What is the current status of the fight for the DPL?
Here is a brief timeline of events related to the fight for the Detroit Public Library, in reverse chronological order, so that the latest news is at the top.
September 5, 2023
As a member organization of the Detroiters For Tax Justice, we unveiled shocking new data on the effects of tax captures before City Council and members of the press. Using Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, we retrieved reports from the DEGC on how much money they have taken from each millage on our tax bill, for the years 2014-2022. We then compiled all of that data into a spreadsheet, and we also combined it with tallies of what that stolen money could have paid for had it not been tax captured.
For instance, the DEGC tax captured $23.5M from the Detroit Public Library millage since 2014; that money could have paid to restore and reopen both the Monteith and Conely Branches, brought the Bowen Branch up to ADA compliance, ran the "Laptop-To-Go" program for nine years, paid the salaries of three librarians, and still had half a million left over! The total amount stolen from all millages by the DEGC's tax captures since 2014 was over $442M.
 |
| A few members of the Detroiters For Tax Justice |
We gave printouts of this data to each Councilmember, and for 20 minutes explained in detail to them each feature of the chart, and what effects it had on taxpayers and our millage-funded institutions. We concluded by issuing our demand that Council use its power as prescribed under state law PA 57 of 2018 (Section 125.4230) to dissolve the tax capturing authorities of the DEGC. Council President Mary Sheffield then gave a pandering reply, boasting that they had already "explored" options by which to exclude the libraries and schools from tax capture. She then falsely stated (as in the past) that Council has no power over this and that we must change state law. This was an obvious deflection of our clear demand, and we weren't asking for exceptions to tax captures either; we demanded City Council follow the state law that deals with them, which definitively names Council as the body directly responsible for ending tax captures entirely once they have run their course.
Bridge Detroit, WXYZ, the Detroit News, and the Free Press all sought comment from us, but as of Sept. 10, only Bridge Detroit had published any coverage:
Despite this predictably lackluster response to our presentation, it was but a necessary first step in our mission to bring awareness to the general public of how we are being looted, and to demonstrate the intransigence of City Council to do anything to stop the injustices that pay for corporate welfare even when the ball is absolutely in their court.
July 12, 2023
Outlier Media published a follow-up article on the topic of the DPL wire fraud case. It is our opinion that much of the content in this article is rubbish, based on deliberately misleading statements from city officials. But the main takeaway from this article is that the investigation into the wire fraud is going nowhere.
July 7, 2023
This banner "mysteriously" appeared in front of the closed Conely Branch Library. The reopening of the Conely has been delayed due to lack of funds to complete needed repairs. Two other similar banners later appeared on the closed Chase and Hubbard Branches later in the summer.
June 27, 2023
After weeks of meeting in secret, the Detroiters For Tax Justice introduced itself to Detroit City Council, and put them on notice that the people would no longer tolerate the looting of our public institutions for private development. We then proceeded to Lansing to ally ourselves with the Economic Development Responsibility Alliance (EDRA), and join them in a demonstration of statewide solidarity against the looting of public assets for private gain, in both Detroit and rural Michigan. EDRA was formed from the same small town people that we met while crashing the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC)'s hearing back on April 25th.
June 20, 2023
The Library Commission voted unanimously to terminate the contract of DPL's lobbyist, Oscar King III, for conflicts of interest.
May 16, 2023
The City of Detroit promised months ago to allocate $700,000 in ARPA funds to the DPL for a new laptop rental program, called "Laptop-To-Go." But at the DPL Commission meeting of May 16, it was revealed by Commissioner Jackson that the money was never actually disbursed to the DPL, although the library has been running the program at their own expense since December of 2022 based on the promise of the ARPA money. The DPL Commission subsequently appealed the city's decision not to disburse the funds, but was rebuffed. This is another way in which the mayor's administration has been deliberately sabotaging the DPL: causing it to bleed money through unreimbursed expenses. The Save the DPL Coalition is pursuing avenues to force the city to release the funds.
It bears mentioning that both this DPL Commission meeting, and the previous meeting of the Buildings Committee failed to reach a quorum for conducting business due to members Angelique Peterson-Mayberry, Greg Hicks, Ida Short and Jean Vierre Adams being absent. As a result the contract for restoration work on the Conely Branch Library could not be approved, setting back its reopening date.
April 29, 2023
The Friends of the Bowen Branch Library / Save the DPL Coalition formally joined forces with representatives from The People's Platform, Moratorium Now!, the Metro Detroit Democratic Socialists of America, and other social justice groups across the city to form a greater coalition known as Detroiters For Tax Justice (DFTJ), under the leadership of Russ Bellant, former Library Commissioner. The DFTJ's mission is to end corporate looting of our public institutions through research, truth-telling, focused legal actions, legislative advocacy, and community organizing.
April, 25, 2023
Along with The People's Platform, the Save the DPL Coalition got on a bus to Lansing to oppose the state tax incentives being doled out by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) to the "District Detroit" project. We packed the room and widened the eyes of this unknown little state board who never expected to have to sit through two hours of public comment. They still approved the giveaway, but we made allies in the towns of Marshall, Mundy, and Big Rapids, who were also there fighting corporate land grabs that affected their small towns.
April 12, 2023
Our member Elena Herrada received a response to her FOIA request to the DPL asking for an itemized breakdown of current maintenance needs for all library buildings in the city, and which ones are ADA compliant or not. Needless to say, a vast majority of the libraries are in need of ADA compliance upgrades, as well as other capital improvements.
April 10, 2023
Councilmember Mary Waters asked for a “RESOLUTION TO HALT TAX CAPTURES FROM DETROIT PUBLIC LIBRARY.” Councilmember Latisha Johnson also created a memorandum asking for a breakdown of DPL tax captures. This, along with the resolution in March asking the state to exempt Detroit libraries and schools from tax captures creates a suspicious contrast to their vote for the District Detroit tax subsidies.
April 5, 2023
An Axios article talked about Mary Sheffield issuing a memo "exploring the process for dissolution of the DDA.” Here is the memo, which is actually from January 20th:
I recall that I used my public comment at the District 2 Evening Community Meeting to explain to Council the DDA dissolution process under PA 57, and how it was their job under the law to remedy, yet they stood mute, some looking down at their phones.
March 30, 2023
At City Council, Scott Benson made a spurious claim based on a memo from Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallett that City Council could amend the DPL’s budget as they see fit. Benson therefore decided he wanted Council to move $15M from DPL's fund balance (its rainy day fund) into capital projects to start "building new libraries." Everybody wants new libraries (or at least to reopen the closed ones), but what this would do is deplete the DPL’s rainy day fund, preventing them from being able to do anything to address emergencies like HVAC breakdowns and other things related to keeping the current branches open. The DPL does not currently even have enough funds to reopen its temporarily closed branches, let alone hire new staff, so the idea of building new libraries without creating a new revenue source is preposterous.
Ultimately such a move would prevent the DPL from being able to keep its budget balanced, since they have also been forced to dip into that rainy day fund to cover operations because of the losses due to tax captures. But that is what Benson and Duggan want: to bankrupt the library so that it can be taken over. To remove $15M from the DPL’s fund balance would force it into real a budget deficit within three years…which would result in the closure of existing library branches.
March 28, 2023
Despite all the protest, City Council voted almost unanimously to approve the giveaway of our tax money to the District Detroit project. The service workers' union, SEIU, showed up in force again to drown out the voices of those calling for accountability and community consideration. The unions, and the few supposed "peoples' champions" on City Council sold us out for a few pieces of silver.
March 23, 2023
State Senator Sylvia Santana's bill (SB 1086) to remove the "Detroit exception" to tax capture protection was reintroduced as SB 243 and referred to committee. It was co-sponsored by Senator Chang and Senator Geiss.
March 21, 2023
Save The DPL Coalition members joined a demonstration with the Detroit People's Platform and others in front of Spirit of Detroit, prior to attending City Council's formal session to vote on the District Detroit tax incentives. Our member Elena's comments about the racism of tax captures were even aired on WDET's evening newscast. However, members of the IBEW Local 58 packed the room to advocate for the tax incentives, claiming that approving the deal was necessary for their jobs. They were there to drown out the voices of community members complaining about the theft of our money by billionaires. The Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters recently pulled a similar stunt at a different Council hearing on the District Detroit incentives.
The vote on the issue was delayed until March 28. Clearly the unions in Detroit do the bidding of the elites rather than that of the working class, and City Council needed their cover in order to vote for the looting under the pretense that it was to support jobs for Detroiters, even though the skilled trade unions' membership is overwhelmingly white and suburban. It is also worth noting that the UAW represents the DPL librarians, and AFSCME represents other DPL staff. Where have these unions been during this battle? Are they even aware that there is a war going on that affects their members' jobs? Or have they been silenced by the political money of the elites and the Duggan machine?
Meanwhile, Council did vote unanimously to approve agenda item 17.10, "RESOLUTION URGING A CHANGE IN STATE LAW TO EXCLUDE THE DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND THE DETROIT PUBLIC LIBRARY FROM TAX ABATEMENTS AND TAX CAPTURES." This came from Mary Sheffield's memo from earlier this year. It has now been referred to the LPD to draft a resolution urging the State Legislature for a change in state law. This sounds like an incredible victory for us, but we are still not sure what to make of it passing unanimously...something feels fishy, especially if Benson voted for it. But for now we will take it at face value, and support the resolution at the state level. Contact your state reps and senators!
Another fascinating revelation came to light during the Library Commission meeting later the same day. It was learned at the meeting by our member Elena Herrada that the Detroit Public Library employed a lobbyist, Oscar W. King III, of the lobbying firm Kelley-Cawthorne. He is retained by the DPL to lobby on behalf of the library system to the State of Michigan. Elena recalled that Mr. King had recently been seen at a District Detroit NAC meeting, lobbying on behalf of Ilitch interests! Who needs enemies when the people on your own team are working against your interests?
March 20, 2023
Lots of media coverage on the library fight: BridgeDetroit published a story about the DPL budget hearing at City Council on the 17th, and how Councilman Benson thinks the library should have to dip further into its emergency funds to cover basic necessities. It also revealed that the priceless National Automotive Historic Collection housed at the closed Skillman Branch Library was damaged when heavy vibrations from Dan Gilbert's construction site next-door caused the building's sprinkler system to go off. Councilman Benson further hinted at the agenda for privatizing the DPL system.
There was also a pair of articles on the library in the Detroit News:
They were both good, and Friends of the Bowen (Save The DPL Coalition) got some favorable exposure out of it, but one article contained a quote from Mayor Duggan that is infested with disinformation meant to harm the reputation of the DPL, and to confuse the public about how it is governed. He repeats the lie that the School Board "runs" the library, as well as the lie that it has an extra $30M laying around, which he used to imply that the DPL either does not know how to manage its money or is corrupt. We sent requests to the Detroit News reporter for this blatant propaganda to be retracted, since it is unsupported by any evidence.
Charlie LeDuff also put out a humorous and incisive video criticizing how Detroit is being "Pickpocketed by Billionaires."
March 13, 2023
Some members of the Save The DPL Coalition (and others) met with State Senator Sylvia Santana at the Campbell Branch Library, where we discussed her bill to protect Detroit's libraries from unfair tax captures.
Some of us were also at the Spirit of Detroit statue demonstration this morning with Rashida Tlaib, Shri Thanedar, and others to protest the proposed giveaway of Detroiters' tax money to the District Detroit.
March, 2023
The Friends of the Bowen Branch Library branded its political arm as the "Save The DPL Coalition" so as to more inclusively represent all library allies city-wide in our efforts at the state level. Subsequently this would later be absorbed into an even greater coalition known as "Detroiters For Tax Justice," called together by ex-Library Commissioner Russ Bellant in the summer of 2023.
February 21, 2023
After passing committee, Councilmember Calloway's resolution to make the DDA repay the DPL $3.5M came to a full City Council vote, and—surprisingly—passed unanimously. Rather than take this as a win however, the Friends of the Bowen suspect that this is a decoy tactic designed to distract from the fact that the DDA is still perfectly able to conduct tax captures against the libraries, in ever-increasing amounts above the $3.5M that they have been taking so far. It creates cognitive dissonance that will make it harder for us to make our case to the public that the libraries are still being looted. Furthermore the resolution—while well-intentioned—is just a resolution, which means it may not come to anything, even if enacted legislatively. And it is a local-level attempt at putting a bandaid on a problem that has its origins in state law, so it may not be enforceable.
Meanwhile, at the DPL Commission meeting, they voted to make a formal request that Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel investigate the wire fraud incident where the city stole half a million dollars from the DPL’s accounts. There was also movement on getting the structural issues addressed at the Conely Branch, so that it can reopen.
The same day, former DPL Commissioner Russ Bellant was interviewed by Detroit is Different, about the threats to the library. Russ does an incredible job describing in great detail exactly what is happening to the DPL in this video:
At the City Council Evening Community Meeting at Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church that night, we were present to make public comment again. After our member Imara Hyman spoke regarding tax captures and library defunding, Councilmember Scott Benson retorted by actually saying with a straight face that the DPL has a $31M budget SURPLUS, and that we should instead be going to the DPL Commission with our concerns. That is a complete lie…the DPL’s entire budget is $31M, and there is no surplus...because of tax captures. Anyway, it’s interesting to note that this is the very same Councilman Benson who not even a year ago based his argument for city takeover of the libraries on the assertion that the DPL is financially failing. So which is it, Benson? For what it’s worth, similar library “surplus” numbers have been recently cited in the District Detroit NAC by Chairman Chris Jackson.
February 14, 2023
Friends of the Bowen Branch Library joined Detroit People's Platform outside of the District Detroit NAC meeting at Cass Tech for a protest of the taxpayer looting that is going on around the Ilitch-Ross project, and to make public comment regarding the alleged $250k concession for the libraries:
February 9, 2023
Friends of the Bowen were present at City Council's Planning Committee and Neighborhood Committee sessions. At issue was a memorandum from Councilwoman Sheffield to exempt the schools and libraries from the Brownfield Authority / District Detroit project looting, as well as the referendum from Councilwoman Calloway regarding the repayment of money from the DDA to the library. Both votes were postponed until Feb. 16th for further discussion. Although there was much discussion about the Calloway resolution, we noted a LOT of inaccuracies and outright misinformation being spoken by both Councilman Young II and Scott Benson, as well as the LPD representative. We find this inexcusable, since the correct information regarding the nature of the libraries, and their relation to the school system, as well as its legal structure IS AVAILABLE to them, as LPD has produced two recent reports containing the correct facts.
February 7-8, 2023
The DPSCD school board appointed Chaundra Frierson-Haynes to fill the vacant DPL Commission seat of Russ Bellant, who retired in December. Members of the Friends of the Bowen Library were present, and also made public comment at the Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority hearing and meeting on the 6th and 7th, to oppose more tax breaks being given to the District Detroit project.
At the same time, the Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC) meeting for the District Detroit was going on at Cass Tech. The Peoples' Platform was there and reported that the Ilitch-Ross team had apparently offered $250,000 to the DPL as a concession from their project, but NAC members Chris Jackson and Jonathan Kinloch essentially told them they didn't want it.
This topic was discussed again at the DBRA meeting on Feb. 8th. To anyone's knowledge, no representatives from the DPL were notified to be present at either of these meetings to take part in any sort of discussion about concessions to the library, and whether they were wanted or not. Granted, $250k is barely enough to buy a new roof for one library, so the offer is ridiculous to begin with, and clearly designed only for the purpose of buying them some good PR in the face of mounting public outrage over the looting of the DPL, as evidenced in the increasing number of public commenters talking about it at meetings. In other words, we are making a difference!
January 31, 2023
January 31, 2023
Friends of the Bowen Library appeared at City Council's full session to make public comment on behalf of the library fight again, and to hold their feet to the fire. Also, further down the agenda was a resolution to be sent to committee proposing a mandatory repayment of $3.5M annually from the DDA to the DPL, at the behest of Councilwoman Calloway:
This resolution was a direct result of OUR outspoken advocacy at the previous Council session. We are making a difference, but we need to keep the pressure on...TAKE ACTION!
For what it's worth, we also received a letter that afternoon from the Inspector General's office stating that the matter of the wire fraud case had been referred to the Detroit Police.
January 30, 2023
During Mayor Duggan's charter-mandated community meeting at city hall (actually just a fan club meeting in disguise), several members of the Friends of the Bowen Branch Library made an appearance in the peanut gallery of the Erma Henderson Auditorium with signs drawing attention to the injustices of Duggan's Detroit:
January 23-30, 2023
ClickonDetroit and Detroit News finally get around to reporting on the story that Bridge scooped, but neither article breaks any new ground, nor do they really have any context on the battle around the libraries. They mainly focus on the wire fraud, which they imply was likely random rather than orchestrated by city employees. ClickonDetroit doesn't even mention tax captures.
Bankole Thompson also mentioned the library story on his 910AM radio show on the 23rd, but he mostly just used his air time to rip on Councilman Benson. Friends of the Bowen member Elena Herrada went on WJZZ on the 25th to discuss the library takeover, and tax captures. WDET briefly mentioned the library battle during their Morning Edition program on the 27th and 30th. But like the other coverage in the mainstream media they failed to mention anything about the relevance of tax captures, or the two city employees who were terminated over the wire fraud, preferring to let the public assume the culprits were just some unknown hackers instead of stating that the culprits are known, and walking free. It also remains to be said in any mainstream local media coverage how the DPL Commission was extorted by the mayor's administration with threats to withhold the library's HVAC contracts if they didn't take the blame for the missing money. BridgeDetroit is still the only outlet actually connecting the dots.
January 20, 2023
BridgeDetroit published a big article about the attack on the DPL...
The details of the wire fraud incident were also made clearer: $685,221 was stolen in 2021 when someone using the email of a library employee sent fraudulent wire instructions to the city, causing library funds to be transferred to a private bank account. Of that money $277,795 was recovered, putting the total loss at $407,426.
Bridge also noted the negative effect that the DDA tax captures have on the library's sustainability, citing the fact that the DDA will have taken $35 million in tax captures from the library from 2012 to 2027! Councilwoman Calloway asked the Legislative Policy Division to explore whether it would be possible to give some of that money back to the library.
January 17, 2023
At the January meeting of the DPL Commission, a Friend of the Bowen Branch Library asked about the status of the FBI investigation into the DPL's funds. The commission confirmed that the FBI probe entailed funds taken by the city from the library. It was confirmed that there were two illegal wire transfers from DPL accounts amounting to over $400,000, and that the city employees allegedly responsible were fired but not prosecuted (which may imply that they themselves were not the ones who benefited from the theft).
There was also a question as to whether the theft was covered by the city's insurance, but the Duggan administration told the DPL that there would be no repayment. Duggan tried to make the commissioners take the fall for the theft and when they refused, they were retaliated against by being denied the installation of a much needed HVAC system for the main library for over six months.
Commission President Edythe Friley chastised commissioners who do not come to library commission meetings, clearly directed at Commissioner Ida Short, who arrived at the end of the meeting. There was no financial report because the financial committee did not have a quorum.
Ex-DPL Commissioner Russ Bellant went to the DPSCD school board meeting that same day, to inquire as to why the board had not appointed anyone to fill his vacant seat on the library commission, as was their responsibility. No answer was given, and witnesses at the meeting said that Superintendent Vitti was very uncomfortable with the question. This, along with the absenteeism of DPL Commissioners Ida Short and Angelique N. Peterson-Mayberry (who are aligned with Duggan), appears to be an effort to sabotage the DPL Commission's ability to function.
January 13, 2023
Friends of the Bowen Library began handing out leaflets to spread awareness of the battle for the libraries, mainly in Southwest Detroit. The leaflets were spartan and contained a typo, but I guess that's how you know they're grassroots, right? ;)
January 11, 2023
The Downtown Development Authority met to vote on giving the new Ilitch-Ross development project a $50M subsidy, which they approved. A Friends of the Bowen Branch Library member said that during the meeting the DDA's treasurer revealed that the organization's coffers were much more full than previously realized. The treasurer stated that last year they reported "excess funds" of $6M, and that if things remained on the same track the surplus is projected to be even greater for 2023. Gee, where do you suppose that "excess" money came from? Could this surprise have anything to do with the fact that exactly two years ago the DDA chose to stop reporting the amount it was capturing from the DPL budget to the city's Chief Financial Officer? Further, the DDA was also informed by its treasurer that there is a nice little $137M nest egg in their accounts, although its use is restricted.
January 10, 2023
At the first City Council meeting of 2023 some of the Friends of the Bowen Branch Library made public comment, asking Council not to allow a city takeover of the DPL, and to take action against the tax captures. A few other subsequent Zoom callers echoed the sentiment that the library be left alone by the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and the city. One Friends of the Bowen member pointed out that lurking behind the recent hot-button paratransit issue is the fact that our libraries don't all have ADA accessible entrances or bathrooms, and that the reason those updates have not been made is because of tax captures. Councilwoman Calloway went on record to ask how an audit or inventory could be conducted of all DPL libraries to see where they stand on ADA compliance, "because that could possibly lead to, yunno...a lawsuit."
At the first City Council meeting of 2023 some of the Friends of the Bowen Branch Library made public comment, asking Council not to allow a city takeover of the DPL, and to take action against the tax captures. A few other subsequent Zoom callers echoed the sentiment that the library be left alone by the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and the city. One Friends of the Bowen member pointed out that lurking behind the recent hot-button paratransit issue is the fact that our libraries don't all have ADA accessible entrances or bathrooms, and that the reason those updates have not been made is because of tax captures. Councilwoman Calloway went on record to ask how an audit or inventory could be conducted of all DPL libraries to see where they stand on ADA compliance, "because that could possibly lead to, yunno...a lawsuit."
The most interesting part was when recently retired DPL commissioner Russ Bellant opened the public comments by revealing that 13 months ago two employees of the city's Finance Dept. committed acts of wire fraud against the accounts of the DPL. In January of 2022, those same employees repeated the same crime. Mr. Bellant exclaimed, "The library lost half a million dollars...[dramatic pause]...I hope you're hearing me....through criminal actions of two [city] employees."
The city terminated the two employees but refused to prosecute them, and then told the DPL Commission that they had to suffer the loss without repayment. Furthermore, Bellant explained, because the DPL Commission refused to accept responsibility for the loss, the city then retaliated by holding up two contracts (which had already been approved by City Council) for HVAC upgrades on the Main Library for a year. This is the same attitude, Bellant argued, held by the city toward the library when it comes to tax captures, and he then asked Council to take action to protect the library.
Councilwoman Calloway requested that the matter be turned over to the Inspector General, and to get an opinion from the Law Dept., and that the Prosecutor be involved. Other members of Council were mostly silent, or—in the case of Scott Benson—noticeably distracted during discussion of the library issues. The fact that the two Finance Dept. employees were fired but not prosecuted implies that they themselves were not in fact the beneficiaries of the stolen funds; rather, that they did it on behalf of someone else higher up within city government. The withholding of the HVAC contracts at the Main Library might also explain why the Burton Historical Collection has been closed for so long.
December 20, 2022
At the December DPL Commission meeting, it was unexpectedly revealed that the DPL was under investigation by the FBI, causing some obvious discomfort among commission members, but little detail was given. It was decided that an official announcement regarding this investigation would be made at the January meeting. Oh boy!
December 3, 2022
A small informational picket on the tax captures was staged during Noel Night, by the Friends of the Bowen Branch Library, at the Main Branch on Woodward.
August 30, 2022
The Downtown Partnership decided to throw a huge party for itself to celebrate its own greatness and the successful theft of our tax money and school and library revenue, by closing off all of Campus Martius Park for their formal-attired attendees to sip and nibble at $150/plate and up. The elegant soirée was briefly disrupted by protestors from the General Baker Institute, and the Friends of the Bowen Branch Library carrying signs and a bullhorn, denouncing the DDA tax captures and corporate subsidies. Detroit Police were swiftly dispatched.
August 10, 2022
The "underground" Detroit newspaper MetroTimes published a story calling for "support" for the libraries, but they conspicuously failed to make any direct mention of the recent attempt at a takeover.
The "underground" Detroit newspaper MetroTimes published a story calling for "support" for the libraries, but they conspicuously failed to make any direct mention of the recent attempt at a takeover.
June 16, 2022
State Senator Sylvia Santana introduced SB1086 to make Detroit's library exempt from tax captures, the same way as all other libraries in the state have been. Her bill was referred to the Economic and Small Business Development committee and apparently stalled. The committee consists of mostly Republicans. Full text of the bill may be found HERE.
May 18, 2022
Another article on tax captures from Outlier Media:
May 12, 2022
The City Council resolution to recommend city takeover of the DPL was scheduled to be voted on in committee. The committee consisted of Scott Benson, Latisha Johnson and Coleman Young II. Scott Benson launched another propaganda-based attack on the DPL. If approved in committee, the full City Council would vote on it May 17; however the committee postponed the vote to an undetermined date. By the way, they do this whenever there is significant public pushback on something they thought they were going to sneak in under the radar. They do this so that the public will lose track of the issue after the headlines fade away (and to complicate our efforts to organize against it).
May 4, 2022
DPL Commissioner Russ Bellant appeared on the 910AM radio show of journalist Bankole Thompson to expose the apparent library takeover.
April 26, 2022
During another Council hearing, Scott Benson made a case for his proposal to take over the DPL Commission, relying almost entirely on false information. The Committee on Internal Operations (Latisha Johnson, Mary Waters, Angela Calloway) voted to oppose the measure.
April 19, 2022
The issue of taking over the DPL Commission was suddenly put on the City Council agenda for a vote without warning. Then it was removed, and sent to committee. Ominously, some councilmembers who were presumed to be against a takeover (such as Gabriela Santiago-Romero) still had not indicated to constituents which way they would vote despite having over a month to decide, as well as plenty of obvious public opposition. As far as the committee, it became evident that between Scott Benson, Latisha Johnson, and Coleman Young II, Coleman was going to be the swing vote. He did not respond to calls and emails asking that he vote against the measure.
DPL Commission Secretary Russ Bellant sent the following message to City Council:
I see the Library takeover legislation is back on today's agenda. There has been no reason offered for this legislation. No fault has been found with the school board appointing process, which is a public process from the solicitation of candidates to the merit-based evaluation process of a select committee, to the public vote of the whole board.
Council has not sought input from the Detroit Library Commission, which is not supportive of this measure. Nor has the City demonstrated a superior concern for the Detroit Public Library. In fact, the City has been abusive toward the Library and diminished its capacity to operate in recent years. Not all of those negative acts have yet been made public.
The current arrangements have stood the test of time for over 140 years. The Library has served an important role to Detroiters and is best when it has the current arrangement with the City and the DPSCD Board of Education. Please vote to terminate this harmful proposal.
If the secretary of the DPL Commission is calling this a "library takeover," then I'm gonna go ahead and say that it's not mere paranoia or hyperbole. Nonetheless the issue was being ignored by the local news, and the task therefore fell to social media and grassroots groups to spread the word:
April 5, 2022
Council President Mary Sheffield submitted a proposal to request Michigan lawmakers make legal changes to exclude the library and public schools from tax captures:
Notably, the Michigan State Legislature has previously exempted the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Detroit Zoo from tax captures, which proved to be economically beneficial to both of those institutions.
March 31, 2022
Councilman Benson asks City Council for a resolution to ask the Michigan State Legislature to modify the law so that the power of appointing the DPL Commission can be transferred from the Detroit Public School Board (DPSCD) to City Council.
June 26, 2021
Due to Covid19 restrictions, 15 of the 21 branch libraries were still closed. Then another severe flood / stormwater backup caused water damage to 10 branch libraries, as well as the main library and Burton Historical Collection, resulting in more closures. Heavy rains in July exacerbated the conditions.
March 21, 2021
A Detroit Free Press article looked into how the Downtown Development Authority takes millage money from the rightful hands of the library. This was the only instance of a mainstream Detroit media outlet talking about the tax capture issue up to that time.
January, 2021
DPL Commissioner Russ Bellant appeared on the 910AM radio show of Nicole Small to discuss tax captures. He explained that the DPL Commission was trying to get the state tax capture law modified (or abolished), asking for a cap on how much can be captured and for full transparency in the use of the money. City Council has to this point ignored the complaints of the DPL Commission regarding this theft of their operating budget, and Councilman Benson was even brazen enough to claim that it wasn't actually happening. Bellant said that the city's Chief Financial Officer got tired of the DPL's complaints and notified them that the city will no longer be reporting the amount they are capturing from the DPL budget.
May, 2019
Friends of the Bowen Branch Library was formed by Southwest Detroit resident Elena Herrada. Through creative use of FOIA requests she was able to coerce the DPL to reopen the Bowen, and get a new HVAC system installed for the building.
