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Committee hears presentations for 23 honorary secondary street names, forwards all nominees to full council
Summary
The Planning & Economic Development committee received a presentation from the Historic Designation Advisory Board on 23 nominees for Detroit secondary street signs and, after public testimony, moved the full package to the City Council for final selection; five honorees will be chosen at formal session next week.
The Planning & Economic Development Standing Committee heard presentations Thursday from the Historic Designation Advisory Board on 23 applicants for Detroit’s 2025 secondary street sign program and moved the entire slate to the full City Council for consideration.
Janice Tillman, historic planner with the HDAB, told the committee the program is authorized by Chapter 43 of the Detroit City Charter and that this cycle included 15 new applicants and eight rollovers, for a total of 23 eligible nominations. The board noted that the council will select five honorees at the formal Council session next week.
The committee’s public hearing featured brief tributes from relatives, community leaders and institutional representatives for nominees including photographer Tony Spina, civil-rights activist Viola Liuzzo, Imam Abdullah El Amin and musician George Clinton. Paul Labelle, who said he first met Spina as a student, urged councilmembers to consider Spina’s mentorship and the archive of his work at the Walter P. Reuther Library. Melanie Maxwell, director of photography at the Detroit Free Press, said Spina’s images had “paid tribute to Detroiters” and asked the committee to advance his nomination.
Supporters of Imam Abdullah El Amin emphasized his decades of interfaith and neighborhood work around the Muslim Center. Maurice El Amin called the imam “a teacher of service and love” and asked that the corner near the Muslim Center be named in his honor. Family members and longtime colleagues of other nominees likewise described local contributions and letters of support gathered for each petition.
After the presentations and public testimony, a committee member moved to send the full package of nominees to the Council’s formal session "without recommendation," enabling the full body to deliberate and vote on which five names to approve. The chair said the vote will be held next Tuesday; the committee recorded no objections and the referral was made by unanimous consent.
What happens next: the City Council will consider the HDAB’s recommendations at formal session. The committee’s referral does not select the five honorees; it advances the applications so the full Council can make final selections and vote.
Sources: HDAB presentation to the Planning & Economic Development committee; public testimony from supporters and family members.
