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Council hears confirmation interviews for housing, law, finance, planning, HR and fire leaders
Summary
The committee conducted confirmation interviews with nominees and incumbents, including Julie Schneider (Housing & Revitalization), Conrad Mallett (Corporation Counsel), Tanya Stadamer (CFO), Alexa Bush (Planning), Denise Starr (HR) and Executive Fire Commissioner Sims, focusing on housing production, blight enforcement, AI pilots for FOIA, budget pressures and workforce recruitment.
The Internal Operations Committee conducted a series of confirmation interviews for senior city officials, asking nominees to outline priorities, recent accomplishments and plans for the coming term.
Julie Schneider, nominated as director of the Housing & Revitalization Department, described roughly 2,000–3,000 affordable units completed since 2015 and another ~2,000 under construction. Schneider said HRD’s down-payment assistance phases helped over 800 first-time homebuyers and pointed to a 2023 expansion of the city’s payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) program designed to support workforce housing.
Corporation Counsel Conrad Mallett said the law department has taken a more aggressive posture on blight enforcement, stood up a new criminal division to prosecute certain misdemeanor matters, and is coordinating with 36th District specialty courts and the register of deeds on quit‑claim deed fraud affecting about 300 reported victims. Mallett also described an initial artificial-intelligence experiment focused on FOIA processing to improve response times without asking for additional general-fund resources.
CFO Tanya Stadamer said the city closed the most recent fiscal year with a $105 million surplus and outlined the budget calendar (district forums, Feb. 13 revenue conference, mayor’s budget address in early March, and a council vote set for April 7). Stadamer warned of revenue pressures tied to lower corporate income tax collections but cited rising wagering (internet gaming) receipts as a mitigating factor. She said ARPA funds (about $826 million by allocation) have been directed largely to neighborhood projects and affordable housing.
Planning Director Alexa Bush highlighted street‑scapes, the community benefits ordinance and strategic neighborhood funds, and described a master-plan update that will proceed district-by-district with draft place types and policy maps. Bush said the department is working with the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation and community partners to improve business corridors and commercial vitality.
HR Director Denise Starr discussed modernization of HR and payroll systems (UltiPro/UKG), a six-week paid parental‑leave program used by over 300 employees since 2021, extensive hiring events including veteran recruitment, and planned metrics to identify at‑risk staff and support internal promotions.
Executive Fire Commissioner Sims reported sustained improvements in response times (Code 1 medical around 7 minutes 30 seconds), newly secured apparatus funding ($10.7 million for ambulances and trucks), the graduation of the department’s first paramedic class, apprenticeship expansion with area high schools and a proposed multi-year capital plan to modernize aging fire stations (estimated $10–12 million per new station; 15–20 stations identified as needs over time).
Council members pressed nominees on workforce equity, neighborhood impacts, small-business survival after Motor City Match support, and the local hiring pipelines for technical and engineering roles. Nominees offered follow-up commitments and said they would return written answers where necessary.
