Wayne County Executive holds State of the County community updates

Warren Evans says forum allows people to be more engaged, ask questions

WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. – Wayne County Executive Warren Evans is flipping the script when it comes to informing his residents on the state of their county.

Instead of just holding the traditional State of the County address, Evans is taking his message straight to the community and taking questions from the people who live there.

The county exec said the forum allows for people to be more engaged and to ask questions.

"My job is to work with them. It's not my job to replace them," Evans said.

In his first of four State of the County community updates, Evans spoke candidly to a packed house of concerned Wayne County residents. He talked about some of the challenges facing the county, including blight, the budget and solutions on moving forward -- making his main goal clear.

"We want to maintain our services. We may not enhance them for a while, but let's maintain quality services and let's reduce the deficit and show folks that we can get into trouble, but we can also get out," said Evans.

He took several questions from the community, including one about the failed jail project on Gratiot Avenue and St. Aubin Street.

Evans said the message in each of the community updates will be the same, and he plans to continue having more updates as needed.

"As we get down a few more months and a few more things occur that are signifiant, we'll schedule another set," Evans said. "I want people to be able to follow the pattern that we're about to go and I want to know what they're thinking about."

Three more meetings are also planned:

Thursday, April 16 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Wayne County Community College District - Downriver Campus
21000 Northline Road, Taylor
Ray Mix Room East 126
Districts covered: Southwest Detroit; Lincoln Park; Melvindale; Allen Park; Dearborn; Brownstown Twp.; Flat Rock; Rockwood; Woodhaven; Taylor; Ecorse; Gibraltar; Grosse Ile Twp.; River Rouge; Riverview; Southgate; Trenton; and Wyandotte

Tuesday, April 21 at 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Wayne County Community College District - Northwest Campus
8200 W. Outer Drive, Detroit
Denise Wellons-Glover Welcome Center - Atrium
Districts covered: Areas of Detroit covered in districts 5, 6, and 7

Thursday, April 23 at 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Wayne County Community College District - Western Campus
9555 Haggerty Road, Belleville
Ted C. Scott Multi-Purpose Room
Districts Covered: Redford Twp.; Dearborn Heights; Livonia; Northville; Northville Twp.; Plymouth; Plymouth Twp.; Canton Twp.; Belleville; Wayne; Sumpter Twp.; Huron Twp.; Van Buren Twp.; Romulus; Westland; Inkster; and Garden City


About the Author:

You can watch Kimberly Gill weekdays anchoring Local 4 News at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. and streaming live at 10 p.m. on Local 4+. She's an award-winning journalist who finally called Detroit home in 2014. Kim has won Regional Emmy Awards, and was part of the team that won the National Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast in 2022.