Members of Cudell Improvement and Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization vote on merger

(Plain Press, May 2021)    Members of Cudell Improvement and Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization received a packet of information about the proposed merger of the two community development corporations. Members were asked to cast a ballot either for or against the merger during the voting period from April 19 thru April 30, 2021 at 4 p.m.

   The two organizations have been sharing staff and working together since entering into a shared services agreement in 2018.

   If the merger is approved, the new organization will serve the area from W. 45^th to W. 117^th and from Lake Erie to I-90.  The territory will be divided into five sectors and each sector will have three representatives elected by members to serve on the new board of directors.  In addition to the fifteen residential representatives, there will be five commercial or industrial members elected to the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors can also appoint up to five additional members. In all there will be 20 to 25 members on the Board of Directors.

   The merger documents call for a phase in of the new board, with the initial Board of Directors being made up of the 35 members of the combined boards of the two organizations.

   The merger plan calls for members to submit ideas for a new name of the organization. Residents and representatives of institutions and commercial entities lying within the service area boundaries will be eligible for membership if they pay annual dues to the organization. The dues described in the merger document are: Residential, $5.00; Institutional, $15.00; and Commercial, $50.00.

   If approved by the membership, plans call for the merger to be effective as of July1, 2021.