City Council - Regular Meeting

Please rise for the pledge of allegiance.

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. Good evening, honorable city council members, mayor, our deputy clerk, our city attorney, chief of staff, administrative staff, um those who are in the audience this evening, and to those who's viewing our broadcast um tonight's meeting via our broadcast channel and YouTube live. Welcome to the city of Ramla City Council regular meeting. Today's date is Monday, February 23rd, 2026. Members of the public wishing to participate in this meeting may do so under the public comment portion of the agenda, which is agenda number eight. We encourage everyone to please fill out a request to speak public comment card, which is located on the table in the back of the chambers and then handed to the deputy clerk. Please note that members of the public who submitted the cards will be um called upon first to speak. Okay. Um and at this time, Madam Chair, we'll take roll call.

Thank you. Councilwoman Abdo here. Councilman Bulock here. Councilman Jones here. Councilwoman Rosco here. Councilwoman Thally here. Councilman Wodssworth. And Councilman Wilhy here. Madame Chair, we have a form for tonight's regular council meeting. Thank you, Madam Clerk.

The council meeting agenda reads as follows. Number one, agenda. Two, minutes. Number three, petitioner. Number four is a chairperson's report. Five, mayor's report. Six, clerk's report. Seven, treasures report. Eight, public comment. Number nine is unfinished business. Number 10 is new business. 11 warrant. 12 is communication. And number 13 is adjournment. And a motion will be in order to accept the regular council meeting agenda as presented. So moved to accept the regular council meeting as presented agenda as presented. I second that. And it's been motioned by Miss Abdo, seconded by Mr. Jones for the approval of the regular council meeting agenda. Miss Abdo.

Yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Mr. Wilhy, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Mr. Wsworth, yes. Miss Rosco. Yes. Chair votes yes. Motion approved. Thank you. Agenda item number two, minutes 2A, request approval of the minutes from the regular meeting held on Monday, February 9th, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. Uh, Madam Chairman, Mr. Wsworth,

I'm going to move that we approve amidst the minutes from the regular council meeting that was held on Monday, February the 9th at 7:30. support been motioned by Mr. Wsworth, seconded by Miss Abdo for the approval of the minutes for the regular meeting held on Monday, February 9th, 2026 at 7:30. Mr. Wsworth, yes. Miss Abdo, yes. Mr. Wilhigh, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Miss Rosco, chair votes, yes. Motion approved.

Thank you. Agenda item 2B, request approval of the minutes from the special meeting study session held on Monday, February 9th, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. for the purpose of discussing the master plan update future land use maps amendments. Uh, Madam Chairman, Mr. Mr. I'm going to move um for the approval of the minutes for the special meeting study session that was held on Monday, February the 9th at 6:30 p.m. It was for the purpose um of discussing the master plan update and future land use.

Support. It's been motioned by Mr. Wsworth, seconded by Miss Abdo, for the approval of the minutes for the special meeting study session held on Monday, February 9, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. for the purpose of discussing the master plan update future land use maps amendments. Mr. Wsworth, yes. Miss Abdo, yes. Miss Rosco, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Mr. Wilhy, yes. Chair votes, yes. Motion approved.

Thank you. Number three is petitioner. We do have a petitioner um from Miss Connie Cox. she could she was unable to be here this evening. Um however um her petition has been reviewed by our police department, fire department, DPW, DDDA, parks and recreation department. So, Miss Connie Cox has submitted a special event application for a community craft and vent vendor show um to be held at the historical park pavilion on Saturday, [snorts] June 6, 2026 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. And again, um her petition has been um reviewed from the appropriate um administrative departments. Therefore, the recommendation is to authorize a no fee permit for the use of the historical park pavilion for the community craft and vendor show on Saturday, June 6, 2026 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and the closure of Hunt Street from Bibbons to the entrance of the post office.

Madam Chair, Mr. Jones. I move to authorize a no fee permit for the use of the historical park pavilion for the community craft and venture show on Saturday, June 6, 2026 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and the closure of Hunt Street from Bibbons to the entrance of the post office. Support. It's been motioned by Mr. Jones, seconded by Miss Abdull, for the authorize a new no fee permit for the use of the historical park pavilion for the community craft and vendor show on Saturday, June 6th, 2026 from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and the closure of Hunt Street from Bibbons to the entrance of the post office. Any discussion hearing? None. Mr. Jones,

yes. Miss Abdo, yes. Miss Rosco, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Mr. Wilhot, yes. Mr. Wsworth, Mr. Oh, chair votes yes. Motion approved. Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, takes us to number four, chairperson's report.

Thank you. Um, just a couple of things going on in our great community here. Some great events as always. We do events well in Romulus. Um, we had a bake sale that the Good Fellas put on a couple of weeks ago. It was great. Um, it's really like a store over there. It was just a great event for the Good Fellas. So, thank you for the good fellas for sparring that event. I think it's a maybe twice a quarter, twice a year they do it, but they did a great job with that bake sale. Not just baked goods, it's all kinds of great things. So, thank you for the good fellas for that. Uh, we began budget meetings last week. Thanks for everybody's um and the mayor and his staff and his team for everything going very smoothly with the budget meetings. Um, Councilman Willhigh has been participating in the meetings. Thank you. and David Jones, Councilman Jones has been popping in. So, thank you guys so much for participating on in those um just um just showing your support in that. So, thank you. Um um and then I went to an event at Hook and Ladder. Y'all know that's one of my favorite places here in Ramlas right here on the corner of Gav. They had a improv show. They did an improv show this past Saturday that I went to and so I'm just want to um just shout out them for the great job that they did. Uh the name of the group was Project Two and they did improv that night. Um and their upcoming events coming up on March 6th, 7th and 8th is the Miss Cast Cabaret. So please support our um Hook and Ladder Theater. It's a great venue. Captain The does does a great job over there and the team of people who is supporting him. So, please check out them dates is again it's March 6th, 7th and 8th, the Miss Cass cabaret. Um, and then in honor of Black History Month, we are in Black History Month. Couple events I've been to in the city. Um, I just want to shout out to U. Reverend Willis and the Pentecost

Baptist Church for their annual Black History program. It was very nice. I love the way they highlighted the kids on that day. Um, so thank you Reverend Willis and the Pentecost Baptist Church for what they do with their annual Black History program. That was on Saturday. And then on Sunday, I got a chance to go over to Mount Olive Church Baptist Church. I was asked to go over there by their pastor Smith. And he just asked me to speak a few words on my journey of being the first African-American female woman mayor pro Tim in the city of Ramlas. And I thought that was really cool. I said, "Don't nobody ask me for my story." So, thank you. And so I got to say speak a few words and it was just very encouraging. So um I thank God for our legacy and our culture and our history. So we just got a few more days of black history. So um let's celebrate. Let's celebrate. Um our dodgeball, our high school had a dodgeball game. It was a great time. Uh great turnout. Um it was fun to watch. Uh I'm not getting out there, but it was a great to watch everybody out there. And just thank uh kudos to the superintendent um for him organizing and his team for organi organizing that dodgeball event. It's becoming an annual thing. This was the second one. So thank you for that. It was a great community event. Um and then on that note, I want to yield the floor to Councilman Jones for a resolution.

I'm chair. Mr. Jones. ask for a resolution um memorial resolution for Eddie Jones who was a um longtime resident of Ramulus. I've been knowing him all my life and the family. So um he's been cornerstone in this community for on the north end for quite a several years probably close to 80 years I believe he was his age. So I just ask for a memorial resolution for him support. Thank you. It's been motioned by Mr. Jones, seconded by Miss Abdo for memorial resolution for Mr. Eddie Jones. Any other comments or discussion?

And I do want to add out there, Mr. Eddie Jones was actually one of our honorary street sign um honores. Um I don't know if it was last year or the year before, but he did get an honorary street sign. So very uh pivotal in our community. So if no discussion, Mr. Jones, yes, Miss Abdo, yes. Mr. Bullock. Yes. Mr. Wilhad. Yes. Mr. Wiseworth. Yes. Miss Rosco. Yes. Chair votes. Yes. That resolution is approved. Thank you.

Uh secondly, want to um mayor had a one community meeting last week at Hell Creek. It was a great turnout kind of like it looks like right now. And guess why? Because of this situation in our city. So I said all that to say that uh though the commits came out and voiced their concerns and I thank them for coming out. Um there was other business city business discussed there but you know everybody's voice was regarding this situation we're dealing with in the city of Romulus. And so on that note I want to yield the floor to our councilwoman Celeste Rosco. Thank you madam

for our first step. Oh I'm sorry before I get to that I did I have a a something I want to read first. I would like to thank the mayor and his team for their tireless tireless work on this matter with the ICE detention center and center striving to come into our city. I want to thank our legislators for the same. I want to thank all the residents who expressed their concerns about this matter and the ones who brought possible solutions to explore. chairperson Celeste uh chairperson um pro Tim Celeste Rosco and I met with several residents and they have put a lot of work into finding solutions to this situation and it was amazing for the work that they did. So, not only did they come and were um grieving about it, they brought solutions to us as well and they put a lot of work in the solutions that they brought to us which I um was able to um turn over and have reviewed by our administration. So, I want to thanks to everyone who else has also supported Romulus in this matter. Thank you for the people that came out today to support us because one thing we do well in Romulus, we um support each other and we band together. So, everybody that's come out to band together with Ramlas in this situation, we appreciate you and I want to say thank you because it was cold out there. Um, I want to shout out to our comm community county commissioner Al Wilson who has actually text me and the mayor as well um regarding his support in this matter as well. And I know the mayor probably has a lot more list of people who has also given their support in this matter. And I'm most grateful most grateful in this situation for the residents who didn't buy into the misinformation that has been put out there. Thank you. We about engaging in the facts. I love, you know, I'm not on Facebook. Um that's just not how I do. But if there's information, please, we just ask you to check it out.

Make sure you are informed what's going on. Make sure you have the facts. um because I got calls and and my colleagues up here calls with information that was just not true. So, make sure you're getting the facts and make sure you don't have misinformation and find out what the facts are. Madam Chair, I'd like to also let's give a applause for the high school who acknowledge the facts and had the courage to step out in what they believe in their protest uh for the high school. Amen. Thank you for that, Mr. Jones. Thank you.

So, let me just say this. The message is clear. The message is clear. Our mayor and our senator, Darren Kamilleri, was on the pulse with RP addressing this issue. The message is clear. And if this doesn't send a strong message about how we feel, I don't know what will. I don't know what will. If that's not a strong We exhausting all avenues in this matter. Like I said, I got residents coming up to me with solutions. We exhaust in all avenues and the work continues and and this is really disruptive in our city. It's a small quiet city, you know, we don't do a lot here. We kind of mind our business, you know, so this has really been disruptive for our city. But again, Ryland bands together well and I'm just grateful for the people who are banding together with us in this. And again, get the facts, don't feed into the misinformation. And one thing I always do, as people know, I'm a Christian. And when my back is against the wall, I pray. That's what I do. When my back is against the wall, I pray because the Lord has not failed me yet. So, I'm going to end it on this. May the Lord bless us and keep us. May the Lord shine his face on us and be gracious to us. The Lord turn his face to us as we go through this time with this attention saying that it will not come to the city of Ramlas. And on that note, I'm going to yield it to Councilwoman Celeste Rosco.

Thank you, Madam Chair. [applause]

I'd like to make a motion tonight for a resolution, and I'm going to read it in entirety. A resolution of the city of Ramulus city council opposing the establishment of an immigration and customs enforcement detention center within the city limits support.

Whereas the city of Ramulus is committed to protecting the health, safety and welfare of its residents and commercial business interest. Whereas the operation of federal detention centers within a municipality can impose substantial burdens on local infrastructure, public safety resources and emergency medical services without providing direct local benefits. Whereas the existence of a detention center within the city of Romulus would have negative direct negative implications for local public safety, municipal services, land use capabilities, and economic development. Whereas the president the presence of a detention center may depress property values, deter business investments, and impose long-term negative impacts constant with the city's development goals and land use planning strategies. And whereas the city council finds that placing a detention center within the city limits is inconsistent with community planning, economic priorities, and the city's vision vision for a safe environment for its residents and commercial business interest. Now therefore, be it resolved by the city council of the city of Romulus that the city formally opposes the establishment, construction, or operation of a detention center within the city limits. Be it finally resolved that a copy of this resolution shall be transmitted to the Department of Homeland Security, the offices of the city state legislative representatives, the governor's office, and the city's congressional representatives. Thank you.

Thank you. It's important. I have no comment. Okay. It's been motioned by Miss Russell, seconded by Mr. Wasworth for the resolution of the city of Rama city council opposing the establishment of an immigration and cons and customs enforcement detention center within the city limits as outlined by councilwoman Celeste Rosco. Mr. Wsworth,

thank you. Madam Chairman, I'm going to make my comments now because there's going to be a lot of comments made before the night is over. But [clears throat] I have no problem with illegal immigrants being deported with criminal records. None whatsoever. But what I've seen in the past couple of months on TV turns my stomach. Uh there's there's no reason for this warehouse in our town. They have they could they can go to Milin Prison. The the Michigan has at least four empty prisons right now. Uh they got county jails to take these people to. And um it's um it's um sad. It's sad as can be. And I mean they this reminds me of the deep well. They they they come in our town and they shove it down our throat. They're putting us next to a residential neighborhood schools in the area. And it's wrong. It's wrong. It's going to cost us roughly $500,000 a year in property taxes on that site because federal buildings do not pay taxes. And you see these clowns on on the radio show talk about it's going to generate $150 million in revenue. That's a bunch of BS. And that's why I support this resolution and I hope that for some way that we can stop this terrible thing that came to our town. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Wsworth. Any other discussion hearing? None. Miss Rosco. Yes. Mr. Wsworth. Mr. Wilhy. Yes. Mr. Jones. Yes, Miss Abdo. Yes, Mr. Bullock. Yes. Chair votes. Yes. That motion is approved. [applause] [applause]

So, before I close our report, do any other council people have anything they want to add before we close this report? All right, we'll close that out. Number five is the mayor's report. I'm sorry. Thank you. Good evening, city council, madame clerk, deputy clerk, those in the audience here today, and also those at home tuning in. Uh before I get into my action items tonight, first I'd like to deliver a video from the mayor's office about current events with the mayor's youth council.

Um my name is Danielle Kennedy. I'm 11th grader at Ramlas High School [music] and here are some Ramblas events going on. St. Alus Church will hold their annual fish fry dinners every Friday beginning February 20th through March 27th. The cost of the meal is $15 for adults and curbside pickup is also available. The annual dog and cat vac vaccinations will be held on Saturday, February 28th at the Romless DPW from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Pet owners can pay for dog licenses as well as dog and cat vaccinations. No will also be available by donation only. For more information, contact the animals shelter at 7349427591.

Hello, I'm Alexis and I'm in ninth grade. Registration for the spring tea ball in the baseball is open until March 1st. Students from preK through 8th grade can learn and practice the game of baseball starting the first week of April and concluding in June. Contact the recreation department to thanks everyone. Remember to like and share us on Facebook and YouTube or visit our website for more info.

Thank you ladies. It's always great job. Appreciate that. Um, following in line with the mayor prom, I wanted to uh just also reiterate um a statement on the possible ICE detention center. We are still working closely with all of our legislators. Um, we've made sure that at the state and the federal law law um level that they know that we are opposed to this and the use does not meet the requirements of our zoning ordinance. Uh, we send official notification that's also posted on our city website. Uh we sent this to uh Todd Lions and also um Secretary Gnome

and I think we notified everybody from the governor um that we could and still uh this letter went out on February 16th and I still have no response uh from any of the federal level to let us know what's going on at the facility definitively um nor from the state. I haven't heard from anybody in Lancing as well other than our state representatives in and uh Senator Cameler. Um, so for several reasons that we spell out in this letter, why it doesn't work for our city, this proximity to residential area. We have 100 new homes less than a/4 miles from this. We have our elementary school about a mile and a half away. This does not meet our zoning requirements. Uh, so thank you for passing that resolution uh unanimous resolution posed uh to it, but I think it's incredibly irresponsible for the federal government to put the burden like this on a smaller, underserved, overburdened community right now. uh you see tonight are drain on public safety, right?

I'm I'm worrying right now about police officers out there who are doing their jobs trying to keep everybody safe, but why they're here, they're not in our neighborhoods where they need to be. So, it's a drain on our public services already. Uh so, thank you for everybody who came out tonight and is being peaceful and is standing in opposition to this. We stand with you in Romulus. We're not for it. Um but we're like Mayor Promtally said, um we deal with facts and as of this moment, we've only verbally been told who owns that building. nothing official from the federal government. Uh we believe we know where it's going and we're planning for the worst and we're working with everybody we can from ACLU and their attorneys to our attorney. Um and we have very talented staff. Uh so we're continue to fight as much as we can and we'll do what we can to make sure this doesn't have a negative impact on our community. But like I said, we're seeing tonight the drain on public safety. uh the amount of resources the city of Ramos has put out again uh for this decision by the federal government and we've seen people hype this whole um protest on our front porch tonight and it's not the city of Ramulus that that there should be protest. It's the wrong building. Um but needless we need to commit to keeping everybody safe and that's what we've done tonight. So hopefully it goes well but you can hear them beating on the windows out there. Um and hopefully everybody stays safe and nobody gets hurt. But um just to clear the air we are opposed to this. We stand with everybody in opposition. This does not fit in our community. This is nothing that we want here. And while I'm sitting in this position as the mayor, we will not issue a permit or a city a certificate of occupancy for this structure unless we're mandated by a federal judge. So, um that's all I'm going to say about that issue. U moving on. Um, speaking of local control and being able to to control what goes on in the city of Romulus, we've also circulated to our council members and I would ask for a resolution to oppose uh house bills that were introduced 5529, 5530, 5531, and 5532. Those are House bills that limit our authority to regulate what goes on in our community. And we all know when we uh limit our authority, we have no say.

So when it gets here, we get detention centers, we get deep injection wells, we get airport expansion, and we got a radioactive material coming into Van Beern. So anything that's going to reduce our local control over what should be developed and built in Romulus, I'm going to stand in opposition to it. So I would ask that council pass a resolution to send to our legislators that we are in opposition to those. Please, Madam Chair, Mr. Pasco. I'll make that motion for a resolution opposing Michigan House Bills 5529, 5530, 5531, and 5532 as presented to us tonight in detail. I'll second it.

Okay. It's been motioned by Miss Rosco, seconded by Mr. Wilhad for a resolution opposing Michigan House Bills 5529, 5530, 5531, and 5532 as outlined by our mayor. Any discussion hearing? None. Miss Rosco, yes. Mr. Wilhyde, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Miss Abdo, yes. Mr. Wsworth, yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Chair B, that motion's approved.

Thank you. Um on to uh first it action I might have and some nicer business for the city. A no fee permit request for Marian Banks permit or park. Um I request uh city council authorized a no fee permit for the use of Maryanne Banks Park for creative minds for meeting with the girls group on Thursday July 9th 16th 23rd and 30th and also August 6th. Madam Chairman Mr. I'm going to move that we issue a no fee permit for the Maryanne Banks Park and it should be used on July the 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th and the 6th of August from 1:30 to 4:30.

Support and motion by Mr. Wsworth supported by Mr. Jones for the uh concurrent administration and authorize a no fee permit for the use of Maryann Bakes Park by creative minds for meetings of their girls group on Thursdays July 9th 16th 23rd and 30th and August 6th of 2026 from 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. for their girls group to meet together. Any discussion hearing? None. Mr. Wsworth, yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Miss Rosco, yes. Mr. Wilhy, yes. Miss Abdo, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Chair votes, yes. Motion approved.

Thank you. The next action item that I have up is for continuation of project artistries um for 25 and 26. I respectfully request city council award bid ITB25-26-13 to the lowest most responsive and responsible bidder Great Lakes Contracting Solutions LLC in the amount of 2,24,513.15 um and an additional contingency amount to cover for unforeseen um issues that may arise during a project cost. Madam Chair, Miss Rosco,

I'll make that motion to concur with administration and award bid ITB25/26-13 to the lowest most responsive and responsible bidder, Great Lakes Contracting Solutions LLC in the amount of 2,24,513.15 with an additional contingency in the amount of $500,000 to cover any unforeseen issues that may arise. eyes in the field for a total cost of 2,74,531.15 for the 2026 concrete program project.

I'll second it.

Thank you. There's been motion by Miss Rosco, seconded by Mr. Wheelh high for the to concur with administration and award bid ITB25/26-13 for the to the Lord's most responsive bidder and got great Lex Contract and Solutions LLC in the amount of 200 2,24,513.15 with an additional contingency in the amount of 500,000 to cover any unforeseen issues that may arise in the field for a total cost of 2,74,000. 531.15 for the 2026 concrete program project. Any discussion hearing? None. Miss Rosco. Yes. Mr. Wilhy. Yes. Mr. Wsworth. Yes. Mr. Jones. Yes. Mr. Bullock. Yes. Miss Abdo. Yes.

Chair votes. Yes. Motion approved.

Thank you. The last action I might have up is for piggybacking on my deal for purchase of a 2025 Ford Transit 3250. Um, as we continue to struggle with litter and and debris, what seems to be going on society, this is another action item we have. We have the physician now that runs the the crew. Um, and they and they go to different areas in the community where we have litter and make sure we pick it up, but their vehicle is falling apart. So, I am respectfully requesting city council's authorization to piggy back on my deal contract MA240000001193 to purchase one F or Ford transit van uh 12 person for the price of 64,000 from Gorno Ford to replace the current van. Uh Maria Ferris, finance director has verified that funds for this purchase are currently available.

Madam Chairman, Mr. Last word. I'm going to move that we um that we approve the uh the piggyback on the MID deal contract for the purchase of one 2025 Ford Transit 350 12 passenger van in the amount of $64,69. I support.

Thank you. Motion by Mr. Wsworth, seconded by Mr. Jones to concur with administration and consent to piggyback on the my deal contract number MA2400000000001193 to purchase one 2025 Ford Transit 350 12person passenger van for the price of $64,69 from Goro Ford to replace the current van being utilized by CSW labor for court worker pro program any discussion hearing none Mr. Worth Mr. Jones. Yes. Miss Rosco, yes. Mr. Wilhyde, yes. Miss Abdo, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Chair votes, yes. Motion approved.

And I also uh want to follow and give a nod and a thank you and appreciation to our Dr. Ben Edmonson for the dodgeball showdown to see the way the kids really enjoy that game. And I unlike some people did get on the floor and play dodgeball. So I gave everybody a chance to hit me with a dodgeball. Um and I apologize for the overwhelming sound of Ben Gay in the air right now cuz my arm is still killing me. great event, great getting the kids out um and support our school system. It's a great cause. So, thank you to everybody who showed up uh and and enjoyed that one. Thank you, mayor. That concludes my report for tonight. Thank you. We need to handle some business. Yes, we need to uh close out the chairperson's report. I need a motion to close that report. Madam Chair, I'll make a motion to close out your report. Thank you. A second.

Thank you. It's been motioned by Miss Rosco, seconded by Mr. Jones to close the chair to accept the chairperson's report. Miss Rosco, yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Mr. Wilhy, yes. Mr. Wsworth, Miss Abdo, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Chairs, yes. Motion approved.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, number six is the clerk's report. And um, as you know, we're Black History Month. We're ending it. So, I have just a little read that I'd like to share in honor of Black History Month. Um, as Black History Month comes to a close, let us not forget the patriarchs, the matriarchs, and the heroes of the past. The trailblazers who paved the way for so many people of color. The sacrifices gave us hope and encouragement to become trailblazers and history makers for the next generation. We are called to leave a legacy, to move forward in spite of adversity, to make changes that count, and to continue building a future rooted in courage and purpose. Last week, we lost the Honorable Jesse Jackson, who walked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King in the fight for civil rights and voting rights. Reverend Jackson's message was simple but powerful. keep hope alive. He reminded us that at the end of the day, we must go forward with hope and not backward by fear and division. Jesse Jackson was a pioneering civil rights leader, Baptist minister, and politician who twice ran for president of the United States. As a young student, he joined the civil rights movement and marched in Salem in 1965. He later became a leading national voice for African-Americans, served as a special envoy to Africa, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000. Jesse Jackson also played a pivotal role in negotiating the release of numerous Americans hostages, American hostages abroad, including

during the TWWA flight 847 hijacking and efforts connected to the Kasibo conflict. In 2017, he shared his diagnosis of Parkinson's disease and he passed away on February 17th, 2026 after a lifetime of service. In closing, let us remember these words from the Negro anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us. sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us. May we honor those who came before us by continuing the work with hope, with unity, and a commitment to leave a lasting legacy. Thank you.

Amen. Thank you. [applause]

And now the clerk's report. 6A. We're This is an adoption of future land use map amendments to the master plan. So, we're asking council to concur with the recommendation of the planning commission and adopt the future land use map amended to the master plan as submitted. If you recall, there was a study session at our last council meeting of February 9th, 2026. Yes, Madam Chair. Miss Rosco, I'll make that motion to concur with the re recommendation of the planning commission and adopt the future land use map amendment to the master plan as submitted.

Support. It's been motioned by Miss Rosco, seconded by Mr. Jones for the recommendation of the planning commission and adopt the future land use map amendment to the master plan as submitted. Any discussion hearing? None. Miss Rosco. Yes. Mr. Jones. Yes. Mr. Wilhigh, yes. Mr. Bulock, yes. Mr. Wsworth, yes. Miss Abdo, yes. Chair votes yes. Motion approved.

Thank you. Agenda item 6B. This is a resolution to vacate Bo Champ Avenue adjacent alley located in the uh Bo Champ subdivision. Um there was a public hearing um this evening at 6:45. Therefore, it is recommended that council adopt a resolution vacating the entire street of Bochamp Avenue in the Bo Champ subdivision west of Inkster Road north of East Ecourse Road to the terminus abudding lots 7 and 8 and the east west alley also located west of Inkster and north of Ecourse abuing lot 1 and lots 2 through 31 inclusive and lots 840 to 842 2 located in the southeast quarter section number one of the city of Romulus County of Wayne retaining all utility easements of record and a 12-oot utility easement within the vacated Bochamp Avenue and a 10-ft utility easement within the alley for the city of Ramulus Department of Public Works to access any city-owned utilities that may be located within the street or alley for repay. repair and or maintenance.

Madam Chair, Miss Rasco, I'll make that motion for resolution to vacate Bow Champamp Avenue and adjacent alley located in the Bochamp subdivision as read uh by the by the clerk. Thank you. I second that motion. Thank you. It's been motioned by Miss Rosco, seconded by Mr. Jones for the resolution to vacate BAM Avenue and adjacent alley located in the BAM subdivision as outlined by the clerk. Any discussion? Madam Chair, Madam Chair, Mr. Bosworth,

if I can to Roberto or to the mayor. Um, Eor Road is in the mix to be widened. Have they started to look into that or We'd like to It's a county road. We're creating an LDFA right now to look at the future rebuild and reconstruction of Ecourse Road right there, but I can't speak to any timeline. You know, the vision is really the five to 10 year development. Okay. Um that area um has been redeveloped and widened, but as far as continuous all the way down E course Road, I'd love to see it as fast as possible. Okay. All right. Fine. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, thank you. Mr. Bulock, did you have some? You go ahead, Miss Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Will High.

Um yes. I um at this point I'm a no. I would like to see um a little bit more information and I would like to see um I'd like to see more details on what they're going to do with this property. Um actually I would like to I would like to see a motion to table this until we get further information from this group. Okay. Through the chair. Miss Abdel. I agree with him on this. I mean, this is just sketches. I would like to see how they're going to develop this, how this would affect the residents around them.

And none of that was really provided just today. Gotcha. Okay. Thank you. Make a motion at table chair. Yeah. Yeah. Through the chair. There is a motion pending right now, right? So, you need to deal with that. Let's go with that. We'll deal with that. Thank you. Hello. So, the motion is on the table for the bamp. Um, so it's been motion. Well, we got the discussion. Miss Rosco, yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Mr. Wilhyde, no. Miss Abdo, no. Mr. Wsworth, no. Uh, Mr. Bullock, no.

Chairs? Yes. I mean, no. We're going to We're going to That failed. So, let's get the new motion. And this to We have to table it. We could just bring it back. We'll just bring it back. Bring it back. Yeah, we just bring it back. We got that motion. Somebody got We need a motion. We don't Okay, we're good. Okay, we're we're good. We'll convey the information to Mr. Camp and the petitioner. Sounds good. Okay, that works.

Thank you. Thank you, council. Um agenda item 6C. This is a study session um request. Um and this is a request um it's at the request of our mayor pro Tim um Tally and she's requ and the clerk's office is requesting a 30 minute study session for Monday March 9th uh 2026 at 6:45 p.m. to discuss consent agendas. Date and times are available. I need a motion madam chair. Thank you.

I'll make that motion. Clerk's office is requesting a 30 minute study session for Monday, March 9th, 2026 at 6:45 p.m. to discuss the consent agendas. Support. It's been motioned by Miss Rosco, seconded by Mr. Wsworth for the study session request for Monday, March 9th, 2026 at 6:45 regarding the consent agenda. Any discussion? Yes,

Miss Abdo. I am against the consent agenda mainly because this administration has always been very upfront with everything we've done in the formative and I don't I know the consent agenda shortens our meetings but I think the people of Romulus want to know exactly what we are voting on. So are you vote no against the study session? Yeah, I don't see a need to have the study session. Any other madam chairman? Mr. was one. Uh even though I supported this, I have a lot of problems with the uh a consent agenda, but I'm willing to meet and talk about it. Sounds good. Thank you. Any other discussion? Hearing none. Miss Roscoll, yes. Mr. Wsworth, yes. Mr. Wilhy, yes. Mr. Jones,

yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. And Miss Abdo, no. Chair votes, yes. Motion approved.

Thank you, council. The last action item under the clerk's reports agenda item 6D. Um this is a request uh for council to cons um for a resolution um for the an alley vacations. So, we're asking for council to accept a resolution to accept the petition to vacate the north south alley located in the Osberg airport estate subdivision and schedule a public hearing on Monday, March 23rd, 2026 at 6:45 p.m. to hear objections to the petition to vacate the alley pursuant to chapter 14 section 14.2 of the Romulus City Charter. The date and times are available for this request.

Madam Chair, thank you, Miss Rosco. Um, make a motion for resolution to consider an alley vacation and schedule a public hearing for Monday, March 23rd, 2026 at 6:45 in regards to the Osber airport estate subdivision.

Support. Thank you. It's been motioned by Miss Rosco, seconded by Mr. Wsworth to for a resolution to consider an alley vacation is scheduled public hearing for Monday, March 23rd, 2026 at 6:45 p.m. Um, any discussion hearing nasco? Yes. Mr. Wsworth, yes. Mr. Wilhy, yes. Miss Abdo, yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Chair votes, yes. Motion approved.

Thank you, Madam Chair. That concludes the clerk's report. takes us to number seven, the treasure report, which there is no report uh under that um from the city treasur's office. Um it takes us to number eight, which is public comment. And this is the portion of our agenda that uh for those of you who are in the audience and who would like to address our city council um the rules to address city council can be found on the back of your meeting agenda. And we've asked you earlier to complete um a request to speak public comment card. As you can see, we have a full house tonight. We want to make sure that everybody who would like to speak has that opportunity. So to keep it orderly, we're asking, you don't have to, but we are strongly recommending that you complete a card uh which are located in the back after you've completed this uh filled out your card to hand it to um the deputy clerk and we will call upon you in the order that we've received the cards. Otherwise, after everyone that has submitted a card has been um had an opportunity to address city council and then if there's those of you want to address city council, you can raise your hand and then uh you'll be called upon um by our uh mayor prom. Please note that each individual will have three minutes to speak. Okay, there'll be a clock up their ticket. Okay. So, you have 3 minutes to speak, but if any additional time um is needed, it'll be upon the consent of the chairperson and we ask that everyone because we know that we want to hear from everyone. So, we just ask that you please adhere to our threeminut rule this evening. Um

Okay. So, Madam Chair, we'll start real quick. Yes. Through the chair. Uh as uh the chair and the council is aware, we have a lot of people here tonight. both packed house in here being limited by the fire marshall and people outside. Yes. Um people are entitled to be heard and entitled to make public comment even the ones that are outside that are not in the meeting right now. Right. Uh pursuant to the rules under the state of Michigan. So there have been at least we've noticed some rotation of people coming in and out. So if as the public comments are going if you want to direct the fire marshall or just to maintain to make sure that people are coming in and out in an orderly fashion that's fine.

I will also tell the chair that one of the options based upon the amount of people that want to talk or not depending on how it is and the space that are constrained here we could recess the meeting to allow people to public comment. Okay. That might not be something that we want to do, but we want to see if we can get through it. But I encourage the chair to let people come in and speak as many as they want. Yeah. Because they're entitled to. That's what we're here for. And so, clerk, if we can facilitate that, make sure the people are coming in from out in the hall. Okay. Sure. Let's go with our first want to keep it orderly here, please. All right. Um, so, uh, the first card that I have is from our state representative, Dylan Mcuela.

[applause]

Um, good evening. I uh am honored to represent the northeast portion of Romulus. Uh, unfortunately that is the portion of our city uh where the proposed site um is located. And I just wanted to share with you um my father uh owns a small business, a vending machine business and actually had that location as a stop when I was a child. And I remember going to that location to build um vending machines with my father on on take your father to work day. And it is just so sad and unfortunate that this is where our country has been taken by this administration. And I wanted to come specifically tonight so that there's no confusion where I stand as a representative of this community, but also to thank uh the mayor, the council, and anyone who's been working uh to to fight uh what's been going on. Um before I get into just some some comments, um I just want to let people know, um if you're interested, uh we're having a know your rights training with the ACLU, uh next Monday from 5:30 to 6:30 at the Radcliffe Center in Garden City. That's address 1751 Radcliffe Street in Garden City. A couple things I'll just mention. Um, you know, I'm 33 years old and ICE was formed in 2003 and year after year of my life, I've seen uh the ICE budget get greater and greater no matter who's in power. But we've seen a record amount of funding recently. Um, we've seen funding that is so high under the big beautiful bill that it is more than most military budgets around the world. It is more than a bunch of states operating budgets. And we are seeing how this administration is using ICE. Uh ICE has lost in court since October 4400 times. They are violating our civil and human

rights. We need to be united uh and I know that we are as electeds, but as a people to say that this is not the way we want our future to go. Uh and I want to remind people that the administration defunded healthcare and defunded uh food stamps in order to do this. And uh those are things that our community has relied on uh because of the state of of this world. Um we are seeing these turning into these uh involvement. We're seeing massive profits being made off of detention centers. $254 million. I want us to think is that a society we really want to live in? I don't want another penny of my tax dollars going to ICE. I believe we should be moving in this country to defunding, abolishing, and prosecuting ICE for its crimes against us. I will do anything my office can do to support you all in uh opposing the detention center, but I want to just really briefly because I want to say under three minutes,

it's going to take more than the elected officials, right? We have to organize as a people and as a community. Uh we have to prepare now. And if anyone wants to learn how to organize, I am here to organize with you. Please connect with me. And thank you so much. Thank you. You let me go. [applause] Thank you, Joe Gishor. Did I pronounce it correctly? Joe Gishor. K I S K I S H O R E.

Oh, okay. There you go. Well, hundreds of our neighbors and friends marched outside today because they don't want to see concentration camps built in Romulus Milin or any other city in the United States or uh any other city. Now, let me speak quite plainly. If you want to know what fascism is, this is it. Federal agents in unmarked cars seizing young people, children, and workers outside of factories, murdering people on the streets of Minneapolis, where I just returned from. Here in Michigan, two Amazon flex workers were seized outside of the Hazel Park earlier this month, and ICE agents were seen outside of General Motors Factory Zero last Monday. And now these plans to establish a detention center here in Romulus are in fact part of a 38 billion dollar program to expand concentration camps around the country. We have in the White House a convicted criminal who acting on behalf of a corporate oligarchy asserts that his powers are unlimited. We have seen such things before. They lecture the world about dictatorships in Iran and elsewhere to justify war. But what is happening right here? 250 years ago, this country was founded on the Declaration of Independence. That great document that accused the king of trampling the rights of the people. British troops descended on Lexington and Concord to seize leaders and crush opposition. That's how it began. And now we are being told that armed federal agents can descend on our neighborhoods and workplaces and that we should simply accept it. Just last week, police beat

up five children in Quakertown, Pennsylvania for a protest against ICE. And what are the Democrats doing? They issue statements. They posture. They continue to fund the same agencies carrying out these raids. They tell us to wait for the next election. And every day innocent people are brutalized and spirited away. If this is to be stopped, it has to be done by the mobilization of the working class. That is warehouse workers, auto workers, every section of the working class. That is those who produce the wealth of society and who have the power to dismantle this machine of repression. Now, if you're a worker, this means organizing. at work. It means meetings of rank and file workers, not relying on the bureaucratic apparatus of the unions in the UAW or anywhere else, but on the power of workers on the shop floor. It means mobilizing the working class in a general strike. I heard that again and again throughout Minneapolis. But it can't just be a slogan. It has to be organized.

Thank you, sir. Thank you so much. Thank [applause] you. Jerry White. Jerry White. Mariah Townsen.

Hi. Um, I'm here as a Romulus resident of 31 years. Um, I grew up at 36940 GDDARD. Um, I'm a fifth generation Romulus High School graduate. Um, Romulus raised me. Um, Romulus raised me to know humans are humans no matter what. I was taught this lesson by my family, but I was reinforced by my kindergarten and first grade teacher, Miss Raspberry and Miss Rashard. Um, at Bar Elementary, I was taught the consequences of forgetting these lessons in Mr. Sto's AP European history class. I was shown real life examples of the horrors that happen when we forget humans are humans. When I visited the beaches of Normandy, when I stood in the American cemetery in Normandy and saw all the lives that were lost fighting fascism. Um, [snorts] the trip was offered through Romulus Community Schools. That's who I went with. I did not go in college. I did not go on my own. I went with my teacher, Madame Rousenberger. Um, you guys have volunteered to fill leadership positions in Romulus. You may not have realized you were going to have to decide about whether we get or don't get a concentration camp. Thank you for stepping up. Thank you for fighting back. We really do appreciate it. Um, knowing I was coming here today, I did bring a copy of part of the Detroit Free Press from January 19th, 1989. There's an article called P is for President, G is for George. A portion of the article says, "The class of 2000 at Bar Community Schools in Romulus takes its politics seriously. Most of the 24 youngsters in Miss Karen Rashard's class know the president-elect's name, and they know the importance of his job. I have it right here, right next to a horrible article about how crappy Donald Trump is from 1989. Very coincidental.

Never saw it until I was sitting here looking at the newspaper today. I've had this for almost 40 years. So, thank you for fighting back. We will be here to stand with you. We really appreciate it. This cannot happen here. Thank you, [applause]

Dan Doyle. Hi. Obviously, I want to speak to you about the proposed detention center in Cogwell. I live on Wick Road and Cogwell. That's less than a mile from my home. These ICE agents aren't properly trained. They don't have to pass the same entry criteria as local law enforcement. They've been given blanket immunity as federal agents who have no recourse to sue if there's a civil rights violation. We have an administration that does not communicate with local governments, does not respect state or city sovereignty. So, I'm requesting immediate action. Cut the utilities, condemn the building, demo it, take it under eminent domain. Whatever you can do, make it impossible for them to use our neighborhood for these concentration camps. Let it be a city park instead. We need courageous and aggressive leadership. This will not be solved by a harshly worded letter or a resolution. We need action. We are looking to you, our elected leaders, to resolve this because once ICE comes to start shooting Romulous citizens, the blood will be on your hands for not taking action to stop them. Thank you, [applause]

Diane Roy. Good evening. My name is Diane Carol Roy and I am a proud resident of Romulus. I've gone to uh most of the city council meetings and I know that you guys, this administration, city council, clerk, all of you have our backs and that is so important to me and to this community and it we can come to you for anything from when I needed a stop in front of my apartment building to this big thing about ice to anything in between. And I appreciate that. I appreciate you all for that. And um I'm a democratic socialist and I believe that everyone has a voice, that every voice should be heard. Everyone deserves a seat at the table and I believe that you guys all support that and uphold that ideal. I believe that a person's worth is not defined by a piece of paper. That people should not have to live in fear. That an engaged community is a strong community. A strong community is a safe community. ICE claims they are making our communities safer, but we know that's a lie. They seek to divide us, turn neighbor against neighbor, and make us unsafe. My 10-year-old granddaughter, um, I told her what was happening and that I was going to speak here, and she said, "I'm going to write down this thought for you." And so, I told her I would share it with you. She said, "Just because we are all different in our own ways doesn't mean we should treat each other different." She also read to me a book called um White Bird by R.J. Possio. It's a graphic novel and it's about a girl, a Jewish girl who was saved by her

classmate um when the Nazis took over France. And um the woman that helped save her said, "It's not up to God to make an end, pastor. Evil will only be stopped when good people decide to put an end to it. It is our fight." I believe that is our fight. The people of Romulus have a voice. We use it. You listen to us and you amplify that voice. Our state uh officials, our elected officials are doing the same. And I could not be prouder of that. I think that we um need to remember that protesting is our right. It's our constitutional right. And it is also our responsibility to stand up and protect our friends, our family, our neighbors, and our community. Thank you.

Thank you, [applause] [applause] Briana Bryant.

[snorts]

Good. Good evening everyone. Good evening.

My name is Briana. I am 24 years old. I am only 24 years old. I was born in 2001. And someone referenced when I started here. Thank you for passing the resolution and I also want to voice that the hundreds of people that are outside today that I thank them for showing up and I thank everyone in this room for showing up every day. I am a lifelong advocate and community organizer for all people. I also want to share my reality of being a community organizer. I grieve every day for everyone and those who have lost their lives to the hands of police, ICE, these kidnappings every day. It hurts every day. And I hope that when you fight, you remember me. You remember the people that look like me every day. Cuz I fight like hell. And I will continue fighting to my deathbed for all people. And I want you to all fight like that every day to rest in power to all those who have passed away. I grieve them. And I just hope that you know that it does not stop here. It does not end in this meeting. You will continue to have so many other issues that come up after this detention center, this concentration camp. You need to say that you will not share the data of your residents with ICE. You need to say that you will not have your police officers cooperate with ICE or utilize their power against those with different immigration statuses. Those who are citizens and not citizens to those who are citizens, we are being racially profiled outside. I am a brown queer woman. I'm

24 years old. I am a woman of color who is hated every day. I don't want to live in fear every day and I don't think people who look like me should have to live in fear every day. [snorts] So I will continue showing up every day. And so all the young people who are watching and listening at home, I see you. I hear you and I believe in you. Even if our adults failed us, I see you and I fight for you. Listen to our young people because they will ask you what you did today. They will ask you what you do tomorrow. They will look at you at this very moment. I ask for you to fight for a future for them and for me. All of us here in Michigan. I love Michigan. I love it so much. This is my home and I is home to everyone. And I hope you consider this your home, too. And I hope you see the humanity in me and my story and my people cuz we will continue showing up every day. And so tell me, show me what democracy looks like because this is what democracy looks like.

Thank you. [applause] Thank you. [applause] Thank you, Bethany. S St. Andrew. Okay. Good evening, Ramulus. I'm a Ramulus citizen. Have been living here for 14 years. I've lived in Lincoln Park before this and I used to live in Toledo, Ohio.

I'm late to the game. I'm like the other lady that was just up here. I didn't start really getting into fighting anything about what Donald Trump was doing until a year ago. [cough] Now, ever since then, I've been as active as I can be. Yes, I stand before you as a white woman and a lot of people would say I was privileged, but there aren't very many people in this room, in fact, no one, I'm sure, who knows that when I was 16, I was a foreign exchange student in Aapoko, Mexico. So, my skin was foreign to them. And to this day, because of every place I've been, and go Lord knows 50 states and 26 countries, I've learned to really accept people for what they are. And God knows Donald Trump doesn't deserve to be accepted for anything in this world. I stand here because I'm I want to see a better country. We need to get rid of Let's do what we can do to get rid of them. And I thank the Romulus city council for being so straightforward and saying no, we don't want ice here just like the citizens don't want ice. So I say I end this with ice out.

Thank you. [applause] Thank you. Timothy Kachinsky. Did I pronounce that correct? Okay, great.

[clears throat] Good evening Jason. Good evening.

Uh I want to say thank you first and foremost for the resolution and for your efforts to keep the city safe in terms of our civil liberties in terms of our community togetherness. [snorts] Um, and a lot of people will come up here. They'll come up here passionate, some more traditional, some more centric. Uh, but you know, it takes all kinds in order to preserve the community that we have, preserve the rights that we have. Um and unfortunately not every community is not born and there's some specific things I'd like to get into just because I know some of the other general things will be covered uh specifically the uh the flop camera system um which is used right now and that data is available uh nationally internationally and I have been documenting as accessing cameras. Now, those who don't know these block cameras, they take photos of every everyone's license plates. Um, they drive past them, everyone. No special crime, no nothing. And it's recording for 30 days. Um when Maramar Martinez in Chicago was rammed and shot by ICE um she now her attorneys are saying that they pull ice data uh excuse me the black camera data for 30 days on her uh similar to what Justice Jackson once described as picking the picking the man and searching the law books for some offense against him. In this way, he picked the man and he searched the evidence locker to try to find anything to jump up against them. And while I'm confident that this body

will reject ICE from accessing it camera system, it doesn't require that. Uh for for instance, neighboring Taylor has a 287g task force agreement with and they also have a slot camera system which means they have access. Now if this detection facility gets set up then between that and the airport becomes a major hub for those cameras. Now, back in the day, the civil rights movement, um, if they wanted to harass protesters and concerned citizens, they have to send their into the parking lot and write down their license point numbers, which they did, but now they can sit behind their desk and do it through a computer and they need not ask you for your your permission. They can go through a back door with Taylor and have them search. So I would ask Miss Monty to look into its own policies concerning the block cameras and to cure them against them being abused. Thank you.

Thank you. [applause]

George Fernandez. George Fernandez. Robert Palowski. Good evening. Thank you, Mayor Prom, Mayor, City Council. My name is Robert Plowski. I'm a lifelong down river resident in Southgate and I'm 21 years old and I'm a community activist and organizer. I've been doing this work since I've been 13, 14 years old. And I've seen a lot of things from the first Trump administration and how they overstepped their power, impeded on people's rights, completely destroyed human rights, and then came back continuously with election claims, and now they're fighting back after our communities. First off, I want to give a big thank you to the mayor and all of city council for passing this resolution. I grew up with a lot of people in my community who were marginalized that came from other districts that came from Detroit. They came from Lincoln Park. They even came from Ecourse and River Rouge. The majority of our people that came to our school were looking for a better opportunity. And a lot of them were from other countries because they saw the American dream. I'm currently in college. I go to Oakland Community College in Auburn Hills and I get that same thing every day. We have exchange students day in and day out. They deserve the right to be here and we do not need the Trump administration telling us who can be here and who cannot. This is the American dream and everyone deserves to have it. That flag that you just said when we had our pledge of allegiance, liberty and justice for all. You just did that tonight. Liberty, justice, and freedom for everybody in this country. Democracy is real. And this is what democracy looks like. And echoing everybody here in this room, we are all here to say no. and the protesters here with us. We all

stand together. We fight back against tyranny because we believe and everyone has a right to speak up in this country. And with that, I POWER TO ALL THE PEOPLE. [applause]

JOSHUA,

I think it's Stretch. Okay. I'm sorry. Evening city council mayor. I moved into Brown Mass about three years ago. I work at DTW1 over there on E course Road. My daughter and the kids go to school at Lakewood Elementary about six football fields about where this uh facility is planning to go in. Also between that the school and there there's also a smart arms for room raccoon hunting club that's back there too. So this facility is within seven football fields of not only one elementary school, one middle school, and a hunting club. So we're putting criminals next to guns and children. Now I've also worked in security. I was formerly a DPS Detroit public safety headquarters security officer. Spent many of years there. I've had a lot of different training. I've had active shooter training. One of the trainings that I had was bomb detection training was done by Detroit Police Department. They also brought in Department of Homeland Security, same department that ICE is a part of. Some of the things I heard in that training appalled me. putting people such as your yourself as elected in the municipality as radical groups, uh, churches, Christian groups, religious groups as radicalists. This is things that I heard in training that kind of appalled me. The fact that this is moving into the school, I have to speak for my children that don't have a voice yet, but they can speak, but they're afraid of their friends. Too many. We have to have our kids have uh IDs to prove that they're American citizens. How do we determine that? When did we become Nazi Germany where we have to pro have papers on us to prove that we were born here to prove that we were

citizens? I mean, I thought we were the land of the free and I thought it was always uh you were innocent until proven guilty, not guilty until proven innocent. Whether you are in this country illegally or not, you have the right to due process. And we don't see any of that. The difference between the Trump administration and the Obama administration or even the Biden administration which had deported more than the Trump administration is every single person that got deported had the right to due process. One of the key implement fundamental rights that we have as a citizen and abroad. Other than that, I just wanted to say and point out some things that even if this was one of our own, if we were putting in a detention center, we would not allow this to be this close to our kids or to a hunting club. So, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I moved into this city 3 years ago. Let me tell you, I fell in love with you guys. You guys have been there with the citizens day in day out. We don't want something, you guys are standing there shoulder-to-shoulder. So, I just want to thank you all for passing that resol resolution and continuing to be shoulder-to-shoulder with us. Thank you.

Thank you, [applause]

Nancy Daniels. Hello. I just want to thank everybody for letting us talk and give our opinions and um unfortunately I live way too close to this building. I'm super scared about it coming in. I I've been in this city for since I was 11 years old. I've seen a lot of changes in this city. I've seen a lot of positive things and I've seen some things that that we've literally been dumped on. We have to deal with the dump and vampire, the smells. Um, we do our best to take care of that, but I do not want I don't want a prison next door to me as close or as far as it is. I I do not want this and I know you're fighting as hard as you possibly can and I appreciate everything that you're doing. I I'm counting on you to do everything that you can and I I have no eloquent speech or anything else. I just up here to tell you I am thousand% against this. We don't need it. No, no, no resident city should should have this ever. So, thank you for letting me

Thank you. Thank you, [applause]

Tina Beard. Hi, I've been a resident for since 1996, 30 years. Um, you know, we're very worried about the location of where this, you know, detention center is going to be and what the crowd is going to be around it. I mean, you see how it's like out there. We want to know what protections people around there are going to have. I mean, because it's going to it's insane out there right now. So, you know, we're worried about our property values and what's going to happen. I I mean, if we if we don't control it, it's going to be like this every day. And and I mean, you know, if there's no way to stop it, then maybe there's a way to work around it, get it out of that area. It's already been, you know, tagged going all the way down the side. I mean, you know, we don't need it. The, you know, and that building floods and stuff. I don't know if they know it, but every time it rains, it floods all the way down the side. So, you know, I mean, that's it's not the proper area. And there's so many other places. I mean, outside of Romulus, inside of Romulus, somewhere else that it can go. You know,

like they said, there's empty prisons, there's all kinds of places. So, you know, if you can't fight them, then, you know, try to, you know, work with them, get it somewhere else. So, then that way, you know, the residents don't have to deal with this and everything. I mean, and yeah, and we're worried about the schools. Is the schools going to have to go on lockdown every time something happens? You know, cuz it's so close. I mean, it goes right through the woods directly to the schools. So, you know, I mean, we're going to have to, you know, do something. I mean, and is there any way that we can get grants to help out with the cost of what this is going to do for us? I mean, I don't know if anybody's looked into something like that, but it's going to cost a lot. and and I mean if if there's a way that they can help out, we you know got to work and do something. So that's all I really have to say.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,

Kathy Mackey. I'm from a neighboring community. This is really hard for me to get up in public speak. Really hard because I lose my words, but I had a lot of questions and you don't have any answers from what I'm sitting and listening to. But I just want to say um I just have so many concerns um just as a human being, as a local uh community member, as a human being that this is likely going to come to fruition. And I would like to think that um that you educate yourself enough um through the experience of other communities on how to approach what might be coming here. How do you make sure that the concentration camp are treating people with dignity? are having bathroom rights, having rights to to visitors and and for, you know, for the education if they're going to, you know, have families here that is affecting your community financially by having to provide public services and also you're losing money because you're not to get that in as you would have if it was sold to the car company that I understood it was. So, I think again it you have to be proactive. If this is going to happen, you need to have people that are expertise on um on what's been happening in the other states and how what you can do to make sure that these people, these human beings, [clears throat] they're going to be warehoused in a warehouse, are treated with human dignity. So you have to go beyond what you're doing now

down to the idea that you might have this in your community and understand what you need to do to do it. It's it's to me it's not financial. It's human beings. They're human. They're human beings. You have to respect them. It doesn't matter what party you're from or or or anything. It just has to do with human beings. So, I would I hope that you um are planning ahead that if this is going to come to fruition that you study um well, this is unheard of that we have concentration camps and I guess guess you have to go back to the first world war with the Japanese. Um but think ahead, think way ahead what you're going to do if it does come to fruition, what steps you legally can take to make sure that these people are treated humanly. So, all right. Thank you.

Thank you, [applause]

Edna Talon Jameson. Good evening, Mayor, Chief, Council, Clerks. Um, I'm here for two different reasons, so I'm going to split my time. And I apologize to the people behind me because I'm not going to talk about that quite yet. So, Fairways and Gateway, we need speed bumps. We had talked about it once before, but now that we got the nice pretty street down Swan Lake, the speeders are insane. Um, and it's actually dangerous where we got residents that are jumping out of the way of cars that are driving way too fast. So, we have a proposal. We will purchase our own speed bumps. They will be temporary. We will pull them up when winter comes so that they do not get in the way of the plow trucks and we restore them and then when the time comes we will put them back. Technically we need them during excuse me [clears throat] we need them during the winter time as well because our neighbors don't know how to not speed when it's icy outside. Um but I do know that we need to have them out of the way from plow trucks. you know that one of the concerns that we heard before, this is probably my third time mentioning this was um liability for people damaging their cars and things like that. However, speed bumps are like in a whole bunch of other cities and they do not have problems with lawsuits from people damaging their vehicles. So, I'd like you to consider that it won't cost the city a dime. Our subdivision will pay for it, maintain it, and man it ourselves. Um and now that we have our consortium with the other subdivisions that are being completed, um we will make this throughout the entire complex. So appreciate it if you consider that because we'll come again with a official in writing um once we have our

consortium reading uh meeting. Uh so part two um yeah, nobody likes what's happening in our city. Um, I thank those people who don't live in our community for being here to help speak on behalf. Um, but and I appreciate everyone who did speak because I'm so happy that there hasn't been any things that's happened outside happening in here. Um, I hope everyone is being safe. Um, but I want people to understand that the mayor and council and the whole staff has been doing whatever they can for a long time. Not enough people understand that they've been doing everything that they could. So, I'm actually putting a charge out to everyone who feels passionate about this, whether you're in our city or not. How about you link arms with our with our city officials and find out what you can do to help? We have brought all of our problems here to your feet, but we know that you are only human and you can only do so much and half of you got other jobs. So, I put it out to the public. Why don't you reach out to the mayor's office and say, "What can we do to help?" Not, "This is your job. You need to do it." It's a we thing because you can't do it alone. So, everybody, please see if you can help. Thank you.

Thanks, Ed. [applause] Michael Calibies. Okay. Sorry. [clears throat] City of Romulus. Mayor, council members. Uh, I was going to come here in my suit, but I feel like this gets a little more interesting results. Uh, I've lived in Romulus most my life, over 30 years or so. Uh, at one point I moved out to Wayne, but my best friend and roommate died, so I had to move back because, you know, things are oh so easy for this generation. They said things are supposed to all these mechanations are supposed to make things easier and it makes things easier for like six people, but people like me, people like my friends. I had a whole spiel written out before this thing happened. Uh, my dad told me if I was smart, I wouldn't be here. And he's right because if I was smart, I'd be more quiet about things. Uh, but I guess I have more courage and not the greatest sensibilities. Uh, the mayor and the police, well, the police told me I was the most reasonable person they talked to in the past few days. Yeah. And mannerisms. I don't know about appearance. Uh, well, listen, nobody wants this thing here. I don't like either side. When it's red or blue tie, I feel like their jobs are just to make sure that we go to work. I write lyrics under the alias of John Slesos about how, you know, working-class people just shut up and deal with it. If there's a concentration camp in your backyard, deal with it. I wake up, I look out my front door and I see a trash hill that's ever growing and it's tough to breathe the air. I wake up and I open up my back door and I see a concentration camp. My dad tells me that I have nothing to worry about cuz, you know, I'm like, well, you know what? I got friends that aren't, you know, and that's probably hard for some people to imagine, but I love people regardless of what they look like or what they for the most part what

they believe. If you believe like one single group of people is better than the other, I'm not too down with that. I I right minute left. I came here, I told them, uh, if you want to make things hard for ICE, shut down the flot camera system. They said it's very useful for the police. And I totally understand that. But just think how useful it is for the police. They know the neighborhood. Think gerilla tactics. If we have strangers from our neighborhood, they don't know it. Maybe it it's more, you know, it's harder for them if they don't have the system in place. I would say only temporarily. I mean, I'm I'm vocally against it. I don't believe I work at Amazon. 10. I'm outside of work right now and I'm usually I'm usually busy working, you know, and I think that's the plan to make people like me too busy working to say, "Hang on thing, guys. Things are bad. Things are bad. Should I have to worry about armed people on a roof that could nail me with the 5.56 round from that range? I can see it from my backyard. That's tactically on their opinion like that's not smart on their end. I don't know. Uh, I don't want to be here. I hate voicing my opinion. It's a bad time to have opinions. It's a dangerous time to have opinions. But I hope that you guys can instill some sort of faith in me in the next coming months when things get bad.

Thank you, [applause]

Christopher Olifant. Hi. Um, I lived down River. Um, on February 11th, more than 300 of the 497 students at Romulus High School held a walk out in protests of ISIS's attacks um in our community. [applause] Superintendent Benjamin Edmonson commended these students for their respect and organization. The uh walk out occurred a week after a Bloomberg report identified Ramulus as a potential site for the new ICE detention center. The detention centers projected to be smaller than most of the other 22 new detention centers that were in this report housing 500 beds. On February 4th, Mayor Robert McCrae uh you released a statement claiming that the reports about the new detention center within the city of Romulus were unsubstantiated. Um 10 days later, state senator Darren Cameilleri, who was outside earlier, um confirmed that the warehouse on Cogwell Street will become a detention center used by ICE in the DHS. Now, Morocrate is claiming that he was kept in the dark about the facility and that he is unhappy that the facility is coming to our community. I'm not only unhappy, I'm very angry. Why didn't Mayor McCrae read the Bloomberg report? Why didn't Mayor McCrae listen to the students in his community who walked out from school to raise the alarm? Was he asleep at the wheel? In Oklahoma City, Mayor David Holt and the community forced the company that owns the warehouse to break off talks with the DHS. In Salt Lake City, Mayor Aaron Mendenhal and the community forced the Richie Group to back out of a sale providing the property to the government. In Kansas City, city council members issued a moratorium on approvals for non-municipal detention facilities and platform ventures did not move forward with the sale of the warehouse.

In Ashland, Virginia, a warehouse sale was blocked after hundreds gathered at the proposed location demanding the transaction be canled. One of the largest planned detention centers housing 12 10,500 beds in Hutchkins, Texas was blocked and the protests against the facility turned into a celebration. We cannot allow those who want to do business in our community to sell out for short-term profit. Instead of investing in the instead of investing in the community, the detention center creates a public nuisance that will exacerbate division and exacerbate the horrific detention conditions. Industrial warehouses are not equipped with the infrastructure to ensure basic health for the people who would be detained there. Confining a large number of people in spaces not designed for human habitation. increases the spread of illness and puts people's health at risk. This is not the future our children deserve and it's definitively not the future that they have expressed in their majority that they want. It's time we listen to the youth. It's time we put everything we have into building a better community. It's time we stop making excuses and demand the cancellation of the sale. Thank you, [applause] Amy Conrad.

[clears throat] Hello. I'm here to speak about the detention center. I believe that history will not look back kindly at this time. And I'm reminded of one of Dr. King's quotes. The ark of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. I'm asking that you help bend it toward justice. Thank you for passing the resolution tonight and keep bending. Thank you. Thank you, [applause]

Madame Chair. This is the last written request from Daniel Chapman. Okay. Uh, good evening. Uh, my name is Daniel Chapman. Uh, I live in Chamberlain Street in a nice little quiet neighborhood for the last 30 years. I've been a taxpayer, a voter, a parent, and I like to stay out of view. I like to just blend in. Uh, it's good to hear that you guys share these values. I mean, I I was raised with Christian values to show kindness, to help out people who need it. Um, stand up for people who need it. And, uh, I don't think I can stay quiet. Um, it's time to say something. So, I'm just here to say that I support you. Um, and my voting will support you as well. And I think a lot of other people here in Ramos also agree with this and will support anything you do to try and oppose this detention center. It's not part of our shared values. It's not what we stand for. And I thank you for your time.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] Again, Madam Chair, that was the last written request. Also, um for the record, we did receive three emails that uh under public comment um with remarks from um three individuals. We have provided copies for you and they'll be submitted in the record. of those comments, but at this point, we do not have any more written requests.

Okay, we're gonna open it up. First of all, before I open it up, I want to thank everybody for just the orderliness that's been going on in our council chambers today. This is something um that well, we experienced things within our community, [clears throat] but this is another big thing that's happened to our community. So, I just want to thank you for the orderliness and also everyone will be heard that want to speak tonight. So, with that being said, who's next? You just got to raise your hand. Okay. You got hold tight. We got We want to make sure everybody else gets their We got to make sure everybody else get their turn. I know. I just want to say something about You won't get three minutes. Okay.

Yeah, I know. Just like we I want to know where are we going to get the information on other options that you're work that you're working on. Mhm. for for whatever somewhere. And then a a gentleman up there said something about gorilla tactics. We don't want guorilla tactics in a neighborhood. That's that's not, you know, that's not called for. Mhm. I mean, there's certain ways to do things, but guerilla tactics in a neighborhood is, you know, not going to happen. So, you know, we have to figure something out. So, we will. Thank you.

Thank you. Anybody who has not spoken. Yes. Could you come on up? Hi. My name is Jen Audrey. I'm a 12-year resident here. Can you speak [clears throat] in the mic? I can't quite hear you. Can you speak in the mic for me? Thank you. Um, I was late coming in. Am I allowed to ask what the resolution was? Um, we're going to do it on the unfinished business. We'll we'll revisit that on the unfinished business. Okay.

Okay. Um, I guess just briefly, um, we've heard a lot of financial reasons, human reasons. I mean, at the end of the day, it I don't think it matters, who you're aligning with politically. We all know that this is not good. And we all know that this it doesn't stop with immigration. We know who's next. And as another member of the community, queer member of the community, it's frightening.

And I can tell you right now, attitudes towards people are changing out there and we feel less and less safe. So, anything you can do to stand up right now and make sure we don't take another step in that direction is necessary and appreciated. So, thank you. Thank you. [applause] Any more comments from the audience? Yes, ma'am.

Hello. I'm Phoenix McGregor and I live down river in Lincoln Park. I was uh basically born and raised here and I have my daughter and grandson that are now being raised down river as well. Um and I just wanted to take a moment to speak directly to the people. Mhm.

Because what I've heard here tonight is that you all have been on the people's side and that the federal government has overreached the city's authority. And so I feel that it's now up to the people to take action and to be organized in community. And so I just want the people to know that we are already organizing. we are already getting people together in community in neighborhoods and that there are many of us that are willing to help teach you how to do that. And so a few people tonight have talked about community organizing already. And I just want people to know that they're not alone. That it's not just about showing up to this meeting or to the protests, but in between those times, we can get together and we can actually be stronger together for whatever is coming here.

Thank you. Thank you. [applause] Any more comments from the audience? Um, did we have We did the deputy clerk did check with um Okay. to make sure to see if there was anyone that was outside and the protest um have dispersed. So, there's no one outside waiting to come in to come in and speak. Okay. Okay. I just want to make sure everybody I want to make sure everybody's heard. So, we're going to go to the emails and have those read into record. Is those what we got next?

We we don't have to read record. No, it's just to make note that we did them and you have copies of them um and everything will be entered into the record as receiving those um public. Okay. So, going once, going twice, we're going to close that piece out. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Number nine is unfinished business. Thank you. We're going to um address the um the young lady's um request about the resolution Celeste. So, I'm going to yield the floor to Celeste here.

Madam Chair, um asked me to reread the resolution that we voted on earlier. Uh for those that didn't hear it, uh it went as uh a resolution of the city of Romulus city council opposing the establishment of an immigration and customs enforcement detention center within the city limits. Whereas the city of Ramulos is committed to protecting the health, safety, and welfare of its residents and commercial business interests. Whereas the operation of federal detention centers within a municipality can impose substantial burdens on the interstructure, public safety resources and e emergency medical services without providing direct local benefits. Whereas the existence of a detention center within the city of Romulus would have negative direct negative implications for local public safety, municipal services, land [clears throat] use capabilities, and economic development. Whereas the president's presence of a detention center may depress property values, deter business investment, and impose long-term negative impacts inconsistent with the city's development goals and land use planning strategies. And whereas the city council finds that placing a detention center within the city limits is inconsistent with community planning, economic priorities, and the city's vision for a safe environment for its residents and commercial business interest. Now therefore, be it resolved by the city council of the city of Romulus that the city formally opposes the establishment, construction, or operation of a detention center within the city limits. Be it finally resolved that a copy of

this resolution shall be transmitted to the Department of Homeland Security, the offices of the city state legislative representatives, the governor's office, and the city's congressional representatives. Thank you, Councilwoman Russell. And let me just reiterate my comments earlier. The mayor and his team have been working tirelessly tirelessly um on this matter uh solutions looking for solutions and matters um as I spoke earlier um our council chairperson Rosco and myself have met with residents um concerned about this as well and not just coming and and just voicing their concerns but also bringing solutions well possible solutions things for us to explore. So a lot of things that people have said tonight are on this list of items that we have from residents who compiled a list of things for us to explore. So with everybody kind of putting their ideas on there, we just exploring everything possible. Um and again the administration, the mayor and they have been working tirelessly on this. So um I love the comments from uh the couple of people who said uh work with us, work with us because it's easy to just say say. We just need the action behind it too. Um, it takes a village. So, thank you guys, everybody. And, um, we're going to close the we're done with the unfinished business piece.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Number 10 is new [clears throat] business. Number 11 is warrant 26-04.

Through the chair, I'd like to make a motion we pay Warrant 26-04 and the following amounts. General fund $273,10.74. Major street fund $23,28422. Local street fund $36,27866. Public safety fund $34,3394. Cable TV $1,832.71. Marman Rose special assessment $2,6485. Street lighting fund $59,52658. Community employee activity fund $1785. Garbage and rubbish collection fund $1,480.93. Oakwood SAD $62.16 Tax Increment Finance Authority $4,961.92 Downtown Development Authority $13,882.96 Michigan Defense Fund $8,584.33 911 Service Fund $12,28262 2 Drug Law Enforcement Fund $418.39 [snorts] Law Enforcement Federal $16,726 Library Fund $4,24963 Water and Sewer Fund $179,5758 Motor Vehicle $12,64742 Technology Services 34 $4,5382

retirey insurance benefits $10,57862 revolving fund $1,025 current tax $37,278.38 Impress payroll fund $56,774.98 totaling eight totaling all funds 825 $5,646.99

support. Thank you. It's been motioned by Miss Abdo, seconded by Mr. Jones for the approval of warrant number 26-04 for checks presented in the amount of $825,646.99. Any discussion hearing? None. Miss Abdo. Yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Mr. Wsworth, yes. Mr. Willhigh, yes. Miss Rosco, yes. Mr. Bullot. Yes. Chairs. Yes. That's approved. Number 12 is communication. Anybody? Yeah, we tied, ain't we? I'm tired. Go on. Let's move on.

Number 13 is adjournment and the time is 9. So move. Support. It's been motioned by Mr. Worth. Seconded by Miss Rosco for the adjournment of this meeting. Mr. Wsworth, Miss Rosco, Miss Abdo, yes. Mr. Jones, yes. Mr. Bullock, yes. Mr. Willhigh, yes. Chair voice, yes. We are jured.