Council candidates sound off about funded vacant jobs

City Pulse asked all 13 candidates who will appear on the August ballot — 10 at-large and three 4th Ward candidates — about the vacancy factor in Lansing’s budget.

Mayoral candidate Brett Brockschmidt has alleged the city government is intentionally leaving funded jobs vacant to reallocate $1.5 million elsewhere. Would the candidates approve a budget with the current vacancy factor?

Miles Biel, 36, at-large. Senior product manager, Consumers Energy. Former community programs coordinator for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy.

Miles Biel, Jonah Stone, Clara Martinez, Aurelius Christian and Julie Vandenboom (all at-large) all said they would scrutinize vacancies to ensure they were justified, but they stopped short of saying they would vote no.

“If the current vacancy factor doesn’t reflect our real staffing needs, I would push for adjustments so that every tax dollar is working as hard as possible,” Biel said.

Aurelius Christian, 27, at-large. Bachelor’s in advertising management, MSU. Development programs coordinator, Lansing Economic Development Corp. Board member, Allen Neighborhood Center.

Simon Verghese

Stone, a forensic scientist with the Michigan State Police, offered a plan for Lansing Police Department vacancies. He said vacant LPD positions could be transferred to non-enforcement crisis response teams, freeing the LPD up to focus on policing.

Martinez said she would evaluate “whether vacant positions reflect true staffing needs” before approving a budget and push for greater transparency around the vacancy factor.

Christian said there is “a need to clearly understand which positions have been held vacant, for how long, and the importance of each job function,” and that any decision should be carefully assessed to ensure effective resource allocation. He did not offer any criteria.

Vandenboom said she “would hesitate to approve a budget that treats vacancies as a slush fund,” She said she would want to see “a clear plan for filling those roles or reallocating the funds” and that positions that could not realistically be filled within the fiscal year should be budgeted accordingly.

Gloria Denning (at-large) said the inverse. She said that, if the city plans to hire someone, that money should be in the budget, lest the funds for filling a vacant position be drawn from elsewhere in the budget after a successful hire.

Tirstan Walters (at-large) joined current Councilmembers Jeremy Garza (at-large) and Peter Spadafore (4th Ward) in saying the primary issue was attracting qualified candidates. Walters said he understood the concern but redirected focus to ensuring the city has competitive wages and benefits, which he said would be more beneficial in the long-run than simply cutting the roles.

“I am very supportive of the budget that was passed by the City Council this year,” he said.

Garza said he had been vocal about the vacancies throughout his time on the Council, but he blamed difficulties in attracting qualified candidates for the continued vacancies.

“The city of Lansing is not alone in its difficulties in attracting qualified candidates for many roles,” he said. “That’s why I’ve also been a proponent for increasing the pay we offer so the city can attract and retain high-quality employees.”

Spadafore said positions should be eliminated if they are not intended to be filled, but that “when you look at the vacancy factor reports from HR, it’s not as simple as ‘funding vacant positions.’” He said it was realistic to expect some vacancies but that the city should ensure contracts are attractive to candidates.

Heath Lowry (4th Ward) said a budget “that maintains a high vacancy factor” would not get his support without two things: a clear justification for the role’s necessity and a credible plan to fill it. He added that some of the oldest vacancies may not be essential and should be reassessed.

Nick Pigeon (at-large) took it a step further, criticizing Schor and the City’s HR department for providing only “general answers” on why positions remain unfilled. He added that “only a handful” of positions have been posted online. He said he would not approve a budget with the current vacancy factor.

“We need to audit the city hiring process to find out why we can’t staff these positions before we throw more money at them,” Pigeon said.

Zacharie Spurlock (4th Ward) went a step beyond that, saying he would vote no on “a budget with a vacancy factor.”

“Does it make sense to fund vacant positions, some for over a decade, while your taxes and service prices go up constantly?” he asked.

Olivia Vaden, who is running at-large, did not return City Pulse’s questionnaire.