City Council - Regular Meeting

Tuesday, May 19th, 2026, Inkster City Council meeting is now called to order. Everyone, please stand for the prayer. Pastor Crawford, could you lead us?

Good evening, everyone.

Good evening.

Let's bow our heads. Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to you. We thank you for our city. We thank you for the body that governs our city. We ask your blessings upon this meeting. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. Thank you. Continue to stand for the pleasure of leading. I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION, UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. MADAM CLERK, ROLL CALL.

MAYOR NOLAN? PRESENT. Mayor Pro Tem Chisholm. Present. Councilwoman Rutledge. Present. Councilman Bishop.

Present.

Councilwoman Scott. Present. Councilwoman Howard. Here. Councilwoman Richardson. Present. Mayor, you do have a quorum.

Great. Everybody had a chance to look at the agenda? So we added a couple things on the presentation. Dr. Shatina M. Jones-Smith from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, ETA. Eta Iota Omega Chapter Inkster is going to give a presentation about the upcoming community endeavors to positively impact the community. And we also have a presentation by Warner, the Warner Fawcett Program. I think Michael Green is doing that? Okay. All right. With those two additions, is there anything else we need to modify on the agenda?

Boards and commissions.

Boards and commissions, we just do, we just call for an appointment. Okay. Okay. If we don't have any additions or deletions, then do we have a motion to approve the agenda?

So moved.

Second. We're properly moved and seconded. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, say nay. Aye. All right. Presentations. Dr. Joan Smith. Hyphen Smith.

He won't let me live down that I didn't invite him to this wedding. They didn't have that many people in it. All right. So good evening, Mayor Nolan, City Council, and Inkster residents. I'm really excited to share a couple endeavors that we have coming up that will greatly benefit the Inkster community. I want to start first with the event tomorrow. So we've moved to transitioning and hosting conversations going directly to the community. as it relates to things that are impacting you politically. So last month, we talked a little bit about the judges and what are the roles of the judges. This month, we're gonna be talking about the proposed SAVED Act, as well as the gutting of the voter rights. So we have a special attorney who's going to come and have some conversations with us about this. This is virtual. It is free. So all you have to do is scan the QR code. It is on our social media platforms, our websites for you to be able to join. And we would love to have people have conversations about what is happening in real time, as opposed to us sitting, thinking about it, creating a dissertation and a think piece about it in six or seven months. This is happening in real time for us. So we're going to continue to have these conversations. We're looking to have candidate forums as well and have additional information sharing. So as people are asking us things of we need you to sign this for said cause, people know how to read specifically what is being said because we know there's legal jargon. There's also political jargon. And honestly, I have a whole Ph.D. and sometimes I don't understand what these people are putting in. in on these respective ballots, petitions that they're trying to seek for people. So we're trying to make sure that we can make it plain because we're literally fighting for our lives at this point. And that is something that we would like to help ourselves with as well as help our community with. So kind of coupled with that on Saturday, we have a free event, Shred Day. Now, listen, with ai with the scammers we need everybody to come and bring their documents um so that you can get rid of them safely we will not have electronic shredding this time we're looking to have electronic sharing uh shredding in the fall but bring all those old text documents if you like me you still write checks we will shred on site but we need all of our we need people to show up and get rid of the documents so that we can safely do that so we can we can literally save ourselves ones from one uh scammer at a time So we would love to have you out. It's going to be at the recreation center in the parking lot. It's going to be on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. So ask everybody to come out and they will shred it on site so you can watch all of your documents going there. So we've shredded our sorority documents. We've shredded checks, financial things, all of those pieces so that we can safely get rid of those documents. And last but not least, okay, I went the other way, sorry. Okay, Troy, what'd I do?

Okay, here we go.

I can do it from here. All right, Cher. Just kidding. I don't know what I did, but I'm going to figure it out. So our last event, coupled with some of this, did I do it right? Okay, see, you came just in time, friend. Thank you. But you got the magic. So as we talk about the things that are happening in society, right? I don't know about you, but I have to turn off social media. I have to stop talking to people. And honestly, I don't watch the news. I read the newspaper though, but I do not watch the news. But we are having some real conversations with our sisters of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated, Zeta New Chapter, And we're talking about an area of mental health that is centered around women as it relates to hormonal changes, your bodies, what's happening. People keep talking about a perimenopause. What is that? A menopause? What's happening with your bodies? And this is free for everyone. It is open. And we would love to have as many women as possible to come and check in and engage and just, you know, Get into it with your body and look at wellness and what that looks like for you. So we're hoping that we can get as many people to come and connect with us at that respective event as possible. Now, those are just our events. So this is hot off the press. So don't get me, Madam Clerk. So we went and had our AKA day at the Capitol today. And, you know, I met. with Mayor Nolan's favorite House of Representatives today. So a couple of things that we ask. So when we go, we always have a session with him because we're here. You're going to talk to us. You can't run. You can't hide. We're going to talk to you right here in person. So we did kind of check with him on some of the things that he said he was going to do. And there are some projects that are not Haven't been done yet. So we wanted to check in on the project that he was trying to do or initiative he was trying to do with Thompson Towers, which he was working with Councilwoman Scott Owens. So he was telling us that he needed a little bit of help. So we did want to offer our help with that initiative to figure out how else can we keep that going? Because I'm like y'all, I'm in the Facebook groups. I see the people talking and we want to be as helpful as possible. So if we could help you with that initiative, wherever... We left off it. We would love to help you all in that endeavor. And of course, we're going to be holding a candidate forum. So we're looking at a governor forum. We're looking at I think it's the attorney general right now, the attorney general. There is no Democratic candidate. So we don't know how, you know, beneficial that will be for us. But we're trying to bring those individuals to answer. No, there's a Democratic candidate. But he's the only one. So he's not going in a primary. At least that's what he told us today. He told us today he's not running against anybody. He's just going to be in November, right?

He's running against a Republican in November.

Correct. So he said he wasn't running against nobody else. That's what he told us this morning.

Well, in August, he's not on the ballot.

Correct. So we are looking at trying to bring people to Inkster, though, so that people can see and touch and feel and connect to people. We know that there are quite a bit of residents in Inkster and we want people to be able to see who is in their respective area and who's voting for them. So those are some things that we have that we're working on. And if you know of any candidates who we might not know of that may be a friend, may look like us, who need some exposure, please connect with us. And with that, that's it. That's all I have. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Shredding.

Oh, God, no. We paid on people. So you just go ahead and bring everything you have. Bring everything you have, please.

Garage. The garage. The garage. The whole garage.

All right. Michael Green. Priscilla Crawford.

Good afternoon, Mayor, Council, City, Inkster residents. On tonight, we present to you some good news that we're going to spread. I heard someone say, all right, and that's regarding, I heard that, that's regarding the Lead in Waterfalls program, which is in the city, and the program was created to support, of course, pregnant mothers, and I think there's a Okay. The Fawcett filter safely net program, which is known as LEAP, has been very successful within our city. And so we're just going to give an overview of how we've been doing and just the progress on it. We're going to go to the stats. So within the city of Inkster, as of today, we have reached 3,787 households. There are some households that are ineligible, and that's based on some of the criteria in the home. They may be within the zip code or were previous Medicaid recipients. We weren't able to reach those group of families. And right now, with the applications that have been submitted to the state and approved, Michael and I are very successful in having all of those completed. So they're not waiting on us. We're waiting on them. And that is also good news. In addition to that, we're very thankful for Councilwoman Rutledge, who also gave us some of the filters that came in through through the city to get to some residents that don't apply. But again, for some of the seniors that have seen our number on the billboard will call us to say I heard you have filters. So we have been given out a few of those as well.

Okay, so I'm Michael Green, and we are doing a great job with the three faucet filter program. However, the numbers that you're looking at, that you just saw, we are at 100% of what has come in, which is great. However, we've reached every citizen that's eligible in the City of Eastern, but the return A film of crime hasn't come back as we have hoped. The thing is, the blue box up there, what was it? Right now, I can't see it.

3,787.

So 3,787 is what's in the city right now. And when we started this program, or when the program started, we had 2,942. When you look down at the bottom where it says 47, those are the ones completed, which is 100%. of what has come in the problem is we were hopeful that the returns would be higher so we were hoping to at least get 50 of that 2942 in in the first year well we haven't gotten it we're only at 3.2 percent so i We've done everything we can as far as making the contacts, but the citizens need to return our calls or return the applications to us. Now we did partner with Home Depot and they're doing a lot of phone calls and they're actually even doing the applications on the phone with you. And so there's really no reason to not apply for it. It's a free program. And when we come out to do the home assessments, when we do the home assessments, the problems, if you have additional problems in the home, The photos go to home depot into the state. And the state looks at those photos as well, which means that if there's something going on in the whole galvanized pipes inside the home, or something that they may see as a problem, they will contact you. And provide some additional resources for you. So the city. IT'S DOING EVERYTHING IT CAN, BUT NOW WE'RE GOING TO MOVE INTO OTHER OUTREACH PROGRAMS AND PARTNER UP WITH SOME OF THE CITY NONPROFITS, LIKE THE BLOCK, WHAT DO THEY CALL THE COMMUNITY?

BLOCK CLUBS.

SO IF THERE'S BLOCK CLUBS THAT ARE SEEING THIS, CONTACT US. IF YOU HAVE AN EVENT, LET US KNOW. WE'RE GOING TO WORK ON TRYING TO PUT AN EVENT TOGETHER WITH ALL OF THE NONPROFITS TO HELP US. So we need the community to step up. If there's something we could do, we're trying to do it. And of course, as Priscilla mentioned, we have a list of resources that we could help you with. We just need you to contact us. I'm going to say this. When we talked about who's going to do what, so we decided we're going to do the good cop, bad cop. I'm the bad cop. If you live in a housing complex, if you live in a housing complex, we have about a little over 500 residents in the housing complexes like Dearborn View, Canterbury Woods. Those complexes, we have to get, if you live in one of those complexes and you want to take advantage of this program, notify us. The only housing complex that has came on board with us is Heatherwoods. Heatherwoods is the only one that has came on board with us to help their residents. So if anyone is watching this and you live in one of the complex, the flats, Canterbury, Dearborn View, if you live in any of those, contact us. Let your management company know that you want to partake in this program so we can get you in the system. And that's pretty much all I have.

Any questions?

Yes. Excuse me. So just in that apartment complexes, I was just curious if they opt in, and this is from a mechanical standpoint, how does that work with you changing out that infrastructure?

Well, not you specifically, but whomever does what happens is that once the application goes in and goes to the state, once the state approve it, they send us a list. Every Thursday, we get a list of all the approved applicants. Then it's our job to contact the resident. We schedule what's called a home assessment. So we go out to the home, we literally take pictures of the faucet, the border lines for water heater, the water meter. We bring those back and then we submit those up into the system. It goes to home Depot. Now, when it comes to the apartment complexes, it's a little bit different because all we could really do with the apartment complex is take pictures of the sink, the upper and the lower lines coming in. Now, Home Depot does all the installation. And if there's a problem with the faucet down the road, Home Depot will correct it. It does not fall on the city and it does not fall on the management company to do the repairs if there's any problems with it. Home Depot stands by it.

So, Councilman Chisholm, to answer your question as well as all the information Michael gave you, there's a letter that is submitted in communication from the management, the head of the management, to us to say they are on board with Home Depot coming in. So, therefore... the apartment complex isn't liable, but that's the communication we have. And again, Michael said, Heatherwood is the only complex right now that has agreed to do that. And trust me, we've circled back with them. We circled back. Now that the weather is broken again, we've already held one community day at Heatherwood. We're going to have an additional community day just to remind you, hey, we're here. It's just a matter of filling out the paperwork. And also once the approval is for these applications, We give this elaborate gift basket.

Well, she does that.

So it's a gift basket within the grant to say we appreciate you filling out the application. And it's been a favor. It's been one of those things people love to smile at.

Just out of curiosity, because... Sherry Hill Manor and Dearborn View are in my district. Have you had any successful communication or they give you the cold shoulder?

We have done phone calls, which one is yours? Dearborn View? Both of them.

And the other one is? Sherry Hill Manor.

Okay. So we've done both of them on the phone and in person. Okay. And matter of fact, one time we were out at Dearborn View and the management company was there. And they promised us an email to give us the authority, and we still have not received it.

So as of this day, no. So if you have some weight to put on them, support, please give them a call. Give us a call. We'll meet you there. We'll circle back. But we need a definite yes before we can proceed. Okay. And thank you for your support.

And let me say this, too. It's not just homeowners. Okay? It doesn't have to. You don't have to be a homeowner. If you're a renter, it's the same process. If you're eligible, if that's where you're living, you're entitled to be part of this program. The only difference is the same with the private complexes. We just have to get the homeowner to co-sign off on it with you, the occupant, for a speech.

One last question, just to refresh it. Is it based off income, or what's the eligibility again, or requirements?

If you are a Medicaid recipient, and you have a child in the home that's under 19 years of age, they do have some

We have recently had some special circumstances that allow a child over that age to be approved, and it's based on a diagnosis, which also supports the child still having Medicaid or children still having Medicaid because, you know, there's an income cap. So with a disability or a diagnosis from a physician, they still can't qualify. We had, like, two last week. And, again, we do the same thing. We give them a gift basket as well.

Okay.

Thank you. Thank you.

Any other questions? When you talk about Medicaid, that is income restricted. So what are we doing with seniors? Because I get a lot of calls from the seniors. And before, Whitney, we had the filters. They could switch out the filters.

The seniors... We've met with the state repeatedly and the state has told us they're working on some things. but this program does not cover seniors. We get the applications, and I tell you, if you're a senior and you submit the application, I have a file just for those applications that don't qualify. So if the state ever come back around and say, this is what we're doing, I do keep a running file on those. But you have to keep in mind, this is about households that's receiving Medicaid, but more importantly, about children in the home if the lead levels could possibly be high.

Particularly the younger children. I got it. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you all.

Then the inkster is involved.

Oh, with the success of RX Kids, which is also a component, we're not the, we don't hold that program within our program, but it's linked to a resource. And as of today, we have the city of Inkster has distributed $353,000. If everyone could clap for that, because they can. That money can't go out if participants don't sign the application. And so when we go into homes, we take that resource as well. And I am waiting on the state. We normally have a, that's a card. It's a business card. It's about this big. So I have asked them to downsize it because I'm not going to walk up to a woman in the grocery store with a card this big. But I will hand out a business card if I'm out. So we have great success with that program. And the numbers are still going up. So please spread the word if you need any material for that. We have bears. We have literature. Just call one of us. We'll be happy to bring it to you or you can meet us with it.

And also we did an event over at DHS over here. And we were surprised to learn, this is about our kids, we're surprised to learn while they're doing the filter of water that they have Diapers.

They have a diaper program. If anyone qualifies on the DHS, you can walk in and say, I qualify, and you can get diapers and Pampers on hand.

When I say we have resources, we go to homes that they have no idea of what's available in the city and try to get that out there.

All right.

Thank you.

One more question. Age of a home is a fact, isn't it?

Age of a home is a fact.

Okay, so again, it is and it isn't. So once we take the pictures and I send all the information up to the state, some of the questions on that questionnaire that I fill out is, was the home built before 1978? So they are keeping track of this data. So, and a lot of times the occupant don't know when the home was built, but we are recording. It is part of the process. Um, wearing shoes in the home where the kids drink from outside water faucets and things of that nature and all that's covered. Mr America cannot can make 1 we do make 1 comment about the.

Okay, sure.

Okay. Real brief. I like what. We're saying, if you don't remember the history. You bound to do what we do, right? And reason why I said that is because. If you remember back in 2006, the AKAs are stepping up to educate people on the verbiage on these changes that's coming through with elections and whatnot. If you remember, what happened in 2006? People remember? Questions? Exactly. The verbiage in affirmative action was so confusing to people, Michigan ended up losing affirmative action in 2006. So it's good, and I appreciate them doing that. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

Can you all send me all of the resources that you have that you hand out? Because we're trying to make a comprehensive database for all families in the city. And so this can be like a subheading as well for expecting mothers or mothers with young kids. So if you guys can send that email or something. Thank you.

All right. All right.

We're going to move on to no public hearings tonight. Consider agenda. We're probably moved and seconded. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Passes. Boards and Commissions.

Mr. Mayor, I'd like to reappoint Rochelle Wells to the Commission on Aging.

Okay. Do we have a motion?

Second. She's second. She moved.

Okay. We're probably moved. And second, any discussion? All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Opposed, say nay. Passes. Thank you. Anybody else?

Yes. I would like to reappoint Ruth Williams to the Commission on Aging. So moved.

Okay, moved. And second. And second. Probably moved and second. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, say nay. Passes. anybody else it was a statement made or something last time about the boards of commissioners at the last meeting but i forgot uh when more stepped down from district uh from parks and rights oh we needed uh for uh district five so we gotta find somebody all right okay we're gonna move forward then um we're gonna move on no ordinance for first or second reading and even got the new business

Consider authorizing the administration to adopt the Wayne County Hazardous Mitigation Plan 2025 update for fiscal year 2026. Second.

We'll probably move to second. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Passes. Public participation. A.C. Williams.

Good evening, Mayor, Council, and residents. As Councilwoman Scott just mentioned, Inkster is inviting local businesses, nonprofit organizations, and individuals with a passion for making a difference to please participate in a central registry we're trying to create that allows people to see what's available out there as far as the different services that are being offered. So we've heard services for women and youth, I know financial and housing services have come up in these meetings, and sometimes it's kind of hard to know who's offering what when, and we would like to be the facilitator in getting that data and that information. It's really quick. It takes less than a minute to fill out. You just say who you are, your contact information, your website, click, click, click on what you offer, and hit submit. So it won't take a lot of time at all. There is a flyer. It looks like this that's available. on the website and i know it's posted on social media or the city's social media pages so you can scan the qr code it'll take you right to the registry and we're hoping that once we get enough data we can actually set it up so that you can filter out what you're looking for by like service or something like that so please i'm encouraging there should be a few people that i should be able to hand this out to before i leave here today And please, please participate in this. And then I just have one other thing. I'm on the planning commission and I'm taking the lead in helping Inkster become a redevelopment ready community. If you haven't heard what that is, becoming an RRC or being on the RRC certified path is a technical assistant program offered by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. So when we're certified, which I hope will be by the end of June, we will be available for certain money and it kind of communicate communicates to the public that we are in a place ready for redevelopment and encouraging businesses to come to the city of Inkster because we streamlined our processes and we're making it hopefully easy for people to live and work here so we actually are trying to and as far as I can tell we're on track to having our joint session at the City Council meeting on June 1st. And it is a requirement of the RRC, so that's one of the things that I'm trying to check off our to-do list so that we can get certified by the end of June. And the joint session, the joint meeting between the Planning Commission and the City Council is one of those things. There, of course, you'll have your regular agenda, but then we'll hopefully also adding progress on the master plan, some of the steps we've taken towards implementing those goals and hopefully also the economic plan which is also a part of the master plan and the master plan was adopted in spring of 2025 and so I just wanted to of course give a friendly reminder or let you know that that's what we're trying to do for June 1st and then of course the public is also welcome to participate that's it for me thank you

And we're going to eventually get our DDA back because that will probably go hand in hand with what's new.

We can reactivate it. I mean, we just have to appoint some folks and get them to meet. They haven't met in a long time.

And TIFRA, right? It's typically the same thing.

So I think we had the DDA and TIFRA work.

It was hand in hand. So what they're doing with the planning commission, it looks like they would come over to the DDA and TIFRA.

Yeah, it certainly is connected for sure. We have to get those boards going. So we need to think of some people who are actually going to be active. Because TIFA is supposed to capture money and then do things in the community. So we have to get people who actually want to do something other than just sit on the board. Because there's no point to meet for the purposes of a meeting. We've got to actually do something.

Can something go on the website to attract, you know, if people looking on the website can see, maybe they might come in.

Maybe we should put something out over social media, maybe marketing both of those boards and ask people to contact us if they're interested. And then we can kind of start that. People go to the website and see it, but I think if you go to social media, you'll get more eyeballs on it.

Okay. Okay. This is a serious issue. Yeah, it's different. Maybe a year ago or two years ago, yeah.

Send us a list of what's vacant, and so we'll know. We can post that also.

Thank you. Maybe we can offer, like, maybe planning, Stephen. And I see like some guidance on certain boards as well. So I think, I think that's where kind of our boards get lost in the sauce is like kind of like not truly understanding like what they're supposed to do and like the power that they actually like have.

We actually did update the applications themselves for each board that explains what our ideal candidate or, you know, a board member would be depending on what the board is. You know, so what your background, you know, things like that, knowledge, skills, what you'll learn. So if they, there should be a link to the application. So if we promote it on social media and we refer them to the application, the application is broken down by what the ideal background knowledge skills are.

Maybe we'll post that link and then get people to call in.

It's been a long time since both boards have been active.

You can always, you know, pass a policy to make it a yearly review of your policies and procedures when you get on these boards and commissions. Oh, really?

I take the lead on that one.

Yeah, sounds like you just volunteered. Chief Jenkins.

Good evening, everyone. Good evening, Mayor, Council, and residents. I just want to remind everyone that the Memorial Day Parade is Monday, May 25th, starting at noon. Anyone that's participating in the parade is asked to check in at 10 o'clock a.m. We will be starting from the same point we started last year, which is... The shops at the center right there where the post office is on Michigan Avenue, that's where we'll start gathering. One other thing that I would like to advise everyone of is we are starting a curfew in the city of Inkster. So anyone 17 and under should be in the home, in their houses by 10 p.m., between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. if they're not accompanied by an adult. we're going to have zero tolerance. This curfew is going to be enforced immediately. And anybody found in violation will be ticketed. And each ticket is a misdemeanor. So it's not a citation or fine, but it is a misdemeanor charge. That's all I have.

All right.

That's good. April Gere.

Good evening, Mayor, Council. Good evening. I'm just here as a reminder, the Wesleyan A. Bennett Foundation is going to have the Juneteenth Parade, June 13th. That's a Saturday from 1 to 4. And we recently had a Juneteenth coloring contest. And I'm pleased to announce we have two winners. We have a Mr. Juneteenth, Marcus Carr, and a Miss Juneteenth, Astrid Sanchez Aguilar. And they're both students at Daly Elementary School here in Inkster. Mm-hmm. So I'm going to remind you guys, please bring a child and join us as we highlight genealogy. tree you can do the same the kids are going to be making they're going to be planting juneteenth seeds do they know what kind of foods we have at juneteenth and they'll make family tree hats maybe as nice as this one with pictures i don't know and we'll have a photo op for families and so forth we got a juggler coming out we got a unicycle so please miss triplet can you make sure the street is kind of fixed over there so they don't get stuck in a hole And thank you very much. Over at the Leanna Hicks Public Library, we have a big event. So thank you all very much.

April, didn't we lose somebody last year in the pothole? That's so insane. I think we lost somebody last year. Ew. Kwame Hampton.

Good morning, Mayor.

Good morning, Constable. Good evening. Good evening. It's okay. Yeah, me too.

It was like, good morning.

I'M HERE ON BEHALF OF FRESHWATER FUTURE. I'M THE COMMUNITY PROGRAM COORDINATOR. WE DONATED A SERIES OF FILTERS TO THE CITY TO HELP OUT. REALLY, I'M JUST HERE TO LISTEN, YOU KNOW, FLY ON THE RAW AND SEE HOW WE CAN HELP OUT ANY FURTHER. A LITTLE BIT ABOUT FRESHWATER FUTURE, WE'RE A NONPROFIT organization in the Great Lakes. We are focused on helping communities protect their water, also provide climate resiliency, as well as access to resources. Some of those access to resources include funding, toolkits, technical support, as well as pathways for community knowledge to help them gather information to have community-based solutions. So really, I'm just here to help out in regards to the lead issue in Inkster. And if you have any information that you want to share with me, I'm here to listen and take back to my crew. So thank you for having me.

I don't know if you recognize him. He has a pretty famous last name. I don't know if you guys recognize him. Ashana Butts.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Good evening.

I am just making a friendly announcement. The Rec Center, our phone lines have been down here and there over the past couple of months. We are aware of it. The director has it being taken care of, so You're getting phone calls from people saying they can't reach the recreation center. Something's going on with our phone lines. We are aware of the issue. We're working on getting it completed as soon as possible.

All right. Thank you. Good to see you. That's it.

Oh. Oh, we got it. We have a. Boy, you can see it.

Pursuant to the American with Disabilities Act, I want the following public comment read at the upcoming Inkster City Council meeting. This is from Charles Blackwell. Good evening. I truly feel bad for Inkster District 1 residents. Councilwoman Felicia Rutledge does nothing for her council district, and she can't name five major improvements she has done for her council district.

On another note, I want the public to know that Inkster Councilman Steven Andre Chisholm retaliated against me in 2022, and now he is facing a large financial lawsuit liability to me in federal court.

All right. So now we can move on to happier stuff. Madam Clerk.

Nothing much, Mayor. Just gearing up for early voting in the August primary. Just ordered our AB ballot, so just waiting on that to be brought in.

Did we miss a slip? Come on.

Make sure you state your name so we can write it down. Can I have your name? Oh, we got it.

It's Tyson Radney.

That's not it. That's not it. District 6.

I can't hear you.

Get the mic. Talk in the mic. There you go. Tyson Radney. I'm in District 6 right there. And I heard Ms. Simons Jenkins say something about the curfew for the younger adults. Right there on Michigan Avenue. What are we doing for the older people? adults it's so much traffic it's so many people that's at that gas station and right there uh and the only reason i'm asking is because that's mainly downtown if i i know people all around inkster if i go anywhere else that's the only place that has that large large status of people consistency i'm coming home two or three o'clock in the morning from work and i can't stop the gas station i'm doing circles in my complex just to make sure everything is okay no it's not directly on you for sure but if we can put something together i know it's a problem because we have the hotels and motels right there i'm quite sure you know more than anyone i think we need to put something together because it's still our downtown It's ridiculous. At the bus stop, it's all type of stuff going on. So if we can, put something together. That's all.

So we definitely, that's something that I can make sure that my midnight crew knows, that people are hanging out at the gas station so that they can do some enforcement. Absolutely. Thank you.

Thank you. And finally, we have Mr. Gabe Henderson who came in a little later. You almost missed the whole meeting.

Hello, family. How's everybody doing today? Love y'all and all that. I come to apologize. I'm a tough man. For years, I worked with the Inkster Beautification, right? Now, I woke up Saturday morning and I went to the kitchen and all of a sudden, I had a whole week of dishes in the sink. Seriously, I saw all these ants. I said, you know what? I better wash these dishes because I got all these ants. And you know what I forgot to do? I had beautification. You know, I suppose I had donuts, coffee, and all that stuff. I know the dumpster was there, was the most important, one of the more important. And I want to apologize to the, you know, the citizens of the institution that I wasn't there with coffee and donuts and bags and, you know, gloves and all that. But like I said, I woke up and I said, oh Lord have mercy. I had a whole weeks of dishes and I said, I better wash these dishes. And I forgot all about instant beautification. I want to apologize to you. But I'm going to make it up next month. That's all I got to say. I apologize.

Love y'all.

Dashaun Coyle. So last comment.

Good evening, everybody. I was actually coming up here to, I stay on Michigan Ave in particular, and there is so much prostitution and prostitutes walking up and down the streets. Do we have a way to address this? I know we put a curfew in, but there's so many people pulling into my complex where I live where I have to say something to get them to leave. We'll call the police, but it takes so long for them to get there that they're already done with the act. Is there a way for you guys to address this?

Yeah, we can actually, there's several things that we can do. We can set up details to where we can go after those particular things specifically. That's something that I will take back to my team and we'll definitely put something together and maybe go hard in that area so that we'll have more of a presence there.

Okay, because on my way here, I stopped at the gas station right here on Michigan Ave between Meadowvale and Inkster Road, and as soon as I pulled up, one of the young ladies walked up to my vehicle. So they're doing it right now. If you actively go up there right now, you'll see the same woman. She's wearing all black.

Okay. That's it. All right, thank you.

All right, Madam Clerk.

I already stated my name, Mayor. Mr. Treasurer.

Uh, good evening council, um. Just wanted to let it let the residents know that the, with the Department of public services, we started our grass cutting for the for the summer for the cutting season. And that includes the vacant lots as well as the parks. We're cutting all the parks and preparation for the upcoming Memorial holiday weekend. And so we've got a number of grass cutters, some local contractors that'll be cutting vacant lots all across the entire city. But if there are any complaints, we encourage people to use our Blight hotline and email account to bring any of those to our attention. But we are getting out there, cutting these lots, and we want to stay in front of it for the summer.

Okay.

All right. Thank you.

Can he repeat? Tell them what number did he call for?

Thank you. I was waiting for somebody. Yeah, I got you. Appreciate you. The hotline for Blight is area code 313-741-5605. That's 313-741-5605. You can also send an email to blight, B-L-I-G-H-T, at cityofvinkster.com. MI.gov.

Okay. All right.

Mayor and Council of Communication. Councilwoman Howard.

I have nothing at this time.

Councilman Bisham. Nothing at this time. Councilwoman Rutledge.

Nothing tonight, Mayor.

Councilwoman Richardson. Nothing tonight, Mayor.

Ooh.

Councilwoman Scott. Pressure is on.

Sorry. So I do have a couple of things. One, CBI Day in Lansing. So it's Community Violence Intervention Advocacy Day is in Lansing, June 10th and June 11th. We're working with, well, I'm working with a local organization, Mines, as well as Force Detroit. It's a large day where a group of us go up to Lansing and just kind of advocate for CVI. I know we have a couple CVI grants out. So I really look forward to kind of going up and kind of seeing what other cities do as well. This is a statewide day. So I just saw someone from Flint, maybe like Saturday. I'm guessing there's 2,500 people. So it's like Flint. I know they said Benton Harbor has a big presence. Benton Harbor, Detroit, obviously. And so I just kind of want Inkster to get on the map as well. And, you know, allow us to advocate for ourselves as well. You know, those bigger cities always get the funding, but we could use some help as well here at home. So if anyone is interested, I can email a flyer. I didn't print it out today. Sorry. And I can see if we can post it either on social media or online. Yeah, so my email is lscott at cityofinkstermi.gov. So if you're interested, please email me. They will provide hotels for Wednesday night and transportation up. So please take advantage of that. I'll be up there. And then also I have a coding camp coming to the Simmons Center. It will be the end of June, so June 29th through, I think, July 2nd. Don't quote me exactly. I'm not looking at the calendar or the flyer. But we do have a couple spots open. It's for 6th through 8th graders. The reason why I didn't kind of overly send it out is because that's kind of getting confusing to people. So it's 6th through 8th graders. We do have a limited amount of spots. If you're interested, please email me as well. If you follow me on social media, you'll find it there as well. Little plug. And that's it.

Thank you. Councilwoman Rutledge?

Yeah, I just want to thank the Inkster Cobras. The house, the Inkster Task Force house was almost broken into, and one of the members actually held the person there, I think, until the police came. And so I just want to thank the Inkster Cobras for being on the lookout at that particular location.

Yes. See something, say something. I work that many.

That's how it used to be.

Please ask about the Michigan Municipal League and the books we used to receive. Once... I'm sorry. Go ahead. We were just... Briefly talking about the Michigan Municipal League and the books we used to receive. And then once we were kind of talking about it, I looked and I realized I hadn't gotten any emails from them now since... March or April. So I didn't know if maybe... I know sometimes when different representatives in offices switch hands, the correspondences get sent out differently or the emails need to be updated. But tell us what Howard's asking about the books. Have we gotten those on? I haven't seen any books.

Are we still a member with NML? Yes.

Oh, yeah.

So we probably need to give them a call. I'm sorry for...

We probably need to update our email addresses with them, too.

We'll send an email with all of the updated emails.

Those books were very informative. They had a lot of them on DDA and how different communities do work with their DDA and organizations. Thank you, Gene. I'm sorry.

No, you're good. May I present? Just following up on that, I actually was drafting one today, but I haven't sent it out yet. Excuse me. A reminder email about updating the domain names for, excuse me. We live in Michigan, y'all, and it's allergy season. So I apologize. Everybody's my savior now, huh? Thank you. I was going to send out an email about that because I started the process, and I just wanted to tell my colleagues and the employees, just Zoom alone with updating my login information from .com or from at cityofinkster.com to at cityofinkstermi.gov was lengthy. It was four different authentication processes. When the deadline hits for this full transition to be complete, if that stuff has not transitioned or been updated, you will be locked out of other accounts. And if you hit forgot path sort of stuff and it's going to the old stuff, it might not be a way for you to log into your old account. You may have to create a new one. So that was just a reminder I was going to send out to everybody because IT won't be able to help you after that transition has completed.

I have a question as well then. So I know we got an email saying that we don't need new business cards or anything like that. But they have all that information. So we are going to order new business cards.

We actually already started ordering.

Is there any way to extend that a little bit longer to kind of make the transition a little bit more smooth?

We talked about that. I think Darren brought that point up. We talked to IT about it. He was looking to cut it off very soon. Yeah, like next week. Yeah. So I had ordered new cards and I'm still getting the emails forwarded from my old email address that everybody still has. So, yeah, we'll have a staff meeting tomorrow. You need some extra time, essentially.

Yeah, I just feel like it's going to be a lot of emails lost. Like, you know what I mean? So when you cut it out, like, and there's no real clear communication unless they email you currently that we're switching over. So I don't know if we can own those domains for maybe like another year just to kind of like let it kind of slowly win itself out. I don't think we can do it that long.

But I was thinking, you know, he said that we should send out to all our contacts our new email address.

Yes. If you look, it's just not to step on your toes. If you extend this a year, nobody's going to kick it up a notch and actually feel the process.

I mean, I just mean, I mean, it's our, it's kind of done for us. You know what I mean? But like to say like, I'm going to send it out to all my contacts, like my, I'm going to send it out to all my constituents. Like, you know what I mean? Like if that's like kind of been what they've been emailing me and we know that Inkster, like we are people of habit. Right. And so it takes us a little bit longer to, to make transitions, especially when it comes digitally, you know, does that make sense? Yeah. So that's just my only worry.

If we make the transition, we'll, you know, work with it, but it's just... One of the things I recognize when sending emails, I just was made aware of it about a couple weeks ago, it automatically populates, you know, your emails, when I send you all emails, it automatically populates into the new email.

Internally.

Internally within... You know, my email account, when I'm sending an email, which is outside of the City of Eastern emails from our law firm, it automatically populates to the new emails. I mean, it gives you an option. I just know to choose the new one.

Okay, but then once he cuts it off, if you send it to the old one, we just won't get it. Right.

was going to say too one other thing i mean in this this one of those organizational processes and it takes a lot um for some of our residents over the years i start adding them to their own uh group so if i do send a mass email out but i had not actually documented each and every single one like mml simcog and all these different accounts now i'm having to do that just for record purposes so you can't just send it out to that one particular group but that's helpful but i'm like lindsay said unless A lot of times when we email residents and if it bounces back, they go to the website, say, oh, let me make sure I have the right email. That's the only way, you know, that you know. Anyway, or anyhow, I should say, Code Red, if anybody here is not signed up, please let me know. I'll get you signed up at the end of the meeting. I did run into a resident in the past couple weeks ago who mentioned they had absolutely no idea what was happening in Inkster. They don't get any alerts. All those types of things, right? And I was stuck and lost by it because we know anything that we want to find out, what do you do? Come to City Hall. What do you do? Contact your council person. Contact the mayor's office. So that's why I just mentioned that because I ended up emailing all the information on how to sign up for notifications from the website, how to sign up for Code Red, and those other things. It's real simple, but I just wanted to be mindful of reminding anybody that's out here that not signed up or maybe you're having an issue receiving notifications just let us know this evening after the meeting um in that past two weeks we've attended some wayne westland community school district meetings and i believe the mayor will give you a great briefing on that um and we also attended myself i'm sorry me myself um some of our colleagues attended the wayne westland community school board meetings And then myself and Mayor Nolan also attended the Romulus School Board meeting this past Monday. And that was very interesting as well. And I guess I'll just tell everybody, the sister of former Mayor Harry Hampton said to tell everyone hello, because she was there as well.

And that's all I have to say. Just real briefly, a handful of us did attend the Wayne Westland School Board meeting last night, where on the agenda was the tabled matter from the last meeting regarding our property that used to be part of Inkster Public Schools. We were asked them to go into a partnership to put us on the deed, and so we could make joint decisions together as to what happened with that property going forward. um they decided last night not no one made the motion who could have made the motion to take it off the table and so they could vote on it so essentially they let it die they do not want to give us the property back or go into partnership with us with the property so instead of taking that vote they just let it die um So we sat there for many hours, started at 5 o'clock. I think we left there about 8.20, 8.30, and that's what it is. So I'm going to try to force their hand. We had one board member missing who was in support of giving us our land back or going into partnership, I would say. So I'm going to see if at the next meeting he will make the motion to partner with us. Knowing they're going to vote it down, but I want them to have to take that vote on the record. So it happens to be an election year. It's some of the people who don't want to vote in favor of partnering with us, with our land, or I keep calling it our land. I guess I say their land at this point. They're up for election this year. I want to make it clear that we need to get out and vote. If anybody does not support working together, they have a school in our city that we service them. They have over 1,200 of our children. they get $10,000 plus per child, and they're basically spitting our face. Sandra Wiley spoke. Councilwoman Richardson spoke, talked about our heritage, our history of the school, how proud and important that is to our community. And one of the board members in his final comment said, you know what, I don't support giving you your land back, but once we sell the land and get all the money, we'll buy you a nice trophy case so you can put your trophies and plaques in. I've never heard anything that condescending and disrespectful in my life. I was sitting there, and I kept my poker face because they were trying to push our buttons so we can act a fool up in the meeting. And we did not do that. We were professional. We stood there. I just went up and had a few words, polite words, with a couple of the board members afterwards. But they basically said, forget y'all. And that was pretty much their attitude. You know, it's wild. But, you know, that's what it is. But, you know, we are we're playing chess, not checkers. So that's just the first move. I told them if they're unable to successfully sell the property, then maybe we'll revisit this issue in the future. Meaning I think they're going to have a hard time because it's something we did. to protect our property. But we'll see how it plays out. And we will keep you updated as to what's going on. But we want you to know who was hostile to us. And so we can make sure we get out and vote. It's a governance election this year. We should have a high turnout. We can make a difference as to who's sitting on that board.

I'm sorry, they also said that you can buy the land.

Yeah, so we can buy it back from them if they want. I said, you guys didn't pay $1 for it, so why would we have to buy it back from them? But, you know, duly noted. The disrespect is duly noted. But that's all I have tonight. Do we have a motion to adjourn? We'll probably move to second. Discussion? All those in favor say aye. Opposed say nay. Thank you. Meeting adjourned.

Thank you.