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Community and economic development director previews CDBG annual action plan, proposes housing, code enforcement and public‑service spending
Summary
Lael Saad, director of Community and Economic Development, presented the draft 2025–26 CDBG annual action plan and a preliminary budget that prioritizes housing rehabilitation, code enforcement, senior and youth services, and a continued allocation for Fair Housing Center support.
Lael Saad, director of the city’s Community and Economic Development Department, presented a draft annual action plan for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program and summarized the department’s proposed program‑year 2025–26 budget.
Saad said HUD’s formal allocation for the city had not yet arrived and the document under review was a projection based on last year’s allocation. The draft plan sets priorities identified through community outreach: housing rehabilitation, stronger code enforcement, increased senior and youth services and neighborhood revitalization. General program administration is set aside at approximately $216,463 for compliance and oversight; public service activities are proposed at $162,347, which includes a recurring allocation for the Fair Housing Center of Metro Detroit.
The largest projected portion of the allocation—about $703,505 in Saad’s draft—was proposed to support housing rehabilitation and a newly discussed code‑remediation program and to reserve capacity for future requests for proposals and reallocated projects (for example, replacing funds previously spent on the Van Houten Park project). Saad described outreach and partnership efforts with regional entities and said staff were exploring new projects tied to code violations and strategies to expand housing services.
Administration noted that the CDBG budget is finalized in October after HUD’s award and noted that the draft represents planning estimates; the director offered to distribute the draft annual action plan to council and the public prior to the formal public hearings.
Ending: Council members asked the department to continue outreach, share the draft action plan by email, and coordinate grant‑seeking efforts across city departments. Saad said the department had about 35 active grants across the city and that FundingScouts and county partnerships were assisting pursuit of federal and state appropriations and competitive grants.
