Public comments highlight praise for outgoing council member and criticism of mayor’s social-media remarks

The Eastpointe City Council's public comment periods on Nov. 10 included both tributes and sharp criticism. Several residents thanked outgoing Council member DeMonaco for 11 years of service, citing his attention to budgets, volunteer cleanup work and projects such as lead service line replacement.

At the same time, John Solera addressed Mayor Kleinfeld directly about a recent Facebook post. "That was a disgusting speech ... I think you should resign, senator Kleinfeld," Solera said, criticizing a post that compared immigration enforcement actions to driving while black and arguing it was racist.

Other speakers pressed the council and police department on public-safety issues. One resident urged the council to 'beef up this police department' and to establish a cooperation agreement with ICE; another speaker and some council members pushed back, saying local police cooperation with ICE was unnecessary. Council discussion later included references to license-plate-reading 'flat cameras' installed in the city, their cost (cited in the meeting as roughly $54,000 annually for 18 licenses), and privacy concerns about tracking.

Council members and residents also debated the city's master plan and traffic projects such as the 9 Mile lane reduction. The meeting recorded both support and opposition to the 9 Mile project; the council and staff said traffic studies had been performed and that small schedule or design changes could address specific queuing concerns.

No formal council action to change police cooperation policy or camera operations was taken at this meeting; council members asked staff to continue reviewing planning documents and to bring agenda items forward where appropriate.