Gabriela Santiago‑Romero is leading efforts to make Detroit neighborhoods safer for all through community-based solutions:

• Ensure the creation of a Violence Prevention and Community Care Office that researches community-based approaches to reducing gun violence, including intervention and disruption programs that engage respected and trusted community members and creates evidence based programs that create care for our residents.

• Strengthen the partnership of local businesses, community organizations, and leaders to gather insight for future infrastructure opportunities and needs.

• Support our residents in their times of need with reliable communication and followup to everyday quality of life issues.

Gabriela Santiago-Romero is fighting to ensure that housing is accessible and affordable for all Detroiters

• Lower housing costs; from incentivizing new housing being built, providing support for affordable housing, and revitalizing vacant properties.
  

• Expand zoning laws to include duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes which can lower housing costs and allow residents to rent the extra property.

• Advocate for and assist residents in case of evictions and foreclosures.

• Support expansion of renters rights in the city.

Gabriela Santiago‑Romero is committed to empowering Detroit’s workforce:

• Support for local union based infrastructure projects.

• Stand alongside workers in their fight for fair wages, benefits, and safe working conditions by amplifying workers’ voices and standing with them at the picket line.

• Recruit and grow union membership by partnering with local unions and hosting events.

• Advocate for the repeal of anti‑union state laws such as Michigan’s Death Star Law, which prevents local governments from setting labor standards in their respective cities and municipalities.

Gabriela Santiago‑Romero is focused on holding polluters accountable and creating lasting change for Detroit communities affected by harmful pollution

• Take the effects of climate change seriously and implement more energy efficient initiatives like community-centered solar energy development.

• Use community-driven solutions to address environmental harms; like collecting residents’ input for the 2024 Southwest Detroit Truck Route Implementation Study that will be used to re-route trucks driving through residential neighborhoods.

• Advocate for investment in public health like annual pollution-health studies to enforce air-quality protections.

• Cultivate green infrastructure: consistently support community engagement around green space, tree-canopy expansion, and climate-resilient neighborhood design.

Gabriela Santiago‑Romero firmly believes that the rights of all Detroiters, regardless of immigration status, language, or background, are protected and upheld:

• Protect immigrant rights by ensuring residents are informed and supported in both city capacity and through mutual aid.

• Limit local police assistance with ICE and Border Control.

• Remove bureaucratic barriers for undocumented, unhoused, and marginalized residents so all Detroiters have access to the city services they are entitled to.

• Prioritize policies that protect women, LGBTQ+ individuals, immigrants, people of color and any group who face structural barriers to accessing rights.

• Gabriela added $3 million to the 2025 budget to grow the Community Violence Intervention program, which has proven to be successful in preventing crime and violence.

• Gabriela has taken proactive steps to reduce neighborhood blight by authorizing emergency demolitions of hazardous residential and commercial properties.

• To enhance infrastructure safety, she spearheaded the proposal for a Fort Street “road diet” study, urging the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to examine redesigning this dangerous six-lane corridor into a pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly thoroughfare to curb speeding and traffic collisions in 48217.

• Gabriela prioritized housing needs by redirecting ARPA dollars towards assisting Detroiters facing eviction, launching home repair grants, and developing affordable housing through the Detroit Housing Services Office.

• In early 2025, Santiago‑Romero supported the HUD “PRO Housing Grant” totaling approximately $4.3 million to address affordable housing production and preservation.

• Gabriela co-sponsored a budget initiative to add $2 million to address home repair and revitalization.

• On City Council, she supported passage of an Industry Standards Board covering employees at Little Caesars Arena, Ford Field, and Comerica Park; to set benchmarks for pay, health, and safety for stadium laborers. 

• In 2023, she joined workers and labor organizations at the picket line to support fair wages and contracts for Detroit workers and union members. 

• Gabriela also passed an ordinance to combat fugitive dust pollution near industrial sites, helping to safeguard workers exposed to airborne hazards in facilities like scrapyards and concrete plants. 

• Unions she has been endorsed by include: Metro Detroit AFL-CIO, SEIU Michigan, IBEW Local 58, Teamsters Local 283, UNITE HERE! Local 24, Pipefitters 636, and Michigan Construction Building and Trades Council.

• Gabriela has advocated for polluters to be held accountable for harmful emissions both before she was elected, and now in office. She successfully passed a Fugitive Dust Ordinance in 2024, requiring industrial facilities such as scrap yards and concrete plants to submit dust-control plans, monitor particulates, and face penalties for violations. 

• High rates of truck traffic, especially from semi-trucks, contribute to the poor air quality and negative health effects for residents in Southwest Detroit. Gabriela has championed a comprehensive truck‑route ordinance to keep diesel emissions and idling vehicles out of residential areas. 

• To implement long-term solutions and be proactive in protecting Detroit residents, Gabriela advocates for annual health impact studies in neighborhoods near industry to track pollution and its effects.

• Gabriela has stood with immigrant communities, offering “know-your-rights” training with over 100 attendees advising residents on interactions with ICE.

• Gabriela championed policy to limit local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, emphasizing that Detroit police should not ask about immigration status.

• She supported the restart of Detroit’s municipal ID program in 2024, making photo IDs available to all residents, including those experiencing homelessness or without documentation, so they can access banking, utilities, city services, and more.

• In 2025, she passed a language ordinance requiring that city communications, services, and public materials be accessible in the languages most commonly spoken across Detroit.