Detroit has a new ombudswoman, and for Sherry Gay-Dagnogo, the appointment is nothing short of a homecoming.
On Tuesday, City Council voted 6-3 to install the longtime educator, former state legislator, and school board member into the post, giving her a 10-year term that will run through 2035. She will replace Bruce Simpson, whose tenure ends October 5, and resign her seat on the Detroit Public Schools Community District Board of Education to take the job.
“I think for me now, having served as a city council appointee, having gone into the classroom, having gone to Lansing, having served on the school board, I know even if it’s not a city issue, who to contact for an education issue, who to contact for a Wayne County issue, who to contact for a state issue. And so we’ll become a one-stop shop kind of center to be able to address all the needs that residents have, or at least point them in the right direction.”
The council’s decision followed weeks of deliberation and a narrowing of ten applicants to three finalists. Council Members Scott Benson, Angela Whitfield-Calloway, and Gabriela Santiago-Romero broke from the majority, casting votes for Gail Barnard and Tiffany Tilley. Gay-Dagnogo emerged with the majority and the momentum, inspired by strong public testimony from supporters across the city. Superintendent Nikolai Vitti, Board of Police Commissioners Darryl Woods and Linda Bernard, Rev. Wendell Anthony of the Detroit NAACP, labor leaders, and community advocates all lined up to endorse her candidacy.
Speaking to the Michigan Chronicle after the vote, Gay-Dagnogo framed the appointment as a continuation of decades of service and a symbolic return to where her political career began.
“For me, it means that I get to honor the work of those that have come before me. Super shout out to one of our beloved, who is no longer with us, the late Marie Pharrell Donaldson, which was an exemplary ombudswoman for the city of Detroit. My political roots started in the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center working for Alberta Tinsley-Talabi and the late Councilman Clyde Cleveland. And this is a historical moment for me because that building and everything that it represents is my mecca. It’s coming home to do the work, continue to do the work for the people, but in a broader way, Detroit’s 650 some odd thousand residents, the constituents that need exemplary services from the city of Detroit’s 25 departments.”
She described the moment as “full circle.”
“It’s the work that I began in my 27-year-old self on the 13th floor of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center and now being able to come back at 58. I mean, it’s just full circle. And it’s beautiful, and it doesn’t belong to me alone. It belongs to all of those that truly, truly believe in social justice, looking out for the least of these and fighting for our citizens, and so I share this victory with the people that showed up today.”
The ombudsman role, established in the 1970s to rebuild public trust, gives residents a voice against bureaucracy. Gay-Dagnogo said the responsibility is clear.
“To serve as an advocate, as a bridge to the city departments, to city council, to take residents complaints and champion and remove any bottlenecks, mitigate any barriers and challenges to make sure that we have optimal city services.”
She added that the office exists to ensure equity in how services are delivered.
“This department was developed in 1973, I believe, implemented in 1974 to make sure that we build public trust for residents to know that no matter what their complaints, their concerns, their challenges, would be heard and making sure that we work with them to work with our department heads to get those problems addressed.”
Her comments made clear that the appointment builds on the work she has been doing for years in other roles.
“Detroit is my love. Detroit is my heart. It just means that I get to serve my family in a broad way with some support. I’ve been doing a lot of this work because in Detroit, if people identify that you are a problem solver, guess what? You’re going to get more problems to solve. And in many instances, I’ve had to facilitate receiving these complaints through social media, inbox messages, emails, people seeing me out on the streets, just not knowing where to go, how to go, who to go to address their concern.”
Her preparation for this role, she said, stretches back decades.
“This is work that I started when I was 27 years old, just sitting in the city council offices, taking complaints, having to go out to constituents’ homes and address and hear some of their issues. The same thing in Lansing, hearing the concerns, working with residents, and many instances our seniors that had no one else to look out for them.”
Although her official start date is October 5, Gay-Dagnogo said she has already begun shaping her agenda.
“It seems as though it has started already. But officially, I believe the charter speaks to October the 5th as the official date that is enshrined in the charter. But we have started conversations with council members. I gave city council a 90-day plan, which encompasses meeting with both council members, department heads, staff, the ombudsman’s office in fact, and hearing from all of them so we can compile data information as we develop our strategic plan going forward. So for me, it’s already started. I had an opportunity today to meet briefly with the auditor general and I plan to attend a meeting on Wednesday at 11 a.m. While it’s officially in the charter on October the 5th, we’ve already started.”
The appointment also brings an immediate requirement: stepping down from her role on the DPSCD board.
The city’s Legislative Policy Division concluded that the ombudsman cannot hold another compensated post, and the charter bans occupying any other “office of trust or profit.” Gay-Dagnogo confirmed she will resign within 48 hours.
“Somewhat bittersweet,” she said, though she emphasized that her relationships with education leaders will continue. “So it’s the same constituency, whether city services or Detroit Public School services. I have relationships in both. So I plan to continue to collaborate and find ways to work with my colleagues from the school board as well.”
She closed with gratitude that reflected the breadth of her career and her vision for the role.
“I just want to say that I am thankful to every council member that supported my leadership, my candidacy. And even those that had another candidate in mind, I’m here to serve all of them, partner with all of them. And I’m just thankful. I’m thankful for that guidance. I’m thankful for the guidance and the support from the mayor. I appreciate that. My colleagues at the Detroit School Board—it’s somewhat bittersweet. But the work will continue, just in another capacity.”
