Detroit City Council
History
Founded	1824 (as the Common Council)
Leadership
President	James Tate since 2026
President Pro-Tempore	Coleman Young II since 2026
Structure
Seats	7 districts 2 at-large
Council political groups	Officiallynonpartisan  Democratic (9)
Council committees	Budget and Finance, Neighborhood and Community Services, Human Resources, Law and Public Safety, Planning and Economic Development
Length of term	4 years
Authority	Article 4, Chapter 1, Charter of the City of Detroit, 2012
Elections
Councilvoting system	First-past-the-post (district seats) Block voting (at-large seats)
Last Council election	November 4, 2025[1]
Motto
Speramus Meliora, Resurget Cineribus (We hope for better things, It will rise from the ashes)
Meeting place
13th floor,Coleman A. Young Municipal Building
Website
Official website

TheDetroit City Council is the legislative body ofDetroit,Michigan, United States. Thefull-time council is required to meet every business day for at least 10 months of the year, with at least eight of these meetings occurring at a location besides city hall. The Detroit City Council most recently elected James Tate to be its president.^[2] The council may convene for special meetings at the call of the mayor or of at least four members of council.^[3]

The city council was first constituted as the legislative body of the city in 1824. The city began to grow more rapidly in the late 19th century, absorbing immigrants from Europe and migrants from the rural South and other areas. This body was called the Common Council until July 1, 1974.

Until the early 20th century, the council was elected from city wards, orsingle-member districts. However, starting in 1918, at a time of changes in local government thought to be Progressive, the city council voted to require all city council members electedat-large. This reduced representation by geography from wards, where various ethnic groups tended to concentrate. It was considered unusual for a city of Detroit's size, which had competing political parties.

While voters in the city have become predominantly affiliated with the Democratic Party, they wanted more representation by district. On November 4, 2009, city voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum to once again elect seven of the nine council seats fromsingle-member districts, and two at-large seats, beginning in 2013.^[4]

The council is composed of nine members, seven of whom are district representatives elected fromsingle-member districts, with two additional members electedat-large usingblock voting. The district representatives are elected by a majority in a general election, with the general election candidates being selected in a top-two non-partisan primary election. The council includes two officers, the president andpresident pro tempore, who are elected from among the members of the council at the beginning of each new session of the body for four-year terms. The officers can be removed by a unanimous vote of council, exclusive of the member being removed, during any session meeting. Elections to the body are officiallynon-partisan.^[5]

A major overhaul of Detroit City Charter took place in 2012. This change moved to election by district for 7 districts and 2 at-large positions.^[6]

The council has six^[7]standing committees:

• Budget, Finance & Audit
• Neighborhood & Community Services
• Internal Operations
• Public Health & Safety
• Planning and Economic Development
• Rules

The council is granted the power to form additional committees at its own discretion

If a vacancy occurs on the city council, it is filled by appointment of the city council based on a two-thirds vote of its existing members. The appointee serves until an elected member takes office, which is filled at the next general election scheduled in the city not held sooner than 180 days after the vacancy occurs, be that an election to fill federal, state, county or city offices.^[8]

Starting in 1919, nine Detroit City Council members were elected at large. Members of the council, from 1919 to the present, are:^[9]

• Color coding: pink = Republican; blue = Democratic; light green = Farmer-Labor; dark green = Progressive; gray = unaffiliated.

Salaries for elected officials are recommended every odd-numbered year by the Detroit Elected Officials Compensation Commission.^[10] The 7-member board is appointed by the mayor and approved by the council, each member serving a 7-year term.^[11]

City council approved a recommendation by the commission in February 2023, with an immediate pay increase of 7% and 3.5% eachfiscal year for the next three years.^[12] Regular City Council members will be paid $106,231 annually by July 2025, while the City Council President will be paid $111,647.^[12] Prior to 2015, increases had not happened since 2001.^[10]

• Government of Detroit, Michigan
• List of mayors of Detroit, Michigan

• Detroit City Council website

• City councils in the United States
• Government of Detroit
• Government agencies established in 1824
• 1824 establishments in Michigan Territory

• CS1 errors: archive-url
• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from March 2018
• Articles with short description
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• Pages using infobox legislature with unknown parameters