Detroit council presses Civil Rights department on unused disparity-study funds, human-trafficking signs and cannabis revenue allocation

Anthony Zander, director of the Department of Civil Rights, Inclusion and Opportunity, told the Detroit City Council that CREO27s FY2026 request is lower than FY2025 mainly because of a roughly $1 million reduction in state funding for the city27s cannabis work.

The council focused on several programmatic issues during the budget presentation, pressing CREO on an unspent $350,000 disparity-study allocation approved in 2023, the absence of human-trafficking placards required by a recent ordinance, staffing for language-access and veterans services, and the department27s handling of the city27s cannabis equity and compliance programs.

Why it matters: Council members said the unspent disparity-study money and the missing placards affect contracting equity and public safety outreach. Several members moved to place specific budget items and program decisions in executive session for further review, and one motion to reassign most cannabis revenue sharing to CREO programming and to seed a legacy fund passed without objection.

Zander opened with an overview of CREO27s structure and FY25 adopted versus FY26 requested totals, saying the department27s FY26 request was $7.4 million compared with an $8.4 million adopted total for FY25, and attributing the $1 million difference to changes in state cannabis funding.

Council Member Callaway pressed Zander about a $350,000 allocation the council authorized in 2023 for a…