Residents press council on parks, events and street cleanup during public comment

Several residents and nonprofit leaders spoke during the public-comment portion of the Dec. 1 Saginaw City Council meeting, urging council support for parks, events and neighborhood maintenance.

Stephanie Curtis, director of operations for the Boys & Girls Club of the Great Lakes Bay Region, thanked the council for past support and outlined plans to adopt Crayola Park under an Adopt A Park application, keep a Little Library stocked, and advance a teen center using ARPA funds and a private capital campaign. "Our members and staff and volunteers are super excited about taking an active role in maintaining the park," Curtis said.

Miguel Torres of Fiesta Que Onda described two annual city events (a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration and a Cinco de Mayo event) and asked the city and local businesses about partnership or funding to keep the events free.

Resident Melanie Velasco presented photographs and detailed concerns about parking on lawns, damaged sidewalks, litter and public-safety worries tied to homeless encampments; she urged more consistent enforcement and cleanup. Jeff Pluss similarly asked the council about leaf-collection after snowplows left large piles on his street.

Citizen Mike Thompson proposed a trial of a recurring "Committee of the Whole" from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. to allow deeper, single-topic discussions in a public forum before the regular business meeting; several council members later told him they found the idea promising.

Serenity Selak used public comment to announce her run for State Senate District 35 and distributed literature for council members.

Council members thanked speakers, encouraged residents to use the city’s online reporting tools and noted staff follow-up where appropriate.