DETROIT — Detroit voters backed by wide margins two ballot issues focused on reparations and the decriminalization of some hallucinogenic drugs, but defeated a third to increase citizen control over government spending.
Approval of Proposal R received with 80% of the vote with all precincts reported, according to the City of Detroit website. That ballot proposal creates a task force to address the harms racism has inflicted on Black residents in the city, supporters say.
In addition, voters backed Proposal E by 61% of the vote, which reduces law enforcement for those who possess and therapeutically use hallucinogenic plants, such as magic mushrooms.
But 54% of voters opted to reject Proposal S. The initiative would have changed Detroit's city charter to allow more citizen control in diving up funding.
The reparations task force could recommend housing and economic development programs aimed to boost opportunities for the city's Black residents. But the measure doesn't specify how the new programs would be funded.
"There is no promise of funding or city ordinances that would be established or appropriated after the recommendations of the task force are made," according to a report by Citizens Research Council of Michigan, which analyzed the three Detroit proposals.
City Council President Pro-Tem Mary Sheffield backed a resolution this summer to establish a process for reparations and sponsored Proposal R. City Council could have formed its own reparations committee without placing it on the ballot, but Sheffield has said she wanted to gauge the interest of Detroiters.
Other cities nationally have adopted or initiated similar measures including Asheville, North Carolina; Evanston, Illinois; St. Paul, Minnesota, and Providence, Rhode Island, according to the Citizens Research Council. One city leading the effort is Evanston, which grants up to $25,000 for down payments or home repairs from a city-created fund.
In other election tallies, Linda Bernard (66%), Willie Bell (63%) and Lisa Carter (57%) won the race to fill three seats in separate district races for the Detroit Board of Police Commissioners. Cedric Banks and Willie Burton were running unopposed. And two other spots had only write-in candidates running.
Voters elect seven new commissioners by district. The mayor appoints four additional commissioners for a total of 11 members.
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