Highland Park renews trash contract, prolongs budget decision

In last week’s public meetings, we watched as Highland Park almost failed to renew its contract for curbside trash pickup. The contract was ultimately renewed for two years with GFL Environmental, which recently announced it was selling all its contracts and equipment in Southeast Michigan to Priority Waste.

In other news: A former city contractor was denied his debarment appeal by City Council; a backlog of yet-to-be-investigated citizen complaints against police officers continues to grow; and Wayne County decided it would spend more than $150,000 on mattresses for a new Juvenile Detention Facility, which is opening … when, exactly?

We’re always looking for obscure, often unheard-of agencies to report on. Do you know of one that we should be covering? Drop us a line, and we’ll do just that: documenters@outliermedia.org .

Housing

The board of directors for Detroit’s Continuum of Care voted to make a permanent mobile access site for housing services at the Pope Francis Center downtown following the success of its temporary setup during the NFL draft . There is no charge to have the mobile unit at the site. Staff saw 26 people over two days , 11 of whom had never engaged with them before. Mobile housing services at the Pope Francis Center will be available to clients on Fridays from 8-11 a.m.

6/3/2024 Detroit Continuum of Care Board of Directors, documented by Meghan Rutigliano and Sandi Nelson

Policing

Investigators at the Board of Police Commissioners are struggling to keep up with the flood of incoming complaints of police misconduct.

A monthly impact report from Chief Investigator Jerome Warfield highlighted over 2,000 complaints awaiting investigation. Despite the recent onboarding of several new investigators, the backlog is substantial, owing to a record number of new complaints coming in and a long stretch with inadequate staffing. Warfield was pleased that new investigators are operating with high efficiency, but Board Chair QuanTez Pressley chided commissioners for not promptly reading and closing cases which they receive for review.

6/6/2024 Detroit Board of Police Commissioners, documented by Carole Hawke and Robert Dewar

For more on the Board of Police Commissioners, check out the latest BOPC Watch .

Politics

6/3/2024 Highland Park City Council: Councilmembers unanimously approved a two-year extension on a trash contract with GFL , but failed to approve the 2024-25 budget. Instead, the council voted 3-1 to meet June 14 at 6 p.m. to review the budget, line by line.

Documented by Nathaniel Eichenhorn and Tamia Davis

6/4/2024 Detroit City Council Formal Session: The council denied the debarment appeal of former city contractor Bobby Ferguson, who was banned from contracting with the city for almost 20 years.

Documented by Benjamin Haddix and Janelle James

For more on City Council, check out Malachi Barrett’s City Council Notebook at BridgeDetroit.

6/6/2024 Wayne County Commission Full Commission: This meeting was largely inaccessible and hard to follow because the wrong agenda was posted, and there were numerous Zoom and audio problems. Commissioners approved the purchase of mattresses for the county’s forthcoming Juvenile Detention Facility located near I-75 and East Warren Avenue.

Documented by Benjamin Haddix and Meg Krausch

Ethics

6/4/2024 Detroit Board of Ethics: The board opened an investigation into Antoine Bryant, director of Detroit’s Planning and Development Department, over improperly approved contracts for downtown murals.

Documented by Christiana Beckley and Pamela Taylor

For more on the investigation into Bryant, read the latest reporting from Outlier Media and BridgeDetroit .

This story was written by Outlier’s Lynelle Herndon and Noah Kincade, with Detroit Documenters Carole Hawke, Meghan Rutigliano and Nathaniel Eichenhorn.

Highland Park renews trash contract, prolongs budget decision · Outlier Media