State Rep. Dylan Weguella Defends Vote Against Police-Funding Shift in Inkster; Mayor Criticizes Decision

State Representative Dylan Weguella visited the Inkster City Council on June 2 to explain his vote against two House bills he described as the Public Safety Trust Fund (identified in his remarks as House Bill 4260 and 4261). Weguella said the bills move existing state general-fund dollars rather than create new money and raise "opportunity-cost" questions about cuts to health, human services and education.

Weguella, who said his office prepared a pie chart showing district distributions, told the council that of a roughly $115 million pot, about $40 million would go to county police budgets and a $75 million sub-allocation would be distributed with roughly 96% to local police budgets, 2% to crime-violence intervention grants and 2% to a crime victim rights fund. He said Inkster’s share would be "a little over $500,000 a year," and that the crime-violence-intervention piece represented a much smaller share of the total.

"We are not talking about new money," Weguella said. "We are talking about money that is being taken from the general fund. We don't have a budget yet, so we don't know where this money will have to be cut from." He said he helped add language to prevent use of funds for chemical weapons or facial recognition software and that he has pushed to increase the share for intervention programs in prior negotiations.

Mayor Nolan responded that the representative's vote left the city without additional police funding that would otherwise have "come to the community." "You had an opportunity to give $500,000 to a city that is dead broke so we can spend that money on law enforcement," Nolan said. "If you're not voting in our best interest, then we are not going to support you." The mayor cited a 104–4 House tally in favor and urged Weguella to represent Inkster's needs.

Weguella defended his record and his outreach efforts, saying he posts every vote online, holds coffee hours and meets with residents and local organizations. He told the council he voted against parts of a larger tax package because it included large corporate tax subsidies and described behind-the-scenes bargaining over school-debt cancellation; he said he later worked to get Inkster school debt canceled in the budget process. "I voted no because giving working-class tax dollars to corporations is wrong," Weguella said.

The exchange grew tense as Nolan said he would inform residents about the representative's vote. Weguella urged dialogue and offered to share his materials and to return for further meetings; he announced a constituent coffee hour on June 9 at the Radcliffe Center. He also told the council the bills have passed the House but have not yet received a Senate hearing.

What happens next: Weguella said the bills remain in play at the state level and that Senate Democrats are pushing either for police-accountability measures or greater intervention funding before final passage. He invited local leaders to meet and seek changes should the bills move into Senate reconciliation.