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Transit advocates press Detroit council for bigger DDOT investments and clearer public records; callers ask BZA to restore public Zoom links
Summary
Advocates and riders urged council to invest more in Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) service punctuality and to engage with a ‘double DDOT’ campaign; separate callers urged the council to direct the Board of Zoning Appeals to resume providing Zoom recordings and to review a new fee schedule for transcript pages.
Several callers urged Detroit City Council to prioritize transit service improvements and to increase budget support for the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT), while other callers pressed for greater transparency from the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA).
Transit: Transportation Riders United, Warriors on Wheels, Detroit Disability Power and allied groups said they had sent the council a one-page request and were awaiting acknowledgement. “We sent a 1-pager and a letter that's still… we’re still waiting acknowledgement from this body,” Renard Ruscheunsky said during public comment, asking council members to respond about a meeting request. Several callers, including a longtime transit advocate identified in the meeting as Brother Cunningham, voiced support for the “double DDOT campaign” — a push to increase DDOT funding and improve on-time performance. “We need serious investments into DDOT to the point that it could get above 70% on time performance,” Ruscheunsky said.
BZA transparency: Another caller asked the council to direct the Board of Zoning Appeals to restore audio-visual Zoom recordings and to reconsider charging for court-reporter transcripts. “Putting that together, I'm requesting that this body direct the Board of Zoning Appeals to return to its more transparent practices of emailing links to Zoom recordings,” the caller said, arguing that the current practice limits public access and that $6.35-per-page transcript fees are excessive.
Council response and next steps: Council members acknowledged receipt of emails on both topics and said they were following up. The council’s presiding officer and staff said they had been contacting the BZA to address concerns and that council staff would seek answers to questions on the agenda items referenced (24.3 and 24.4). For transit requests, council members encouraged advocates to submit meeting times and said staff would follow up; no funding decisions were made at the meeting.
What didn’t happen: The council did not adopt any new DDOT funding or change BZA policy during the session; callers were encouraged to follow up with council offices.
