Spadafore appointed Council president
A familiar hand has taken back the gavel in Lansing’s city council.
Peter Spadafore, who has served on the council since 2017 and was president in 2020, was elected City Council President in a …
A familiar hand has taken back the gavel in Lansing’s city council.
Peter Spadafore, who has served on the council since 2017 and was president in 2020, was elected City Council President in a 6-2 vote last night.
There was an air of certainty when at-large councilmember Trini Pehlivanoglu nominated Spadafore, an ally of Mayor Andy Schor.
Despite support from all four of the residents who spoke during public comment period as well as Adam Hussain, the 3rd Ward council member, previous president Ryan Kost only received two council votes.
Spadafore nominated Pehlivonuglu, who was unanimously approved as vice president.
Spadafore’s leadership will likely take the council in a different direction from Kost. Spadafore is an ally of Mayor Andy Schor and less of a firebrand than Kost, who is known for his accessibility and boots-on-the-ground approach and also frequently dissents from the majority.
Kost and Hussain were the only councilmembers not present at a privately-paid-for city inauguration ceremony last week.
Spadafore’s leadership style was already apparent at the first meeting of the year.
A group of Lansing Homeless Union members mostly arrived too late to sign up for public comment at the meeting, which was unusually short at 42 minutes long. One person who spoke got into a tense back-and-forth conversation with Spadafore with issues including the speaker’s use of profanity and the inability of others to speak on the record.
When some of those people rushed to the front of the room, hoping to speak, Spadafore contended that the meeting could not legally be restarted.
Khadja Erickson, executive director of the Mid-Michigan Tenant Resource Center, came alongside the homeless union members. She called the back-and-forth “petty” and said it would not have happened under Kost’s leadership.
She also said it was “highly unlikely,” from her experience speaking during public comment at council meetings, that Kost would have prevented the advocates from speaking.
– By Leo V. Kaplan
