City Commission Notebook from Monday

- City Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution Monday joining with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe in denouncing remarks made by longtime Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson in a recent New Yorker article titled "Down with Detroit."

"I made a prediction a long time ago, and it’s come to pass," Patterson is quoted as saying in the controversial article. "I said, ‘What we’re going to do is turn Detroit into an Indian reservation, where we herd all the Indians into the city, build a fence around it, and then throw in the blankets and corn.'"

Commission members said it "supports the Tribe in their seeking of a public apology."

- Commissioners were briefed on the impact of the state's new personal property tax exemption, which gives a tax break to business owners with a total cash value of less than $80,000 within a jurisdiction. In this case, if the total cash value of one's personal property, including what one owns, leases or possesses, totals to less than $80,000, one qualifies for the exemption. The city expects to lose about $160,000 in tax revenue from the measure, which is up for a statewide vote in August.

- The commission agreed to set a public hearing on Feb. 10 regarding the approval of a redevelopment liquor license at 200 E. Broadway St., where a new restaurant is slated for development on the first floor. Apartments will be opened on the second and third floors.

- Commissioner Jon Joslin was absent from the meeting, as he was in Texas for business.