and that question about 2% surcharges needs to be directed to the Ilitch organization.
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The discussion of the Planning & Economic Committee that is still happening is around the District Detroit proposal. A summary of the 10 projects included in District Detroit is below, and a copy of the preliminary report can be found at the link posted.
pub-detroitmi.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ash… https://t.co/XJ3zm0Up3a
pub-detroitmi.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ash… https://t.co/XJ3zm0Up3a
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City Council raised they heard that Ross pulled out of the UofM Innovation Center development and the development will move forward with UofM as the primary. Why did Ross pull out? And why has UofM not been engaged in the process yet?
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Ryan Friedrichs, CDO of Detroit, responded that UofM will lead construction of the Academic building and that commitment is strong. The commitment from Stephen Ross for $100 million dollars is still firm. They are set to break ground in Q4 of this year.
![](http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1374443943534813185/jttCVWjs_normal.jpg)
How will they mitigate displacement in and around the district?
Response - council and community recommendations have been built-in to keep things affordable and mitigate displacement.
Response - council and community recommendations have been built-in to keep things affordable and mitigate displacement.
![](http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1374443943534813185/jttCVWjs_normal.jpg)
Why has a racial equity analysis or social impact analysis not been completed?
Response - they have tried to attend about 250 community meetings and working with Detroit Equity Report to monitor priorities.
Response - they have tried to attend about 250 community meetings and working with Detroit Equity Report to monitor priorities.
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Response cont - this work has been rooted in community engagement that led to the five-year framework. Consulting with Metro Detroit Black Business Alliance to out equity at the center.
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🚨 11am Planning & Economic Development Budget Hearing has been recessed. They will reschedule this hearing for a later date.
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If you are interested in watching the discussions around District Detroit still happening you can catch the live feed here >> pub-detroitmi.escribemeetings.com/VideoStream.as…
![](http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1374443943534813185/jttCVWjs_normal.jpg)
Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC) was asked if they were prepared to take on this responsibility and long term commitment to this project? Their response was yes and they are ready for the 5 years.
![](http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1374443943534813185/jttCVWjs_normal.jpg)
I am officially signing off! If you'd like to tune in to the District Detroit conversation happening now check out the live feed above. I will circle back and post the live tweet thread of the 2pm budget hearings here.