A Focus on Housing and Commercial Corridor Stabilization
Detroit native and Councilwoman Latisha Johnson has been active in the community for 15 years and represents Detroit City Council District 4 on the east side of the city bordering Harper Woods and Grosse Pointe, a community she’s lived in most of her life. She attended Detroit Public Schools and graduated from the University of Michigan- Dearborn, where she earned a degree in finance. She began her career in Detroit’s tourism industry, marketing the city to visitors to attract spending within the local economy. Johnson began her public service in 2007 when she became vice president of the East English Village Neighborhood Association. During her tenure, she led efforts to eliminate blight, hold financial institutions accountable, and prevent residential property tax foreclosures. In 2014, she founded MECCA Development Corp. to address concerns of well-being, workforce development, youth engagement, and neighborhood revitalization. She has also has served as treasurer for the 5th Precinct Police/Community Relations Council, vice chair of the City of Detroit’s Board of Zoning Appeals; member of the Wayne Metro Community Action Agency Regional Advisory Council, and was a volunteer with Wayne State University’s AmeriCorps Urban Safety Program. SBN Detroit spoke to Johnson about her sustainability goals and about how residential development and business development go hand in hand. Q: What are your primary goals for sustainability in the city? A: One key thing is the evaluation of our internal processes. I co-chair the Small Business Task Force with two council colleagues, Mary Waters, and Angela Whitfield-Calloway. Our focus is to ensure that our requirements and practices for small businesses to bid on projects are not insurmountable. One example that came to light just recently: We had a contract come before us, and our procurement team had to make calls to companies to encourage them to bid. In a healthier environment, we should have contractors knocking on our door to bid on projects. This showed us that a lot of companies are overwhelmed by our processes. Small businesses just don’t have the resources to navigate them, so we are now trying to streamline the system and reduce paperwork and red tape. We want to find ways to help grow small businesses, particularly in the neighborhoods of Detroit. Q: In 2014, you founded MECCA Development Corp. to address concerns of well-being, workforce development, youth engagement, and neighborhood revitalization. How does this work impact and inform your role as a councilwoman? A: It definitely impacts what I do now. MECCA had four areas of focus: workforce development; residential development; seniors; and youth. The area I became passionate about – especially as we saw property values climbing – was and is residential development. Houses have become unattainable for lower-income families in this climate. Too many people cannot afford the down payments and can’t qualify for loans. Now I’m hyperfocused on affordable home ownership. This also comes from who I am as a Detroit native who grew up in a lower-income household. I have firsthand experience with these challenges. Therefore, I’m working on programs and opportunities to assist. We recently started a Down Payment Assistance Program to provide up to $25,000 for lower-income renters who want to purchase a house in the city. I’m also working on getting the city of Detroit to support Community Land Trusts. I recently worked with a group of students from the University of Michigan to understand how split-rate taxes (which tax vacant land at a higher rate than structures and improvements) would impact Detroit homeowners. I also established the Equitable Development Task Force, which focuses on addressing underserved communities through policies and programs that reduce disparities while fostering places that are healthy and vibrant. The task force may include residents, representatives from the community, labor, the business sector, as well as any other individuals interested in participating. So yes, MECCA helped shape and inform the work I do around housing and home ownership. I’m always striving to find ways to provide support to low-income families. Q: How do you think residential development impacts businesses in Detroit? A: When I look at our district, the areas that have benefited from the Strategic Neighborhood Fund – Jefferson, East Warren, and now Gratiot – are the areas in which residential properties have also stabilized. So, we know that revitalizing commercial corridors helps stabilize residential, and vice versa. More businesses will come into these areas – it’s cyclical. I’d also like to see people having the opportunity to build equity in their homes that they can pull out to start their own businesses and build generational wealth. It all connects. Years ago, when I worked at Detroit Convention and Visitors Bureau, and we hosted site inspections, we had to craft the routes to prevent taking clients through blighted commercial corridors. When commercial corridors look a certain way, it gives the impression that the neighborhoods are even worse. So, we need more of a focus on both housing and commercial corridors to become stabilized, and they depend on one another to do so. Q: What are the biggest challenges you face? A: First, the tax rate in Detroit. It’s a challenge for residents and businesses. Second, is the lack of promotion of our neighborhoods and commercial corridors to encourage businesses to establish there. No entity proactively promotes and connects entrepreneurs to these communities. There is a big opportunity there. Q: What are other opportunities for the city, and how will these affect businesses? A: As I mentioned earlier, there is an opportunity to streamline the city’s internal processes so that smaller businesses can bid on and secure projects. Another opportunity is the promotion of harmonious growth between business communities and residential communities. We have not done that well. I think businesses and communities can work together better to support one another. When a business does this, it will inherently last longer in the community And when it comes to bringing industry and manufacturing to certain areas, the city has to do a better job of ensuring that we are protecting residents.
An Interview with Detroit’s New Director of Sustainability
Jack Akinlosotu, Detroit’s new director of sustainability, sees sustainability opportunities in Detroit’s large geography, mobility industry focus, and other characteristics as he begins to immerse himself in the community. Akinlosuto came to Detroit from Washington, D.C., where held posts at the Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE), the Clean Energy Institute, and in private industry. He also has held positions in New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle. Immediately before coming to Detroit, he served as the senior product manager at Oracle Energy & Water, where he led partnership outreach and software development of the company’s product that helps utilities find, reach, and enroll limited-income customers in financial assistance and energy efficiency programs to lower their utility bills. Previously, he worked as the energy program specialist at DOEE to coordinate multiple renewable energy projects, including community accessibility to solar power, electric vehicles, and green financing. SBN Detroit spoke with Akinlosotu about his vision, how he’ll align strategies with the city’s Sustainability Action Agenda, and his top priorities in his new position. Q: What role does environmental sustainability have for a city the size, scale, economy, and density such as Detroit and how will you approach it? A: When I first came and visited Detroit I was surprised at the geographic scale. There is a lot of space and land. For a city this size to have this much unused land is unusual, and that provides opportunities here in terms of sustainability. There is ample space to scale, deploy and set up solar power and things like that. Also, Detroit is the Motor City and is in a good position to be the frontrunner in the EV revolution. If we deploy EVs in smart ways we will continue Detroit’s history of being the leader in mobility and that’s a great opportunity for economic sustainability as well. Q: What challenges do you foresee ahead of you, for your office, as you move ahead with a sustainable mission for the city? A: The biggest challenge is making sure we are all hitting our climate goals. When it comes to scaling climate change, that’s a challenge every city faces. There is a lot of work to do and coordination and collaboration need to happen. We need to make sure all parties are in alignment for success, and some challenges come with this. We also need to ensure that the people who have historically been left behind are included as part of the process. Q: Conversely, what opportunities do you foresee? You are quoted as saying “There is a great deal of opportunity in Detroit to be more creative in developing lasting sustainability. The sustainability programs we need will be a transformative leap for Detroit.” What does this mean for the businesses and people of Detroit? A: With all the work at hand there are significant opportunities to bring along a new workforce. For example, we need to work on making these older buildings and also residences energy efficient and we need a workforce to do that. We need to deploy and scale the use of solar energy and we need people to do that. There are a lot of opportunities to align climate goals with new jobs. We also need to focus on putting programs in place – such as deploying renewable energy – that help people with limited income. I see this as an opportunity to build a more sustainable economy and more sustainable communities. Q: How do you foresee working with businesses in the city to help them to become more sustainable? Or equitable? A: It’s important that we all work together to help businesses in our region hit their climate goals. In addition to sustainability, there are a lot of financial upsides to making buildings more efficient so there are several “wins” here. Q: What does the Sustainability Action Agenda look like now as you work to create a more sustainable Detroit where all Detroiters thrive and prosper in an equitable, green city and have access to affordable, quality homes? A: There is work being done on many fronts to hit our goals and inform an updated Detroit climate strategy, including the following four key priorities: -Electrification of the city’s vehicle fleet -Transitioning municipal buildings to energy efficiency and -Deploying solar and other measures of clean energy to help with decarbonization -Focus on vulnerable communities and the city’s overall resilience We are working to help vulnerable residents across Detroit by setting up resilience hubs for when there are outages and protecting homes with basement backup retrofits and things like this. The Sustainability Action Agenda is informing the Detroit climate strategy and this work. And the goal is to work as fast as possible. Q: What changes /impact do you expect to have made a year from now? A: On a personal level, I’m new to the city and have been working to intentionally familiarize myself with the community by reaching out to individuals and groups who have been leading the on-the-ground work in their neighborhoods. My goal is to create good relationships so that I understand and hear their needs and what the residents and businesses want out of our plans. I look forward to executing these plans and being further ahead a year from now. In terms of my responsibilities as the director, I plan to deploy as much renewable energy as possible within communities in the city. We will see that progress a year from now. We will see more EV charging stations across the city, and a lot of that work is being done in this area now. The city recently converted its entire municipal parking department fleet of 48 vehicles to all-electric and has deployed four electric buses as part of the bus fleet conversion. We need to keep this momentum going, and we will. Q: What does a successful collaboration between city departments and agencies look like for sustainable growth in the city? A: Keeping all lines of communication open is going to be
