Detroit City Council

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The Detroit City Council is the legislative body of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The full-time council is required to meet every business day for at least 10 months of the year, with at least eight of these meetings occurring at a location besides city hall. The Detroit City Council has elected Mary Sheffield to be its president.[1] The council may convene for special meetings at the call of the mayor or of at least four members of council.[1]

History

The city council was first constituted as the legislative body of the city in 1824. The city began to grow more rapidly in the late 19th century, absorbing immigrants from Europe and migrants from the rural South and other areas. This body was called the Common Council until July 1, 1974.

Until the early 20th century, the council was elected from city wards, or single-member districts. However, starting in 1918, at a time of changes in local government thought to be Progressive, the city council voted to require all city council members elected at-large. This reduced representation by geography from wards, where various ethnic groups tended to concentrate. It was considered unusual for a city of Detroit's size, which had competing political parties.

While voters in the city have become predominantly affiliated with the Democratic Party, they wanted more representation by district. On November 4, 2009, city voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum to once again elect seven of the nine council seats from single-member districts, and two at-large seats, beginning in 2013.[2]

Composition & Election

The council is composed of nine members, seven of whom are district representatives elected from single-member districts, with two additional members elected at-large using block voting. The district representatives are elected by a majority in a general election, with the general election candidates being selected in a top-two non-partisan primary election. The council includes two officers, the president and president pro tempore, who are elected from among the members of the council at the beginning of each new session of the body for four-year terms. The officers can be removed by a unanimous vote of council, exclusive of the member being removed, during any session meeting. Elections to the body are officially non-partisan.[3]

City Council Electoral Districts

A major overhaul of Detroit City Charter took place in 2012. This change moved to election by district for 7 districts and 2 at-large positions.[4]

File:Detroit City Council Map.svg
Detroit City Council Electoral Districts Map

Current members

File:Detroit City Councilmembers 3-26-2025.jpg
Members of the city council with Mike Duggan in 2025, from left: Durhal II, Santiago-Romero, Johnson, Benson, Duggan, Whitfield-Calloway, Waters, Young III, Sheffield, and Tate.
District Councillor Position In office since Party (officially nonpartisan)
District 1: Rosedale Park/Old Redford/Brightmoor James Tate Pro-Tempore 2010 Democratic[5]
District 2: Bagley/University District/Palmer Woods Angela Whitfield-Calloway 2022 Democratic[6]
District 3: Conant Gardens/Regent Park/Farwell Scott Benson 2014 Democratic[7]
District 4: Chandler Park/East English/Jefferson Chalmers Latisha Johnson 2022 Democratic[8]
District 5: Boston Edison/Lafayette Park/Brush Park Mary Sheffield President 2014 Democratic[9]
District 6: Delray/Midtown/Mexicantown Gabriela Santiago-Romero 2022 Democratic[10]
District 7: Warrendale/Russel Woods/Rouge Park Fred Durhal III 2022 Democratic[11]
At-large Coleman Young II 2022 Democratic
At-large Mary Waters 2022 Democratic

Committees

The council has six[12] standing committees:

  • Budget, Finance & Audit
  • Neighborhood & Community Services
  • Internal Operations
  • Public Health & Safety
  • Planning and Economic Development
  • Rules

The council is granted the power to form additional committees at its own discretion

Vacancies and special elections

If a vacancy occurs on the city council, it is filled by appointment of the city council based on a two-thirds vote of its existing members. The appointee serves until an elected member takes office, which is filled at the next general election scheduled in the city not held sooner than 180 days after the vacancy occurs, be that an election to fill federal, state, county or city offices.[13]

Former members

Starting in 1919, nine Detroit City Council members were elected at large. Members of the council, from 1919 to the present, are:[14]

  • Color coding: pink = Republican; blue = Democratic; light green = Farmer-Labor; dark green = Progressive; gray = unaffiliated.
Year Detroit City Council Members
1919 rowspan=11 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | John C. Lodge James Vernor rowspan=9 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | John C. Nagel rowspan=11 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Sherman Littlefield William P. Bradley
(Died June 1938)
rowspan=1 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Charles F. Bielman
(Died April 16, 1920)
rowspan=19 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Fred W. Castator rowspan=3 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | David W. Simons rowspan=5 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | John Kronk
  Richard M. Watson
(Elected November 21, 1920)
 
1922 rowspan=10 Template:Party shading/Farmer-Labor | Robert G. Ewald
 
1924 rowspan=4 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | John Stevenson Arthur E. Dingeman rowspan=8 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | Phillip A. Callahan
 
1926
 
1928 George A. Walters rowspan=4 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |John Kronk
 
1930 rowspan=2 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |John C. Nagel rowspan=5 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |John S. Hall
(Died January 19, 1934)
 
1932 rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Frank Couzens rowspan=6 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |John W. Smith rowspan=5 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Richard Lindsay
(Died January 7, 1937)
rowspan=16 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" | John C. Lodge rowspan=16 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Eugene Van Antwerp rowspan=8 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Edward Jeffries
 
1934 rowspan=3 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |George Engle
(Until June 23, 1937)
  Arthur E. Dingeman
(November 13, 1934 – Oct. 1935)
1936 rowspan=6 Template:Party shading/Farmer-Labor |Robert G. Ewald
(Out May 26, 1942)
    rowspan=3 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |John Kronk
(Elected April 5, 1937)
1938 rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Philip Breitmeyer rowspan=3 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Harry I. Dingeman
(Out April 10, 1941)
Henry S. Sweeny
  rowspan=4 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |John W. Smith
(Elected November 8, 1938, Died June 1942)
1940 Charles E. Dorais
(Rsgd. May 27, 1947)
rowspan=1 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |John Hamilton
(Out April 2, 1941)
rowspan=4 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |James H. Garlick
     
1942 William G. Rogell rowspan=8 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |George C. Edwards rowspan=7 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |William A. Comstock
(Died June 16, 1949)
  Frank Cody
(Elected November 3, 1942,
Died April 1946)
1944 Fred C. Castator
 
1946 rowspan=8 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Charles G. Oakman
    rowspan=1 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Patrick V. McNamara
(Elected November 5, 1946)
1948 rowspan=10 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Louis C. Miriani Charles F. Edgecomb rowspan=1 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Leo J. Nowicki
(Resigned April 14, 1948)
Del A. Smith rowspan=7 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |John A. Kronk
(Died February 13, 1954)
rowspan=6 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |James H. Garlick
    rowspan=18 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Edward Connor
(Elected November 2, 1948, Resigned December 31, 1966)
1950 rowspan=1 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Edward Jeffries
(Died April 2, 1950)
rowspan=20 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Mary Beck William G. Rogell
  rowspan=12 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Eugene Van Antwerp
(Elected November 7, 1950, Died August 5, 1962)
1952
 
1954 rowspan=4 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Charles Youngblood rowspan=8 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Blanche Parent Wise
  rowspan=5 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |James H. Lincoln
(Elected November 2, 1944, Resigned May 5, 1960)
 
 
1958 rowspan=12 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Ed Carey rowspan=6 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |William T. Patrick
(Resigned December 31, 1963)
 
  rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Charles N. Youngblood
(Elected November 8, 1960)
 
1962 rowspan=5 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |James H. Brickley
(Resigned January 15, 1967)
Anthony Wierzbicki rowspan=12 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Mel Ravitz
  Phillip J. Van Antwerp
(Elected April 1, 1963)
  rowspan=2 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Thomas L. Poindexter
(Elected November 3, 1964)
 
1966 rowspan=4 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Louis C. Miriani Nicholas Hood
     
  Robert Tindal
(Elected November 5, 1968,
Died July 30, 1971)
Anthony J. Wierzbicki
(Elected November 5, 1968)
 
1970 rowspan=8 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Carl M. Levin David Eberhard Ernest C. Browne Jr.
 
  Erma Henderson
(Elected November 7, 1972)
 
1974 rowspan=28 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Clyde Cleveland rowspan=32 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Maryann Mahaffey rowspan=20 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Jack Kelley
 
 
 
1978 rowspan=4 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Kenneth Cockrel Sr. Herbert McFaddend Jr.
(Died September 21, 1981)
 
 
 
1982 rowspan=16 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Mel Ravitz rowspan=8 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Barbara-Rose Collins
(Resigned 11/90)
John W. Peoples
 
 
 
1986
 
 
 
1990 rowspan=12 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Gil Hill rowspan=4 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" |Keith Butler rowspan=16 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Kay Everett
 
 
 
1994 rowspan=16 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Alberta Tinsley-Talabi rowspan=8 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Nicholas Hood III rowspan=16 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Sheila Cockrel rowspan=9 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Brenda M. Scott
(Died September 2, 2002)
 
 
 
1998 rowspan=16 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Kenneth Cockrel Jr.
 
 
 
2002 rowspan=4 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Sharon McPhail rowspan=8 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Barbara-Rose Collins rowspan=4 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Alonzo W. Bates
  rowspan=11 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |JoAnn Watson
(Elected April 29, 2003)
 
 
2006 rowspan=4 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Monica Conyers rowspan=8 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Kwame Kenyatta
(Resigned June 21, 2013)
rowspan=4 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Martha Reeves rowspan=8 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Brenda Jones
(see col 1 in 2014)
 
 
 
2010 rowspan=5 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Saunteel Jenkins
{Resigned October 17, 2014)
rowspan=16 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |James Tate
District 1,
Council President Pro-Tem
rowspan=4 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Charles Pugh
(Seat declared vacant July 8, 2013)
rowspan=12 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Andre L. Spivey
District 4 (Resigned September 29, 2021)
rowspan=4 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" |Gary Brown
(Resigned June 24, 2013)
 
 
 
2014 rowspan=8 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Brenda Jones
At-Large
Council President
rowspan=4 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | George Cushingberry Jr.
District 2
rowspan=12 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Scott R. Benson
District 3
rowspan=12 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Mary Sheffield
District 5,
Council President
rowspan=8 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Raquel Castañeda-López
District 6
rowspan=8 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Gabe Leland
District 7 (Resigned May 3, 2021)
  rowspan=7 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Janeé Ayers
At-Large (Appointed February 17, 2015; elected November 8, 2016)
 
 
2018 rowspan=4 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Roy McCalister Jr.
District 2
 
 
 
2022 rowspan=4 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Coleman Young II
At-Large
rowspan=4 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Mary D. Waters
At-Large
rowspan=4 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Angela Whitfield-Calloway
District 2
rowspan=4 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Latisha Johnson
District 4
rowspan=4 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Gabriela Santiago-Romero
District 6
rowspan=4 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" | Fred Durhal III
District 7
 
 
 

Salaries

Salaries for elected officials are recommended every odd-numbered year by the Detroit Elected Officials Compensation Commission.[15] The 7-member board is appointed by the mayor and approved by the council, each member serving a 7-year term.[16]

City council approved a recommendation by the commission in February 2023, with an immediate pay increase of 7% and 3.5% each fiscal year for the next three years.[17] Regular City Council members will be paid $106,231 annually by July 2025, while the City Council President will be paid $111,647.[17] Prior to 2015, increases had not happened since 2001.[15]

See also

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References

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External links

Template:Detroit City Council Template:Authority control