Charter Revision Commission Phase III

Charter Revision Commission to Start Drafting Stage

January 8, 2011 thru May 14, 2011

DETROIT – The Detroit Charter Revision Commission, armed with more than 550 recommendations, will start discussions between Commissioners to draft language for the new city Charter. The Charter Revision Commission will meet starting Saturday, January 8th, 2011 in the Chambers of the Detroit City Council, 13th Floor Coleman A. Young Municipal Center at 12:00 Noon. At this meeting the Commission is expected to discuss and approve Commission rules for the drafting stage of the revision process as well as receive the 550 recommendations collected from citizen and stakeholder input from previous public meetings and exchanges across the city.

The Charter Revision Commission has set an aggressive schedule to work through the 550 recommendations. The schedule includes regular Saturday meetings starting and 12:00 Noon to 5:00 P.M. at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center. Additionally, the Commission will meet on the first Tuesday of the month at 6:00 P.M. at the Butzel Recreational Center at 7737 Kercheval and on the fourth Tuesday at 6:00 P.M. at the Northwest Activities Center at 18100 Meyers Road.
The Commission has also made available at its website complete copies of the recommendations provided to the Commission from the Mayor and City Council, various support documents and a index of recommendations cataloging the recommendations advanced to the Commission by citizens, elected officials and other stakeholders. The website is found on the web at www.2009dcrc.org.

Commission Chair Jenice Mitchell Ford: “the drafting stage is the central activity of the Commission. We have hosted more than 30 public meetings, held three conventions designed to encourage citizen exchange and many of us have attended block club and community association meetings across the city. From these outreach activities, we have received approximately 550 suggestions and recommendations. Our task is to take from the suggestions and recommendations provided us from the public and transform the suggestions and recommendations into a framework document that sets the general direction and power relationships in local government. We have set an aggressive schedule to do this work and our target is to make the November 2011 ballot seeking voter approval of the Commission’s work product.”

About the Charter Commission:

On May 5, 2009, Detroit residents approved a revision of the 1997 Charter of the City of Detroit [[the “Charter”). Nomination and election of Commission members were held on August 4, 2009 and November 3, 2009, respectively. The Commission was seated on November 17, 2009 to fill a three- year term which ends May 5, 2012.

The Commission has adopted a four [[4) phase charter revision process.
In Phase I - Education Phase, held from January to October 2010, the Commission held more than 25 meetings across the city to educate the public about critical issues in the existing Charter. In Phase II –Charter Conventions, held during November and December 2010, the Commission sought to engage the public and solicit comments, recommendations and input from all Detroit stakeholders including residents, churches, businesses, organized labor, non-profits and civic organizations to help shape the Charter. Starting January 8, 2011, the Commission begins Phase III – The Writing Phase.

For more information on the Commission visit www.2009dcrc.org or call [[313) 628-2517.

To review recommendations for Detroit Charter revision, please click on the following Web link to the Detroit Charter Revision Commission [[DCRC) web site: http://2009dcrc.org/MASTERINDEXOFRECOMMENDATIONS.aspx

I attended the first Saturday meeting on Jan. 8th at the Coleman A Young Municipal building, it was held on the 13th floor in the city council meeting room.

--- for the most part what was discussed included formally adopting the means by which the proposals [[officially 500+ from the public and others) would be considered then implemented into a draft of a new charter. One of the topics raised including adopting an alternative term to "charterable" regarding proposed revisions, and how often, if at all, should subcommittees be used to address some specific categories of the charter.

Most of the charter commissioners were there. Cara Blount was not there in person but was on speakerphone. Rose Mary Robinson did not attend.

For the curious, some folks did "turn it out" during the first public commentary segment of the meeting [[there was a second public comment section at the tail end of the meeting, which was a little more balanced). Among those venting, most of it centered around general city culture/government observations but little concerning charter drafting issues.

Further meetings for the next couple of months will continue every saturday afternoon at the city-county building [[officially scheduled 12 noon - 5; this last meeting lasted until 4 pm), then on 1/11 there will be a meeting at Butzel Family Center at 6 pm [[continuing 2nd tuesdays each month), then on 1/25 there will be a meeting at Northwest Activities Center at 6 pm [[continuing on 4th tuesdays each month)