Residents have been pushing for months for the city to move faster and do more to fully implement the right to counsel ordinance, which was originally approved last spring.

“It just doesn’t seem to be a high priority,” said Tonya Myers Phillips, an attorney and project leader for the Detroit Right to Counsel Coalition. “It’s certainly taking a long time to see the city carry out what they said they were going to do.”

One basic thing, Tonya Myers Phillips said, would be to open up a hotline.

“I would think that’s the minimum of what you should do,” she said, noting that the right to counsel ordinance called not just for hiring attorneys, but for the creation of the Office of Eviction Defense. “Just like any other office in government, there should be a phone number people can call and receive help and be connected to resources.” … Michigan Public Radio