A month on the job

Lansing’s newest council members talk priorities, approaches

Deyanira Nevarez Martinez

2nd Ward Council Member |

deyanira.n.martinez@lansingmi.gov

After just a few weeks on Lansing City Council, 2nd Ward Council Member Deyanira Nevarez Martinez has already started working with colleagues, housing advocates, landlords and developers to get the ball rolling on building more housing.

It’s the issue that led her to run, and the one she said will measure her success.

“I will make sure that we build more housing, at every level of affordability,” she said.

As an assistant professor in Urban & Regional Planning at Michigan State University, Nevarez Martinez knows that’s no easy task. But after a decade of researching homelessness, she said it’s the only solution that works.

“Housing is the only solution to homelessness,” she said, “and the problem we have is that we don’t have any housing for folks.”

Nevarez Martinez takes over as 2nd Ward representative from Jeremy Garza, who won an at-large seat this year. She said her ward is in “desperate need” of more housing, with a lot of vacant houses and commercial corridors. She said she has been having conversations with the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce to “figure out how to better use that space.”

Another priority for Nevarez Martinez is getting a community center. The 2nd Ward is the only ward, out of four, without one.

“Without a community center, it’s hard to get folks to a place that everyone knows,” she said. “They really serve as an anchor.”

She said she hopes to find a space that also has space for a public library, something else the ward lacks.

Nevarez Martinez said she had a “very good working relationship” with Garza; they talk about the 2nd Ward regularly. She said wants to take a more “hands-on,” approach and her first constituent meeting will be Thursday at 6 p.m., at the new city elections office. It will feature people involved with the Deep Green data center proposal as well as the ModPods.

She also said Garza had coordinated much of his outreach with 3rd Ward Council Member Adam Hussain, and that she intends to continue working with Hussain while also going solo more often.

But Nevarez Martinez is cautious of biting off more than she can chew. She wants to stick to what she knows, and her ultimate goal is to get new housing options. That means playing the role of a connector, getting people with the power to build housing or rehabilitate vacant housing in contact with the city. It means getting the city working more with other municipalities across mid-Michigan.

It also means not putting the cart before the horse. Nevarez Martinez said she was concerned about the city’s plans to build a transitional housing community out of 50 ModPod housing units, because “we don’t have anywhere to transition folks to.”

While her focus is on housing stability, affordability and access, Nevarez Martinez encouraged 2nd Ward residents to not to be a stranger.

“Sometimes we only hear from a small subset of folks, because others are really busy, they have jobs that preclude them from coming to City Council meetings, or they don’t have access to certain things,” she said. “But I’m always available to have a conversation.”

 

 

Clara Martinez

At-large Council Member |

clara.martinez@lansingmi.gov

At 34, Clara Martinez is the youngest member of Lansing City Council, but her goals go back decades.

“In the ‘90s, there were more opportunities for the youth to participate in activities at City Hall, as well as parents,” she said. “So I’m excited to bring a youth voice — not my voice — but inviting youthful voices to city hall and municipal issues.

Inspired by fellow teacher, personal mentor figure and former mayor David Hollister, Martinez’ focus as an at-large City Council Member will be on getting more people involved in municipal government.

“I think Hollister had an interesting take on municipal governance in the sense that he saw it as a place to connect with families,” she said, “and that’s what was guiding me through my campaign and will definitely be my North Star in office.”

Only a month into her time on Council – and already facing issues such as a housing shortage, a controversial data center proposal and access to warming centers – Martinez said she is keeping her students in mind when making decisions.

“Any decision I make, I’m going to ask the question, ‘How is this going to affect the next generation five, 10, 20, 30 years from now?” she said.

Martinez said she’s “not much of a policy wonk.” She doesn’t have a laundry list of ordinances that she can’t wait to introduce. She’s more interested in community engagement and gathering ideas from people whose voices aren’t being heard yet.

“Folks that are not traditionally at the table are often forgotten about, and I always think about community outreach not in the sense of ‘who have I talked to?’ but the question of, “Who have I not talked to? Who have I not heard from?” she said.

Asked what result would make her feel successful at the end of her current term, she said she wants to implement what she said was Hollister’s guiding light: bringing the most good to the most people, with a variety of engaged and empowered voices at the table.

“If I know that more of those people are engaged in city government and part of the decision-making process when I leave, then I will have done my job,” she said. “So we’re not operating in a silo where the folks that partake in daily life within this institution over here are separate from the decision makers that are part of this institution.”

As one of four at-large council members, Martinez said constituents reaching out about an issue should reach out to whoever they feel most comfortable with, be it their ward member or one of the at-large members.

“This council is a pretty broad collective, and you can’t really go wrong,” she said. “And I think that we work collaboratively enough.

“I would say people should reach out to who they feel most comfortable talking to. If they want to give the new person a shot, I’d be happy to do my best to try and serve them.”

— By Leo V. Kaplan