Detroit Proposal P, which would have adopted a new city charter for Detroit was defeated by voters on August 3. According to election night results, 67% of voters were opposed to the measure, and 33% were in favor.
The new charter would have made changes to policy regarding broadband access, police practices, healthcare, taxes and utilities, and reparations, among other topics. The revised charter would have been 145 pages long, adding 25 pages to the existing 120-page charter.
Proposal P would have replaced Detroit’s existing city charter, which was approved by voters in 2011 and enacted in 2012. The 2012 charter was the product of its own Charter Revision Commission, which was elected by Detroit voters in 2009. The charter was revised twice before the 2012 version in 1997 and 1974, with the original charter having been enacted in 1918. When Detroit first revised its charter, it set a precedent allowing for the creation of a nine-member commission to investigate and propose any necessary changes to the city charter.
In August of 2018, Detroit voted to revise the 2012 charter by approving Proposal R. Later that year, voters elected a Charter Revision Commission in the November election. The Revision Commission was tasked with preparing a revised charter to put before voters. This charter was on the ballot on August 3 as Proposal P.
Proposed changes to city policy within the charter included the following:
- developing free public broadband internet;
- providing reparations to Black residents;
- changing police practices, policies, and training requirements;
- giving residents amnesty for water and sewer fees; and
- granting tax credit for residents who show proof of overassessed property taxes.
Ballotpedia has tracked eight other local ballot measures in 2021 concerning
- police oversight;
- the powers and structure of oversight commissions;
- police and incarceration practices;
- law enforcement department structure and administration;
- law enforcement budgets;
- law enforcement training requirements;
- law enforcement staffing requirements; and
- body and dashboard camera footage.
In 2020, Ballotpedia identified 20 police-related measures in 10 cities and four counties within seven states that appeared on local ballots. All 20 were approved.
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