Did you know we have solar energy at the Fairgrounds? (LOL)

Photos above, from top left: Amazon warehouse employee parking lot, Amazon warehouse truck trailer parking and bays, State Fair Transit Center signage, Dairy Cattle Barn (future State Fair Transit Center) and 2 shots of the anonymous “Spec” warehouse - adding another 34 truck bays to the already existing Amazon truck bays. The third, Target, “sortation center” is scheduled for 2024. Between all three warehouses - 2 solar panels as pictured above - for a street light or surveillance camera, total. Photos: Frank Hammer, July 17, 2023

When the property is privatized, so is the information

By Frank and Karen Hammer, SFDC Co-Chairs, July 9, 2023

The photo above of the Joe Dumars Fieldhouse is probably the last you’ll see of what was once known as the Agriculture Building at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. The photo was taken on June 10, 2023. The Fieldhouse is no more. If you look closely, demolition had already begun. There was no ceremony, not even a notice to the local press. Last word about the Fieldhouse was that it would remain until 2024 due to a tightly held lease agreement. Apparently that was dissolved. Like its cousin next door, the Fairgrounds Coliseum, it’s history.

According to a presentation by Hillwood and Sterling representatives via a Fairgrounds Zoom update held May 31, 2023, the land occupied by the Fieldhouse will be the site of a building housing a sorting center for retailer Target corporation. It will employ 180 workers, 60 of whom will be white collar, and 120 blue-collar. 600 vehicles are expected to drive to and from the site, daily, for home delivery. No info was shared regarding deliveries via semi-trucks. The Zoom event was arranged by Detroit District 2 Manager, Kim Tandy. Judging from the few residents in attendance, the event was treated as a closed-door meeting.

Detroiters Deserve Accountability re: the Fairgrounds Amazon Warehouse

by Frank & Karen Hammer, State Fairgrounds Development Coalition, Co-chairs

February 23, 2023

Does City Council know when the Amazon warehouse at the Fairgrounds is going to be in full operation? It was slated for July, last year. According to a source who attended the Feb. 7th District 2 meeting hosted by Kim Tandy and attended by an Amazon representative, it will be this Spring. Other sources report it won’t be until next Fall.

The Purchase Agreement approved by City Council required that all 1,200 promised jobs be filled within 1 year of a “temporary certificate of occupancy.” When was the certificate issued and, therefore, what’s Amazon’s deadline? 

Discrepancies abound in the City’s public statements about how many jobs have been filled thus far. In October 2022 the Mayor’s office told the Detroit News that 100 people had been hired.  see article in “media Coverage” A slide presented at the Feb 7th District 2 meeting contradicts that information, claiming that 250+ jobs had been filled that month (see below). The Amazon rep apparently reported that 300 workers have been hired, all through the City’s “Detroit at Work.”  

One of those workers, who prefers to remain anonymous, disputes the information, telling us only 100 workers are currently employed – with none hired through “Detroit at Work.” They’ve all been transferred from other locations. 

There’s no report that the city has begun its training of entrepreneurs (promised for 2020), nor to which warehouse they will report once trained.  It won’t be at the Fairgrounds since that warehouse won’t supply home deliveries. It should be noted that residents clicking to learn about job opportunities on the city’s website are taken to a page with, “HTTP Status: 404 (not found).” 

14 commitments were made by the Mayor’s office and City Council when the sale of the Fairgrounds was approved over 2 years ago. I requested a progress report from the Council on those commitments 3 months ago. In commitment #3, the city promised to use environmentally friendly resources and materials in line with the Detroit Sustainability Agenda, aimed at complying with the Paris Climate Treaty to slow global warming. I hope City Council will demand that “climate Mayor” Duggan use the newly announced surplus funds to power the State Fair Transit Center with solar energy. We ignore the climate crisis at our own peril!

NEW: Interview with radio talk show host Anthony Adams on 910 AM Super Station

Dec 19, 2022

Hiring delays prompt questions about Amazon's fulfillment center in Detroit

Jenn Schanz, Channel 7 WXYZ TV, Detroit

Sun, December 4, 2022 6 pm

The fulfillment center was supposed to be operational in the middle of this summer but has yet to fully open.

Frank and Karen Hammer, who have been outspoken about their opposition to the city’s deal with Amazon, want an explanation.

“Where are the jobs?” said Frank standing outside his home in Detroit, which is not far from the development site.

GWCA NEWS

Fairgrounds Amazon warehouse opening delayed until Fall 2023 - construction of second facility begins 

By Frank Hammer, Co Chair, State Fairgrounds Development Coalition

Dec 1, 2022

If you’ve driven along Eight Mile east of Meijer’s, you’ll notice the rapid construction of a massive new industrial building, likely a second warehouse, on the site of the old Fairgrounds.  It occupies a separate parcel north of the Amazon warehouse and directly east of the former Dairy Cattle Barn.  No one is saying what it’s going to be.

Work has begun on the conversion of the Dairy Cattle Barn for the future State Fair Transit Center, schedule to be completed in early 2024. 

If you’ve driven north on Woodward by the old State Fair Transit Center, or you yourself are a bus rider, you know about the demolition of the bus stop shelters. A 4-lane roadway will take their place for the semis driving in and out to the Amazon warehouse. 

The new, temporary, bus transit site is located 500 feet north, in what once was the parking lot for the State Fair.  There aren’t any shelters there, at least not yet.  It’s very unwelcoming, especially with the premature winter chill settling in. 

According to media reports, the Amazon warehouse opening has been delayed until Fall 2023 (according to the Free Press), a full year behind the projected opening this past summer.  Amazon spokespersons refused to give any explanations for the delay, although there are many reports of cutbacks, including planned layoffs of 10,000 workers nationally, going into the holiday season(!).  Just 100 people started working at the Detroit facility in October, allegedly all from Detroit.  No details were made available about the jobs.  The link on the City’s website for workers interested in the Amazon jobs was shut down, according to Bridge Michigan.

Back in 2020, Detroit attorneys were warning that demands by the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition that would cause any delay for the warehouse opening in time for the current holiday season would cause Amazon to walk away from the deal.

The bandshell, according to the Free Press, is on schedule for a Fall 2023 opening in Palmer Park.

For more info, check out mifairgroundsfuture.org and FutureOfTheMichiganStateFairgrounds  

Fairgrounds Update

Amazon warehouse opening delayed - Transit Center out for bid - Lansing’s Ferguson selling 11 acres (at 13x original sale price) - Novi Fair visitors lament loss of Fair in Detroit

By Frank Hammer, State Fairgrounds Development Coalition Co-chair

October 24. 2022

Delays at Detroit Amazon

The warehouse at the Fairgrounds had “an anticipated open date of mid-2022.”  The delay has stretched out 4 months, and counting, and may be due to Amazon cutting back on its expansion plans, per the item below:

Michigan Amazon delays

According to Bridge Michigan (Sept. 16, 2022) “five Michigan Amazon facilities have been postponed or canceled” due “to excess capacity, inflation, supply chain costs and a shift in shopping behavior back to stores.   Impacted Michigan sites include:

• two warehouses in Grand Rapids. Construction on one has been stalled for months, construction on the other hasn’t started.

• a warehouse near Lansing scheduled to open last spring has been delayed until 2024.

• Construction of one of two warehouses in Washtenaw County was postponed. The other (in Ypsilanti Township) was cancelled.

• 100 contract workers (delivery van drivers) in Hazel Park and Romulus lost their jobs.

Bridge Michigan reports that, “Amazon would not comment on how many Michigan facilities or workers are affected by its changes so far.”  

amazon cutbacks span the u.s.

Invitation to Bid for Repurposing dairy cattle barn into Transit Center

An Invitation to Bid was issued on Sept 23, 2022 by a Detroit Building Authority subcontractor, Ideal Contracting, for adaptive reuse of the former Dairy Cattle Barn as the new State Fair Transit Center.  If it’s not operational when the warehouse opens, which it won’t be, the City is required to provide an interim facility to provide Amazon employees access to the warehouse.  Although the City agreed to use “eco-friendly resources and materials in line with the Detroit Sustainability Agenda,” the Ideal Contracting bid specifies no such materials.

two years later, what is the status of city’s 14 “commitments?”

 14 Commitments - The commitment to use “eco-friendly resources and materials” is one of 14 made by the City when it sold the property to developers 2 years ago.  Others include: preparing Detroit residents for positions at the warehouse, and urging job preference to Detroit residents; working with community organizations to establish community partnerships that speed up the development of the impacted communities and educate residents on job opportunities and training; and community outreach and engagement to complete a neighborhood plan that addresses the impact of new development; plans to eliminate abandoned structures; reuse vacant land, etc. Residents will want a status report.  

Former Partner of Magic Plus, LLC puts up 11 acres for sale

11 Acres for Sale - Lansing developer Joel Ferguson (former Magic Plus LLC partner) is putting up for sale 11 of the 16 acres along Woodward Ave that he acquired from the State when the City got the 142 acres.  At the time of the purchase Ferguson told the Detroit Free Press, “We are excited about developing the Woodward Avenue frontage at the State Fairgrounds site.”

He bought the land for $29,000/acre. It’s now valued at $381,818/acre.

10th anniversary of suburban state fair a dud for detroiters 

Novi Fair Visitors lament loss of Fair in Detroit: Interviewed in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of its opening, visitors were quoted as follows: “Compared to what it was when my kids were little when it was in Detroit, it seems like it’s a little smaller.”  “I like the old fairgrounds better. There is more in the big building, more farms, more things to do.” “The only thing about it; you can’t get out here if you don’t have a car…Moving [the Fair] out here is a disadvantage to a lot of Detroiters.”   

***************

Responding to Mayor Duggan’s State of the City remarks about the Fairgrounds

By Frank Hammer, State Fairgrounds Development Coalition, Co-chair

March 21, 2022

See our interview with Angela Matthews, Urban Interest IPTV, touching on the subjects mentioned in the article below. https://mifairgroundsfuture.org/videos

 Mayor Duggan publicly said more about the Fairgrounds in his March 9, 2022 State of the City speech than ever before. A careful listen prompted a fact-check.  The story he told deviated from the facts as we know them, substantially. For example, he lumped the Fairgrounds in with 11 other “hopeless,” blighted properties in the City - including the Packard plant abandoned in the 50s!  He described all twelve sites, including the Fairgrounds, as “terrible ruins.” That’s simply not true about the Fairgrounds.

He wrongly stated that “the governor closed the Fairgrounds in 2012” (which would have been Snyder) and that it had been “abandoned” since 2012.  It was Democratic Governor Granholm in 2009 who overrode the Michigan legislature by vetoing funding approved for the State Fair.  She caused considerable outcry by Fair volunteers and enthusiasts - 50,000 of whom signed petitions opposing the closure.  Fairgrounds Director Steve Jenkins resigned in protest.

The Fairgrounds were not “abandoned.” Michigan taxpayers paid $1 million/year to maintain it while the State Land Bank “Fast Track” Authority pursued a corrupt and flawed privatization scheme which collapsed six years later.  Magic Plus LLC had a lock on it for all that time.  

Duggan hailed the rehabilitation plans underway for many of the 11 blighted commercial and industrial buildings.  Yet, from the moment he took over the Fairgrounds in 2018, Duggan was determined - over public opposition - to demolish most of the Fairgrounds structures, including ones designated on the Federal Registry of Historic Places. After a 2020 tour of the buildings, Detroit historical preservationists contradicted the City’s claims that the buildings couldn’t be saved, certifying they were in great shape. 

Duggan stated the City was “rebuilding” the abandoned fairgrounds. Yet the Purchase Agreement with the developers fronting for Amazon was just the opposite. All the buildings were to be demolished. It was only due to public outcry that the Bandshell was rescued for proposed relocation to Palmer Park, and the Dairy Cattle Building was saved for repurposing as a “State Fair Transit Center.”  

Duggan mentioned none of the 10+ zoom meetings which residents demanded for public input. Instead, he highlighted feedback from two small private “backyard” meetings, saying residents wanted jobs and two neighborhood parks.  He’s delivered on the parks, but none of the 1200 Amazon jobs are guaranteed for Detroiters.  That’s why former City Council President Brenda Jones voted against the Amazon deal - because Amazon made no such assurances.  Duggan implied that Amazon paid for the parks. It didn’t. The purchase agreement did not include any obligation by Amazon to pay for parks.  It’s city taxpayers who are paying.  

The Greenacres Woodward Civic Association Board of Directors unanimously requested during the Fall, 2021 that the City preserve and re-use the Coliseum which Duggan claimed during his speech, “we couldn’t save.”  The Board wanted the Coliseum to be used as a public indoor space, that would have generated, “economic activity by hosting large scale events and programming that could include concerts, movie nights, weddings…and dually serve as a marketplace, hosting businesses, food trucks or weekly markets.”  Instead, only one façade will remain standing, with a “Coliseum Park.”   

Oddly, when Duggan turned his attention during the PowerPoint presentation to Chandler Park on the East Side, he pointed out that it “doesn’t offer anything in the winter.” His remedy? Erecting “a sports dome for year around activities.” The park replacing the Coliseum will not offer anything in the winter, either.  Keeping the Coliseum would have been the perfect solution. 

The above article was prepared for the April edition of the GWCA NEWS. The comment below is an add on:

Putting DUGGAN’S remarks in context

Narratives are important. Once the picture is painted, and then repeated often enough, people lose sight of what actually went down at the site where families from Detroit and all throughout Michigan and beyond - for over 100 years - converged to celebrate agriculture and industry and our unique and amazing Motown, Motor City, culture.

Detroit’s corporate class wants all the “happening” things to be in a gentrified downtown of its making. There’s money to be made. A “happening” 21st century Fairgrounds was just not in the picture. Instead, the 162 acres were rezoned, practically overnight, from a “Regional Park,” to “light industrial.” The rapid rezoning paved the way for the site to be integrated into a vast “Superhighway” of a logistics chain of automated, low-paying warehouses stretching from southern Mexico up through Canada, right through Detroit. That ‘Superhighway,” in turn, was the outcome of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (now the USMCA) first negotiated in the 1990s.

Linking into that truck corridor is what national and local executives have been pursuing, and Duggan delivered on Detroit. It didn’t go as smoothly for him as he might have expected. In the end, the grassroots movements extracted some concessions - the Transit Center at the historic Dairy Cattle Barn, and a new life for the Bandshell. Were it not for the tireless efforts of folks who cared, we would have gotten nothing.

P.S. - In case you were curious about how the City Administration dispensed with the 5,000 plus arena seats which filled the Coliseum, the answer, according to Mr. Tyrone Clifton, Director of the Detroit Building Authority, is that “the bulk of the chairs from the Coliseum have been demolished.” (information courtesy of District 2 City Councilwoman Angela Calloway).

District 2 Councilmember Angela Whitfield Calloway, GWCA Board members and residents mourn demolition of Coliseum

“The Voices of the People Were Not Heard!”

By Frank Hammer, State Fairgrounds Development Coalition, Co-Chair

February 1, 2022

Approximately 25 people participated in a January 27th vigil at the Meijer’s parking lot to honor the historic State Fair Coliseum undergoing demolition. Among the speakers were:

Angela Whitfield Calloway, Councilmember, District 2:

“It’s a sad day for me personally. It makes absolutely no sense to me why there was not a will from the administration to save this iconic structure. We are so quick to tear down historic pieces of property that we could easily preserve with just a little bit of will. The will was lacking from our council and from the administration. It could easily have been repurposed. The voices of the people were not heard!”

Steve Jenkins, former State Fairgrounds Manager, Statement read by Karen Hammer:

“It is very disappointing that such a historical building is being demolished. One of the more memorable events at the Coliseum was when President Kennedy made the Fairgrounds one of his last stops before the 1960 election. It is unfortunate that this history must be destroyed without looking at ways to maintain what was. Please convey to all in attendance my support for the vigil and ask them to keep alive the memories they have of the Coliseum and the Fairgrounds.”

Dr Jeffery D. Robinson, Principal, Paul Robison Malcolm X Academy and District 2 resident:

“The Coliseum represents a narrative on our democracy. Democracy is in trouble because – while [Coliseum] may be a symbol of people not being heard – it’s a symbol of a disregard for culture and the economy. The State Fair was also a place where small business came in and showed their wares. They came from the city of Detroit; they came from the other side of Eight Mile. We can’t allow administrations to talk out of both sides of their necks – if culture and economy are going to be important and if bringing people together is the goal. They can’t continue to use our money and law to obfuscate what people need. To me that represents a democracy in Detroit. It represents what they’re going to do regardless of what the people want because, remember, Detroit is the site of the largest transfer of wealth in American history – the bankruptcy, the school district, the $600 million in over-taxation. We must be in these spaces and come to these meetings to support our council members, especially for our District 2 Representative.”

For more see videos of the event: https://www.facebook.com/awcalloway/videos/451089306673083/ and https://www.facebook.com/fuzzytek2/videos/4792783290829291

Detroit News caption: Vigilers braved a cold wintry evening to decry the Coliseum demolition, January 27, 2022, Detroit News photo

Report to the Greenacres Woodward Civic Association (GWCA)

Coliseum Demolition Proceeds Without Delay

by Frank Hammer, SFDC Co-chair, January 19, 2022

On Tuesday, Nov 23, after the GWCA’s last Board meeting in 2021, Detroit City council voted to authorize an amendment to the original purchase agreement between the city and developers retained by Amazon for the fairgrounds.

State Fair Transit Center

The amendment cancelled the original plan to demolish the Coliseum and Dairy Cattle Barn to make way for a “state of the art” transit center to be built at that location for the price of up to $7 million to be paid by the developer.  It should be noted that the original purchase agreement required the new enclosed transit center at the Fairgrounds for 2 reasons:

·      as a replacement for the existing transit center facing Woodward Ave between Eight Mi Rd and State Fair Ave, which will be demolished to make way for a four-lane roadway for the Amazon diesel trucks accessing the warehouse. 

·      To provide Amazon warehouse workers using public transportation a way to get to their jobs.

Dairy Cattle Barn to be repurposed, Coliseum demolition starts

In response to public outcry over the planned demolition of the two iconic buildings, both of which are listed on the Federal Registry of Historic Places, the Administration agreed to a 90-day study which led to a revised plan.  The new plan preserves the Dairy Cattle Barn and repurposes it as the State Fair Transit Center, also described as “state of the art.”  The cost was revised upwards to approximately $18 million, with the $11 million difference to be paid by the City.  

The amendment passed by City Council (by a 5-2 vote) on Nov. 23rd did not change the plan to demolish the Coliseum, to the disappointment of the GWCA Board, which had voted unanimously in November to urge saving both. 

The demolition of the Coliseum has begun with the gutting of the north end of the building.  The arena seats appear to be gone. The demolition is viewable from the Meier’s parking lot.

Air Quality Monitoring but no plans to mitigate truck pollution

 In my report to the Board at the Nov. 17th meeting, I focused attention on the anticipated pollution resulting from the diesel truck traffic accessing the warehouse from both Eight Mile and Woodward Ave.  The numbers I cited were incorrect as they mistakenly included all the car traffic generated by warehouse workers going to and from work – estimated in the range of 1,200 to 2,000.  According to Tyrone Clifton, Director of the Detroit Building Authority who submitted written answers in response to questions from the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition and City Council member Mary Sheffield, there will be 200 diesel trucks daily, with 8 or 9 during peak morning and evening traffic. 

At the November meeting I also reported on the air quality monitoring initiated by the City in response to concerns expressed by the Coalition and many others.  Six were conducted over the past year to establish a benchmark and to assess the impact during the construction of the warehouse.  This has now been completed.  It should be noted that the benchmark is specifically aimed at assessing impacts on air quality generated by the second and third phase of the Fairgrounds development, both of which are anticipated to be “light industrial” but neither of which has been specified. There are no plans for mitigating the pollution from the truck traffic to be generated by the warehouse, which is expected to be in operation in July.

at lively State Fairgrounds Development Coalition Webinar:

US House Reps Tlaib & Levin expose working conditions at Amazon, promote unionization and PRO Act

by Frank Hammer, Co-chair

If all had gone according to plan, our April 28th webinar would have been attended by all four SE Michigan US Congressional representatives – Debbie Dingell, Brenda Lawrence, Andy Levin and Rashida Tlaib. However, Lawrence and Dingell excused themselves to attend, in person, President Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress.

Nevertheless, Tlaib and Levin and union organizer Adam Obernauer made for a lively webinar attended by over 60 people about Amazon in Motown: Fighting for Unions, Safety, and the Living Wage. The global labor movement commemorates April 28th as Workers’ Memorial Day, a day to honor workers suffering injuries or fatalities in the workplace. Local Fox 2 reported on the webinar, which you can view in its entirety here.

The complete 90 minute webinar can be viewed here.

Here are excerpts:

Rashida Tlaib

We’re not a city that backs down when it comes to supporting union organizing

“Last year I started working with Amazon workers at the Romulus distribution center who reached out to me and Debbie Dingell in regard to unacceptable working conditions during the onset of the pandemic. Things got worse – not only morale but public safety issues and how an “us vs them” approach was implemented by management.

"Employees did not have access to PPE’s or sanitizing supplies, were not properly screened on their way into work, had no time to wash their hands or use the bathroom, and were still held to the same stringent productivity quotas, driving people to conditions that were just immoral.

"Amazon denied the claims made by the workers, even though we had more than a dozen coming to us about the conditions. I’m committed to making sure that Amazon is going to be held accountable, no matter all the folks in power at the city level who try to defend them or try to protect them, which is what they do. We’re not a city that backs down when it comes to supporting union organizing.”

Congressman Andy Levin

We will take on Amazon with bullhorns and sneakers at the State Fair. Let’s get ready for the fight here

“The workers in Bessemer [Alabama] didn’t just do an incredibly brave thing by trying to form a union there – they launched a global movement of Amazon workers.

"When I went down there to talk to those workers, it was like some dystopian science fiction novel: workers having to touch a package every 8 seconds, being monitored by cameras and bracelets. If you have too many minutes ‘off tasks’ in a week you can be fired and there may not be a person involved in firing you. You get a text or an email.

"The labor laws have to be better for workers to have a shot at organizing. The [current laws] are too rigged. That’s why I am a lead sponsor of the PRO Act. it would totally transform the set up for union elections. It’s going to take a lot of feet on the street and organizing on the ground – we will take on Amazon with bullhorns and sneakers at the State Fair. Let’s get ready for the fight here.”

Adam Obernauer - Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union (RWDSU)

There were 1000+ workers who stood together for a union [in Bessemer, Alabama] despite constant intimidation and coercion.

“If you work at an Amazon warehouse, you’re tracked with everything that you do. If you walk off your station, the clock starts and that time “off task” starts counting against you. If you use the bathroom - not during a specifically scheduled break - it works against you.

"We talked to many pregnant women in the Bessemer facility. They get written up for going to the bathroom too often, not by a manager but by an Amazon App on their phone. Workers often collapse at work. You’re constantly pushed to work faster. They call it ‘rate’ - how many boxes you pack per hour - and you’re rated against your own productivity. They drive you until you can’t go any faster. You break your body over time, then you can’t physically do the work anymore, then they hire more people. That’s the Amazon model. It’s heartbreaking.

"There were 1000+ workers who stood together for a union despite constant [involuntary] management meetings, constant attacks on their employment, intimidation and coercion. We’re challenging the elections. We are committed to organizing the workers in Bessemer.”

The PRO Act - Protect the Right to Organize

Congresswoman Tlaib:

In the Pro Act, employer interference and influence in union elections would be forbidden. Company-sponsored meetings — with mandatory attendance — are often used to lobby against a union organizing drive. Such meetings would be illegal. Additionally, employees would be able to cast a ballot in union organizing elections at a location away from company property.

It would establish monetary penalties for companies and executives that violate workers' rights. Corporate directors and other officers of the company could also be held liable.

So-called right-to-work laws in more than two dozen states allow workers in union-represented workplaces to opt out of the union, and not pay union dues. At the same time, such workers are still covered under the wage and benefits provisions of the union contract. The PRO Act would allow unions to override such laws and collect dues from those who opt out, in order to cover the cost of collective bargaining and administration of the contract.

Congressman Levin:

We have the most outspokenly pro-union president in modern history. We are in a four-headed crisis of global warming-structural racism-income & wealth inequality-healthcare. We need big change now. And unions are more popular than they have been in decades, and 48% of nonunion workers would like to have one.

Want to support Amazon workers' union rights? Join us!

Send an Email -- call 313-444-2560 -- follow us on facebook

 State Fairgrounds Development Coalition:

webinar: Amazon in Motown: Fighting for Unions, Safety, & a Living Wage 

7-8:30 PM - Workers Memorial Day, April 28, 2021 

Speakers:  

Michigan U.S. House Representatives 

Andy Levin (Dist 9) - Rashida Tlaib (Dist 13) - Brenda Lawrence (Dist 14) 

and 

Adam Obernauer, Director, Retail Organizing Project,

Retail, Wholesale, Department Store Union (RWDSU)

Register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Fa5Uv2h9RKOe-OLZkjHaHg

You will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the webinar.

Detroit, Michigan — The State Fairgrounds Development Coalition (SFDC) is proud to host an online webinar featuring Southeast Michigan U.S. House of Representatives and the Director of union organizing for Amazon workers. Our guests will speak about the recent (unsuccessful) union organizing drive in Bessemer, AL, and the necessary steps going forward in the fight for Unions, Safety and a Living Wage — nationwide, in Michigan and especially Detroit. The former Michigan State Fairgrounds at Woodward Ave & Eight Mile Rd is the site of a $400 million Amazon warehouse currently under construction that will employ 1,200 workers when it opens in 2022.  

The presenters will talk about the deplorable working conditions at the Bessemer, Alabama, and other Amazon warehouses; the aggressive tactics employed by Amazon to defeat the Alabama union drive; and their support for the U.S. labor movement. They will emphasize the importance of passing the “Protect the Right to Organize” or “PRO Act” in Congress to level the playing field for workers seeking to unionize. 

“As an organization that has fought for sustainable development at the historic Fairgrounds for the past decade,” said Frank Hammer, SFDC Co-chair and retired UAW representative, “our coalition will join the fight with labor, environmental, community and civic leaders to assure that the future Detroit Amazon workforce is treated with dignity, respect and equity.” Hammer added, “The SFDC hopes this will be the first in a series of discussions with these goals in mind.”

 Presentations will be followed by a roundtable discussion and Q&A via the online chat.

Partial list of endorsers:

Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice
Doing Development Differently in Metro Detroit (D4)
SE Michigan Jobs with Justice
Moratorium Now
Detroit People's Platform

IWW - Detroit

National Lawyers Guild - Detroit Chapter

See Event page on Facebook.

The SFDC was formed in 2012 to advocate for a grassroots vision for the future of the Michigan State Fairgrounds, bringing together residents, neighborhood groups, nonprofits, entrepreneurs, business associations, civic leaders, union members, urban farmers, and professionals. The organization is based in Detroit.

Will the Fairgrounds Amazon warehouse really be “fulfilling?”

By Frank Hammer, State Fairgrounds Development Coalition, March 26, 2021

With the sale in November, 2020 of Detroit’s 142-acre Fairgrounds site to two developers for the construction of an Amazon “Fulfillment Center,” our project has changed. 

 We were glad to promote, over the past 10 years, a new vision of what a 21st century Detroit can be.  In the process, we became the go-to voice about the site, appearing in 16 news stories published or aired in local media outlets in just the 4-month period ending in mid-February (2021).  These included Crain’s Business, Preservation Magazine, The Detroit News, Lavonia Perryman 910 Superstation, WXYZ-TV Channel 7, Detroit Metro Times, and many others. See “Media Coverage” at mifairgroundsfuture.org/

The SFDC stood strong despite public attacks by the Mayor and the District 2 City Council representative who recruited others to engage in public smear tactics, without much success. We built strong alliances with grassroots forces and key players – The Sugar Law Center, People’s Platform, Detroit Equitable Development, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, Greenacres-Woodward Civic Association, climate activist Kimberly Hill Knott, Doing Development Differently in Metro Detroit (D4), Emmanuel Center, and others – to cite a few. 

The SFDC has two objectives going forward: (1) Document the decade-long grassroots campaign led by the SFDC against the corporate agenda leading to the conversion of public land historically designated as a Regional Park into a for-profit, “light industrial” zone, and (2) Continue our leadership and advocacy for the METAeXPO “7 Elements” under the new conditions, in collaboration with other grassroots organizations. The SFDC Steering Committee is assessing the community’s needs as follows:

a. Environmental sustainability – The flagship, 5-story Amazon warehouse is solely designed to supply other regional warehouses - it will not perform home deliveries. During peak hours, it will be serviced by over 500 18-wheel diesel trucks - per hour - using Woodward Ave and Eight Mile. This will generate (1) massive, toxic pollution with severe health impacts for bus riders, shoppers at the nearby Meier’s, surrounding residential areas and beyond, and (2) massive amounts of greenhouse gases, contributing to the worsening global climate crisis.   Though the developers claim the Amazon warehouse will be built with “green” materials and operate with low emissions, there’s no such promise for the two adjacent “light industry” parcels they also acquired.  Ironically, City Council passed a resolution endorsing “sustainability goals” just as the City eliminated its Office of Sustainability.

 b. Transit-Oriented development – There won’t be a multi-modal transit hub as promoted by the SFDC, a setback to popularizing mass transit and reducing car-dependency. However, transit rider advocates are demanding that DDOT locate the proposed replacement bus station convenient for Detroiters who rely on bus transit, and not just to satisfy Amazon’s workforce needs. 

 c. Historic preservation – Preservationists are seeking to stop the developers from locating the bus station at the site of the Fairground’s three historic buildings, which would require their demolition.  In the meantime, an online petition campaign (60,000 signatures) has already halted the planned demolition of the historic bandshell. It will be moved to Palmer Park.

 d. New Economy jobs – If Amazon has its way, low paying, exhausting back-breaking jobs will be the “jobs of the future” (Detroit City Council members were joyfully quoted as such).  The SFDC is helping with a national campaign (see interviews below) supporting Alabama Amazon warehouse workers joining a union, which may create more favorable conditions for successful unionization when Detroit’s Amazon warehouse opens in 2022. 

In all of this, we’ve advocated for the people to have their say, including the City abiding by its own Community Benefits Ordinance (weak as it is).  The decision issued on March 9th in Wayne County District Court dismissing our claims that the City wrongfully ignored it (and the Community Outreach Ordinance) was a setback for the SFDC and Detroit residents.  See the next GWCA NEWS for our analysis. 

 The SFDC favored democratic civic participation in the shaping of the Fairgrounds development based on criteria of what is best for the common good.  Though the corporate, billionaire-friendly policies pursued by Detroit’s political class got the upper hand, our work will continue for family-sustaining jobs and prosperity for Detroiters as part of stewarding sustainable development - consistent with public health and “green” principles.  If we want the young generation to inherit a thriving, livable city, we must not settle for anything less.  Won’t you join us? Simply call the SFDC at 313-444-2560 

INTERVIEWS, FRANK HAMMER, TONYA MYERS

Workers and Communities vs Amazon

TheAnalysis.news - Paul Jay - February 24, 2021

“We’re pleased to share our fight and our struggle just as we continue to learn from those of others and other cities as well. So where to start?

“Frank and I are both hard-core Detroiters. I was born and raised in this city and still live here by choice, and I’m proud of my city. We have a pretty hard-core reputation. We’re a little scrappy in Detroit, right. We’ve been through uprisings, we’ve been through economic downturns, we’ve experienced hard times in the city of Detroit, and I say that as a backdrop too. It’s important to recognize the context.”
— excerpt, interview, Tonya Myers Phillips

State Fairgrounds Development Coalition responds to Court of Appeals decision

Late at night on Nov. 3, the Michigan Court of Appeals, without hearing oral argument, reversed the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) issued by Wayne County 3rd Circuit Court Judge Sheila Ann Gibson which temporarily halted the sale of the State Fairgrounds. The Court of Appeals decided after receiving an emergency motion from the Duggan Administration.

We do not think the Court of Appeals should have stepped in front of the trial court before our motion was heard on Monday, November 9th. We know this happened because the City asserted that Amazon threatened to leave if they had to wait five more days for a hearing. The Court of Appeals did not dismiss the case but, by reversing the TRO, it is allowing the sale to proceed which, in our estimation, will cause irreparable harm to the community.

We know that we are on the right side of history and we will continue to stand against these harmful, no-bid, no-disclosure, "rocket-docket" sales of our public land. There are more processes that need to occur before Amazon can move in. Just like our advocacy won concessions in the first phase, we will continue to advocate for the community every step of the way.

TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER ISSUED HALTING SALE OF STATE FAIRGROUNDS 

DETROIT – Today, the Wayne County Circuit Court issued a Temporary Restraining Order halting the sale of the State Fairgrounds.   

The suit was filed in Wayne County Circuit Court by State Fairgrounds Development Coalition, Frank Hammer, and Karen Hammer. A hearing on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction is scheduled for November 9, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. before Wayne County Circuit Court Judge, Honorable Sheila Ann Gibson 

"The stakes are too high, especially with environmental and health impacts, for Plaintiffs to be deprived of their opportunity to receive benefits and a means to hold the developer, Amazon, and other corporations that stand to profit accountable under the Community Benefits Ordinance," said Tonya Myers Phillips, Director of Partnerships and Development at the Sugar Law Center.  "Detroiters were entitled by the Detroit CBO to a CBA agreement. We will continue that fight, and look forward to the hearing on November 9th", says Frank Hammer, Co-Chair of State Fairgrounds Development Coalition.   

 Upon review by an independent appraiser, it appears the City of Detroit has improperly added and conflated a reimbursement by the developer for the City's contractual obligation to build a transit center with the fair market value of the land. The valuation of the land and the construction of the transit center are separate and distinct transactions and should not be conflated to evade the Community Benefits Ordinance.  

The lawsuit includes allegations that the City of Detroit did not comply with Detroit's Community Engagement Ordinance. The City of Detroit did not provide the statutorily required notice of a proposed amendment to the City Master Plan. The City of Detroit did not provide proper notice of when it would vote on selling the largest parcel of contiguous public land in the City.  

Click here> State Fairgrounds Development Coalition Complaint

DETROIT’S AMAZON DEAL MASKS PAIN OF THE POOR

October 28, 2020 thepulseinstitute

Editor’s Note: Detroit Attorney Tonya Myers Philips currently serves as the Community Partnerships & Development Director of the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice. For submission inquiries contact Bankole Thompson, the editor-in-chief of The PuLSE Institute at info@thepulseinstitute.org.

By Tonya Myers Philips

Instagram posting “The Amazon Deal needs to be better for Detroit

click here> Sign the petition!

17 Organizations say: JOIN THE CALL FOR EQUITY IN MICHIGAN!

“We are writing in solidarity with the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition (SFDC), a community-led coalition advocating for workers' rights and community benefits related to the development of the Michigan State Fairgrounds. We stand with the SFDC in its fight to ensure that the development of the 142-acre site, proposed to entail an Amazon Distribution center, and an as yet-to-be determined auto-parts supplier, will benefit low-income and working families.”

SUPPORTED AND ENDORSED BY: Amidst The Amazon Campaign, Detroit People's Platform, Doing Development Differently In Detroit, Equitable Detroit Coalition, Presevation Detroit, The Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, Advancement Corporation, Metro Detroit A. Phillip Randolph Institute, Black Lives Matter Michigan, Detroit Action, Liberation PAC, Metro Lansing Poor People's Campaign, Michigan Coalition for Human Rights, Oakland Forward, One in a Billion Consulting, LLC, Riverwise Magazine, The James and Grace Lee Boggs Center To Nurture Community Leadership, Southeast Michigan Jobs With Justice,

Tlaib, others raise concerns over Amazon distribution center deal at former State Fairgrounds

By Randy Wimbley and David Komer online producer, Detroit, FOX 2 Detroit, October 15, 2020

State Fairgrounds development deal for Amazon raises questions

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Unsafe working conditions, the possible demolition of historic buildings, and no provisions for parks or public thoroughfares.

Those are just a few of the concerns Congressmanwoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) is raising about the Amazon Distribution Center deal at the State Fairgrounds.

Detroit may sell it to developers for $9 million. They plan to lease it to Amazon. Developers want to break ground on the project by early November, so the clock is ticking.

Tlaib’s concerns mirror those of the State Fairgrounds Development Coalition. Its co-chair, Frank Hammer, is also worried about the potential environmental impact of the 18-wheeler semi-trucks that will be going to and from the site every day.

"We want the mitigation that Amazon and the city is going to do in writing to make sure that all those diesel fumes don’t adversely affect the health of Detroiters," Hammer said.

click here> Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib letter to City Planning Commission weighs in on critical fairgrounds sale issues

hearing adjourned, the letter’s contents not revealed

memo to Mayor Duggan and the Detroit City Council

the SFDC’s requests for the Fairgrounds:

1. A Fair Process: A transparent, equitable, and inclusive engagement process with genuine representation for Detroit residents, workers, and businesses shaping development outcome

2. Jobs for Detroiters: Guarantees of good jobs with family-sustaining wages, including specific and targeted education and training for the jobs of the future

3. Due diligence: Complete analyses showing impacts that the proposed development will have on the people who live &/or work in adjacent neighborhoods, the city of Detroit and the region, including (but not limited to) traffic and environmental concerns.

 4. Workers’ rights: Require prospective employers to agree to not interfere with workers’ right to organize for labor peace agreements; partner with companies that have positive relations with workers and a record of treating employees with respect and dignity

 5. Invest in Detroiters: The future of our land and neighborhoods – especially the most valuable, largest develop-able site in the City – should not be privatized and outsourced to an out-of-state corporation that has NO people of color or women on their leadership team. Leave room for community-based proposals to include women- and minority-owned businesses.

6. Zero carbon emissions: 21st century energy & technology to fulfill the Climate Mayors' pledge, and protect Detroiters' Quality of Life

7. Communities benefit: Use the sale proceeds to establish a community fund for use by the surrounding neighborhoods for parks and recreation.

8. Preserve and reactivate historic structures as part of Detroit's heritage.

ACT NOW:  Representative:  Phone:  Email: 

Mayor  Mike Duggan  (313) 224-3400  https://detroitmi.gov/government/mayors-office 

Dist 2 Liaison  Kim Tandy  (313) 236-3494  TandyK@detroitmi.gov 

Dist 3 Liaison  Ernest Johnson  (313) 236-3504  JohnsonErn@detroitmi.gov 

City Council  Brenda Jones, President  (313) 224-1245  Bjones_mb@detroitmi.gov 

Member-At-Large  Janeé Ayers  (313) 224-4248  councilmemberayers@detroitmi.gov 

District 1  James Tate  (313) 224-1027  councilmembertate@detroitmi.gov 

District 2  Roy McCalister, Jr.  (313) 224-4535  councilmemberMcCalister@detroitmi.gov 

District 3  Scott Benson  (313) 224-1198  BensonS@detroitmi.gov 

District 4  André L. Spivey  (313) 224-4841  councilmanSpivey@detroitmi.gov 

District 5  Mary Sheffield PPT (313) 224-4505  councilmembersheffield@detroitmi.gov 

District 6  Raquel Casteñeda-López  (313) 224-2450  councilmemberraquel@detroitmi.gov 

District 7  Gabe Leland  (313) 224-2151  LelandG@detroitmi.gov 

Legislative Engagement Form -- To submit comments, questions and concerns to the Detroit City Council: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/084058e26b2441ec8f513b477a78e214

Public Comment Form – There is one form to submit public comments for all City Council events, including all Formal Session Meetings, Evening Community Meeting Public Comment, Evening Community Meeting RSVP, and budget meetings. Residents can register ahead of time for all presently scheduled City Council meetings (see below for rules and directions). Residents are now also able to upload documents and leave comments if they are not able to attend City Council meetings. If there are special meetings or sessions scheduled, the forms will be updated and a new link will be provided.

City Council Meetings:

• View on Channel 10 or use this link -- http://detroitmi.gov/Online-CC-Meeting

• To sign up for public comment, click here -- http://detroitmi.gov/CC-Public-Comment, or call – (313) 224-3322. o To participate at the time of public comment, please raise your hand within the zoom application. By telephone, raise your hand by pressing *9. Web participants, raise your hand in the application or by pressing: Windows computer = [ALT] + [Y] or Apple computer = [OPTION] + [Y]. Submit written copies of your comments to the City Clerk by email: CityClerkHelpDesk@detroitmi.gov.

o Public comment will be handled online the same as in person: You will be called on in the order of raised hands. Time limits set by the meeting chair will be enforced. Hands raised after the Chair ends submission of public comments will not be called on to speak during the meeting.

o For interpretation and translation services, please call the Dept. of Civil Rights,

Inclusion, and Opportunity: (313) 224-4950.

 The Michigan State Fairgrounds site redevelopment deal is happening fast. Know the facts:

What they say:

“The State Fairgrounds development will employ 1,200+ Detroiters” & “Prospective workers will be trained for Amazon jobs”

The fact is…

… there are no guarantees that the jobs will go to Detroit residents

… the purchase agreement doesn’t require the developers to work with minority contractors or vendors

… though it’s labeled “Amazon training,” what’s offered is basic and generic

What they say:

“The development will have a minimal impact on traffic and the environment”

The fact is…

… we don’t know; the public hasn’t seen or heard specifics of any site studies about changes that will affect their ability to move around in the area with increased traffic from the largest Amazon Distribution Center ever built OR the impact on air quality, sound, and light pollution that will affect families in the surrounding neighborhoods 24 hours a day

What they say:

“No one brought any viable ideas to the table before now”

The fact is…

… no RFP was ever issued by the City, and “viability” seems to be based on a false notion that 142 acres must be sold altogether

… lots of groups brought community-generated ideas, but the current deal leaves no space for community-based proposals or public access and use

What they say:

“The city can’t advocate for workers’ rights or to prevent union busting” and “We asked for stronger labor and hiring provisions… [Amazon] refused”

The fact is…

… there are legal avenues the City can use to advocate for Detroit workers, and there’s no legal obstacle to entering into a voluntary community benefits agreement with developers

… if our elected officials are so hog-tied by anti-labor policy, or don’t have the strength to look out for workers and stand up for our rights, that’s a problem

What they say:

“There isn’t time for full community engagement process”

The fact is…

… the artificially short timeline is based on the Mayor’s and developers’ agenda

… the time for community engagement was at the *start* of the negotiation process, not after the deal is done and announced

What they say:

“The Mayor is looking out for Detroit communities’ and residents’ best interests”

The fact is…

… doing less than due diligence about traffic and environmental impact that will affect the neighbors in 13+ neighborhoods and nearby cities and failing to secure guarantees on jobs and hiring is not in the best service to our City

What they say:

“Detroiters are excited about it”

The fact is…

… Detroit residents are excited about the idea of jobs; when they hear more of the story and that jobs are not guaranteed to them or their neighbors, they wonder who’s really going to benefit…

The 2019 State Fairgrounds Development Coalition Rally and Blues Fest was a Great Success!

Video: 21st Century Fairgrounds Pt. 1/3

introductions and welcome

Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan Gubernatorial candidate (2018)
Letter from Steve Jenkins. former manager, state fair (read by K. Hammer, SFDC)
LC Scramlin, Michigan Association of State Fairs & Exhibitions
Panel introduction by Marya Sosulski, PhD. MSU School of social work

Video: 21st Century Fairgrounds Pt. 2/3

Panel: Environmental Sustainability

Beth Hagenbuch, Landscape Architect
Kimberly Hill Knott, Detroit Green Task Force
Doug Farr, Architect, Author & Urban planner

Video: 21st Century Fairgrounds Pt. 3/3

Frank Hammer, State Fairgrounds Development Coalition*
Roy McCalister, Jr, detroit City Councilperson, District 2
Rashida Tlaib. U.S. Congresswoman, District 13

Power to the People! On to Renewable Energy!
Remarks at “Rally and Festival for a 21st Century Fairgrounds” - Frank Hammer

Hear the sfdc zoom town hall hel

subject: proposed sale by the City of detroit of its 142 acres to

hillwood development co.& sterling group for lease to Amazon (and two other unnamed manufacturers)

Discussion topics:

1,200 jobs for detroiters?

no community benefit agreement?

no environmental impact study?

amazon to respect workers’ right to organize?

will it be a zero-carbon emissions site?

will the historic buildings be preserved?

and more

1. Mixed-use retail/ Commercial/ Residential

2. Multi-Flex/Expo Auditorium

3. Garden Court/ Community College

4. Community Tech Lab

5. Grant House and Museum

6. Power Station Night Club

7. The Coliseum and Expo Halls

8. The Expo Arcade

9. Meta-tech Campus - Public Institution/Private Sector

10. METAexpo Energy Plant

11. The Geo Field

12. Hotel

13. Residential Tower/ Seniors

14. Town Homes

15. Town Homes/ Retail

16. Green Tech/ AG High School

17. Middle School

18. BRT/ Light Rail Station

19. Regional Bus Station

20. Smart House and Smart Park

21. Market Park

22. Green Infrastructure Landscape

23. Low Impact Development (LID)

24. Water Management

25. P Parking Deck w/ Greenhouse or Green Roof

FAQ

BACKGROUND

TWO DIFFERENT APPROACHES

DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE

TIMELINE VIDEOS

HISTORY OF FAIRGROUNDS

LEGISLATION

PHOTOS OF FAIRGROUNDS 2012

HISTORIC IMAGES & DOCUMENTS

events

MEDIA

MEDIA COVERAGE

OUR POSTS & PRESS RELEASES

OUR PRESENTATIONS

VIDEO INTERVIEWS +

AUDIO

RESOURCES