Detroit residents weighed in with a resounding “NO” on Proposal P during the August 3 primary election with 46,707 votes opposing and 22,696 for the ballot proposal.
A vote against adopting a revised city charter now allows the city’s current charter to remain in place.
The nine-member Charter Revision Commission, elected in November 2018, started the revision processes on August 7, 2018, by passing a ballot proposal to revise the 2012 charter, according to the Citizens Research Council of Michigan (CRCM).
According to CRCM, a not-for-profit, nonpartisan public policy research organization, just over 14 percent of registered Detroit voters voted on this ballot question at the 2018 August primary.
The Michigan Supreme Court recently granted a Detroit city charter proposal revision to appear on the Tuesday Primary ballot, which overturned the lower courts ruling on the issue, The Detroit News reported.
Residents voted “no” on the draft charter rejected by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer because of issues her office discovered in a review mandated by state law. Whitmer rejected the proposed revised City of Detroit Charter in May and said the document needs a review by the Attorney General’s (AG) office, according to reports. The AG review showed the current city charter draft had numerous and extensive legal problems.
The Michigan Chronicle believed that the best way forward was to vote NO on Proposal P due to an unfavorable city budget structure if it passed.
The multilayered proposal was developed to purposefully empower the voice of Detroit residents by meeting some of their crucial needs. From wanting to restructure the police and fire departments to creating a new task force on Reparations and African American Justice, the strategic work many commissioners put in is not lost.
Numerous Detroiters believe that the proposal would have paved the way to create sensible police reform and give residents additional fundamental rights. Supporters also feel that Proposal P would have leveled the playing field regarding technology access and doing away with racial and socioeconomic health disparities, according to Ballotpedia.
While we appreciate the citizens voting in alignment with our beliefs on Proposal P, moving forward, we recognize that there are still issues at hand that are primarily a concern and need to be addressed, like police, water rates, broadband access, and more.
The City of Detroit needs to continue to connect the dots on these topics for Detroiters, and, hopefully, the city and residents can come together in a more balanced approach.
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