Detroit Evening Report: Detroit’s Proposal N advisory board will finally hold public meetings

The Detroit Demolition Department advisory group that’s in charge of overseeing the $250 million bond to tear down and stabilize thousands of blighted homes hasn’t held a single public meeting. That will now change after complaints were made over the lack of transparency.

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Detroit voters approved the bond, known as Proposal N, nearly two years ago.

“We were unaware that these advisory board meetings were not being publicly noticed,” Detroit Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallett Jr. told BridgeDetroit. “As its name indicates, this board is purely advisory. It does not make policy, operational or budget decisions and any recommendations it makes are non-binding.”

Listen: BridgeDetroit’s Kayleigh Lickliter explains the Proposal N advisory board controversy

The announcement of the public meetings follows news that the city has fallen short of its goal of securing 2,000 homes within the first two years, and less than 51% of the workers for the program are Detroiters according to the compliance dashboard for Detroit’s Civil Rights, Inclusion and Opportunity Department.

The advisory group confirmed that they have met privately within the past two years, but said that the future meetings will be public to help with transparency and community engagement.

Other headlines for March 23, 2023:

• Michigan House continues to pass gun reform legislation
• $1 million federal funding to support houses of worship in low-income neighborhoods
• Ramadan Suhoor Festival starting this weekend in Dearborn

Do you have a community story we should tell? Let us know in an email at detroiteveningreport@wdet.org.

WDET reporter Quinn Klinefelter contributed to this story.