Detroit to end citywide alleys cleanup program; staff to migrate team and keep emergency response
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Summary
GSD said the alleys cleanup program — initially funded as a three-year effort — will end this fiscal year. Staff will move employees to other blight-remediation duties, continue to respond to emergencies and return data on remaining requests and historic funding.
The General Services Department told councilmembers that a city-funded alleys cleanup program will sunset at the end of the current fiscal year and that the team assigned to the program will be redeployed to other blight-remediation work.
Director Crystal Perkins said the alley-cleaning effort was designed as a three-year program but that the city is now in year four because funding sources changed. "This will be the last year," she said, and added that the program’s employees will be reassigned so “no one’s going to lose their job.” The department will continue to respond to emergencies and special circumstances that require alley access.
Council members asked how many alley-cleaning requests remain, how many properties never received an initial cleanup, and what dollars were allocated previously. Perkins did not have exact request tallies or historic funding on hand during the hearing and offered to provide that information after the meeting.
The department reported that its blight-remediation work removed more than 39,000 cubic yards of debris last year under the Bites of Beauty program, and that hundreds of privately owned property owners cleaned up their properties after city interventions.
Councilmembers added alley cleanup and related funding questions to executive session for further budget consideration and asked the department to return with a request count and past allocation figures.
