Field Report: The Proposed Sale of Johnson Recreation Center and Higginbotham School Property

By Richard C. Clement - Legislative Aide to 

Councilmember Pro Tem George Cushingberry Jr.

                The Former Johnson Recreation Center has been listed by the City of Detroit for a sale price of $1,000,000 dollars on November 24^th, 2017. According to the realtor, this will be a unique development opportunity for an interested buyer.  The Higginbotham Elementary School property is for sale with a $500,000 selling price.   This land has historic value to the City of Detroit because it was named after Joe Louis during World War II and, the first place where African Americans could learn how to swim in the 1950.

DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOL SITES FOR SALE

                We know that this Recreation Center has a major stake in the development and redevelopment of the youth within the community. A working recreation center increases the property value in the neighborhoods and encourages growth.  Closed schools are a sin to education and, the old Higginbotham School property could be unique development opportunity for an entrepreneur as a senior citizens home to a satellite community college.               

Former Johnson Recreation Center

Public comment is welcome on this matter and encouraged by Councilmember Pro-Tem Cushingberry and, we will be notifying you of any activity on these property.  We want to thank Hazel Fludd of Garden Homes Community Organization and, Dwight Smith of the 8 Mile Old Timers Club for staying on top of this issue because it is a pressing concern of the residents, especially within 1.5 miles of the property. 

Johnson Recreation Center Listing $1 million        

Higginbotham Elementary School Listing $500,000
2016 Detroit Park And Recreation Department Improvement Plan

As of this writing, the University of Detroit Jesuit High School is making very serious offers to acquire the land to expand football practice facilities.  If you are interested in purchasing the land, then you are strongly recommended to contact the realtor for more information and, you City Council Members to voice your concerns.  Currently both properties are listed as a special purpose land use sale.

The final sale must be approved by the full 9 member body of the Detroit City Council.

Detroit City Council Website Link 

State of the Bud Report – Detroit Medical Marijuana Status Scoreboard

By Richard C. Clement - Marijuana Policy Analyst

and Legislative Aide to Councilmember Pro-Tem George Cushingberry Jr.

We want to thank the City of Detroit Corporation Council, Legislative Service Bureau, and the staff of Building Safety Environmental Engineering for the detailed summary report of the status of Medical Marijuana businesses in the City of Detroit. As of October 25, 2016 there was a reported 279 alleged locations in the City with 150 places remaining open and 133 that what went out of business.  There were 117 closure notices sent with 55 being shut down by BSEED. Currently, there are 263 active applications for a Conditional Use Permit from the City of Detroit. Only one application was approved for a permit to apply for a license to do business. The remaining businesses are in various stages of the process from Drug-Free zone exemptions, incomplete site plans, and hearings.

Number of Conditional Use Applications for Medical Marijuana Facilities.

Number of Conditional Use Applications	263
Drug Free Zone Ineligible	109
Drug Free Zone Appeal requests	60
Number of Grants Approved	43
Applications Submitted for a Permit	2
Permits Issued	1
Licenses Applied for and Issued	0

    



 

This anti-weed effort of a few has forced the City and the County to update the database of information on each parcel of land in the City of Detroit. On December 20th, 2016 new laws take effect regarding the manufacture, use, sale, transfer, and distribution of marijuana in the State of Michigan.  On January 20th, we hope that the will of the people be maintained throughout the process with the election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States.  If there was ever a time for the respect of States Rights, the time is now!  Federal, State, and Local elected officials must respect the will of the people of 25 states who said yes to weed. 

City of Detroit Medical Marijuana Link   www.detroitmi.gov/MedicalMarihuana

Judges must advise potential jurors of the right of Jury Nullification because of the changing attitudes toward marijuana as a nation. Anyone selected for a jury can find a defendant not-guilty despite the instructions from a judge. Jury Nullification will communicate the outrage from citizens to prosecutors so that arrests for Marijuana possession will stop being prosecuted because it will be a waste of time and taxpayer money on a war on weed and, for-profit prisons. 

We hope that self-policing in the marijuana industry with industry groups like Michigan Cannabis Development Association, Sons of Hemp, MI Medical Marijuana Association, and other cana-interest groups can keep the business in Michigan scandal free with equal opportunity to make it or fail, and attain capital like a neighborhood rec center, and a be a part of the growing agri-business that can re-invest the dividends back into the community.

Related Interest Groups and Information:

Michigan Medical Marijuana Association (3MA) www.michiganmedicalmarijuana.org 

Michigan Cannabis Development Association www.mcdagroup.com

Michigan NORML www.minorml.org 

Metro Times Article: Sons of Hemp/Healers or Dealers  Author Tom Perkins

State of Michigan Medical Marijuana Laws Implementation Plan 2016

We must improve our weaknesses and shore up our strengths to make Cannabis lose the boogey man status from the racist dogma of the late Harry Anslinger and J. Edgar Hoover. With a top to bottom legislative revamping of the zoning procedures, our city will be getting a new source of revenue along with other municipalities in Michigan. The new state law will allow the City to opt-in to the State Law and allow the citizens to design a new ordinance through the ballot initiative process and a vote of the people.  Then and only then, citizens on both sides of the spectrum can vote for a fair and equitable solution to the Marijuana question for the City of Detroit, Wayne County, and the State of Michigan.

The job growth opportunities in manufacturing, transportation, and agriculture will be endless from the act signed into law. All Firefighters in the State of Michigan will now be able to benefit from the use of marijuana for ailments like PTSD, Cancer, Stress, and other hazards of the job.  30% of proceeds from weed will go to Firefighters, 35% to counties, 25% to Cities and Townships and 10% to the State Police.  This action would dictate that employers public and private quit testing for it in pre-employment and accident investigations. Finally public employees like Firefighters, Police Officers, and Teachers will not lose their job if they get in an accident at work.

Like the entertainment industry, the revenue generated from occupied buildings could do nothing but help the community rebuild Schools and Neighborhood Recreation Centers like Johnson Center in Northwest Detroit.  It may even help church congregations of all denominations in various endeavors like treating heroin addicts by clergy with open minds. Not all clergy members are against Marijuana because there are some pastors who want to have a grow IN THEIR CHURCHES for their congregation to use for things like the building fund and neighborhood outreach.

As of this article writing, the software needed to make the license for an applicant is not operational on a local or State level. It is an abhorrent slap in the face to every Information Technology professional in the world for a government agency that cannot process online applications eight years after running one of the most profitable programs in the State of Michigan.  Whereas The City of Detroit can print information ID Cards for our guest citizens with their picture and information on it and take weed applications online at the same time. 

We are strongly encouraging the State of Michigan to match the work that the professionals in Information Technology at the City of Detroit have demonstrated.  The State of the Bud in Michigan remains strong and optimistic that our elected officials respect the will of the people instead of the thrill of a few in elected positions who want to use a lame duck excuse for their own special interests.

Congratulations President Elect Donald Trump - Your People Have Spoken, Now Its Time To Quit Joking

By Richard Clement - Legislative Aide to Councilmember Pro-Tem George Cushingberry Jr.

President Elect Trump

Congratulations President Elect Donald Trump you ran an excellent campaign. Your voters wanted the change to make America great again and they are getting it. You were able to convince people that you could build a wall and make another country pay for it. You have emboldened hardened racist behavior from middle school students in Royal Oak Michigan and adults everywhere else. Open season attacks on minorities and selective treatment on people of color is becoming an accepted standard of conduct now. People are being run over in the streets of Detroit by drivers who run from the scene of an accident because of insurance liability and, just a total disregard for another human being’s life.

Mr Trump, people are wondering about your position on the 25 states who chose to use Marijuana for medical and recreational use, cultivation, and manufacturing. We are concerned that instead of building schools, we are building prisons with no material value as quasi-mental health facilities. We are concerned that you are taking cement that could be used to fix the horrible roads in Michigan to build a wall with Mexico. Consequentially, We will have to build a wall 3 times the size on the Canadian border to compete the set. The bottom line is that there are a lot more jobs in road repair instead of building a wall that can be breached at any moment. 

One of the ways to promote unity among the races is that you tell your supporters to practice Jury Nullification on Marijuana cases in a court of law.  A juror has the right to vote on the guilt or innocence of a defendant and, we are asking you to tell your "Trumpster Friends" to vote not guilty to anyone who is arrested for Marijuana despite instructions from judges who hate weed. Especially for people like me of color on the way to places in Northern Michigan like Traverse City that run into a racist police officer in places like Gaylord Michigan.

This will help immensely with race relations then you can answer these questions:

• Will all of the people in Flint be afforded clean water by their government?
• Will  the President Trump FBI/Justice Department prosecute all of the perpetrators who poisoned the water in Flint Michigan? 
• In 2017 will Gas Prices will stay as low as it was during President Obama’s terms in office?
• Will relations with Cuba be put back on ice instead of having direct flights from Detroit?

Meanwhile in Detroit, we pledge to work with our constituents to give them the right of determining the quality of life in our community.  The rebuilding of homes and the re-opening of closed recreation centers is a key goal in our management of our city. Children and senior citizens will have a public place to meet within walking distance. 

We want our Michigan citizens to seriously consider signing a ballot initiative in 2017 to allow the voters to decide on a Non-Partisan Redistricting Commission Law for redrawing congressional district lines instead of the winning party enabling gerrymandering. By doing this your vote will count for your quality of life because the district lines will match the population.

In 2017 we are committed more than ever to remove the last vestiges of State of Michigan Emergency Management by eliminating ALL of the orders that came from the Emergency Managers appointed by the Governor.  State of Michigan Management was a complete financial disaster with closed schools, empty buildings, and retirees who took the blow for everyone with their health care deductibles and taxed pensions.

We don’t care if the Ku Klux Klan supported you or not. You have up to 4 years to come correct with the people of the United States of America. If you disavow them because of their race, sex, lifestyle choice,  you WILL face the consequences of the Voting Booth in 2020.

Our Message to Voters 2016 - Do It For Mrs. Boynton-Robinson

By Richard C. Clement

Amelia Boynton Robinson after getting a left hook to the
face for trying to vote in Selma AL 

If you are reading this before 8:00pm Nov 8^th, 2016 and voted, thank you!  We hope you selected candidates for judge, school board, proposals, Federal, State, and local officials.  We want you to start from the back to the front with the Judges first, then save the best for last by voting straight Democratic. In the Michigan Supreme Court there is Judge Deborah Thomas and Frank Szymanski who will stop the 5-2 imbalance of Gov. Snyder Appointees to the Judiciary by making it a 4-3 majority.

It is on you the voter to do the right thing and vote in memory of people like Amelia Boynton Robinson, Tom Crosslin and Rollie Rohm of Rainbow Farms in Vandalia Michigan. When Gore lost the election in 2001 President Bush’s Attorney General John Ashcroft ordered the execution of these two at a marijuana farm by the FBI before September 11^th happened and the seige at Rainbow Farms was forgotten. Through their sacrifice, 25 states have legalized the use of the plant for manufacturing and medicinal purposes.

Wikipedia Defined Link Rainbow Farms   

Memorial Website: www.rainbowfarmcamp.com

If you are reading this on or after 8:00pm Nov 8^th 2016 and, you did not exercise your right to vote, you let this woman get her face punched in for nothing. If Donald Trump becomes is your president, this will be considered a lawful act. Amelia Boynton Robinson was an activist in Selma Alabama who wanted to have a voice in the day to day activities of her community. Instead, she was punched in the mouth by a man who did not want her to vote for various reasons including the color of her skin.  One of the other reasons she ate a fist to the face was because the man did not want her to:

1.          Choose her leaders in Federal, State, and Local Government
2.          Determine the direction and leadership of public education
3.         Determine where and what roads to be repaired with her money.
4.         Determine the quality of life in her community

You let someone become president who would make this all legal again.

Quotes from Ameilia Boynton-Robinson

You let your opportunity to elect Judges to the District, Circuit, and State Courts who could have helped you out on a case regarding a traffic ticket, marijuana possession, personal protection order, wills, divorces, etc. 

By not voting, you let someone become president who would have people like Gov. Chris Christie as United States Attorney General even though he directed his underlings to take a felony rap for him for blocking a bridge.

By not voting in the Michigan Supreme Court Race, You let Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette continue to pardon people who poisoned an entire city and, helped them to get their jobs back with the same department.  

Your words don’t get anything done and, your elected leaders who have to power to affect your day to day quality of life don’t have to be bothered with your voice. Therefore if you want to hand the job to an unqualified carnival barking fat bastard, or another candidate who will be in a unique position to expunge the damage her husband did,  don’t boo, whine, or complain, VOTE!

Don’t make that mistake again and say that your vote does not count. And if you did not vote, then you get whatever is coming to you and you have to deal with it.

Vote or else.