Most Lansing Charter Commission members support retaining a strong-mayor system

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 25 — Lansing appears to be on track to retain its strong-mayor system of government after a majority of the Charter Commission’s nine members indicated a preference to stick with the format last night.

Vice-Chair Lori Adams Simon and members Joan Bauer, Liz Boyd, Ben Dowd, Muhammad Qawwee and Jody Washington expressed support for a strong mayor.  In that system, voters elect the mayor to run the executive branch, appoint department heads and a few other posts, subject to Council approval, and maintain veto powers.

The alternative would be some form of city-manager model, in which Council selects a member as mayor who leads the Council, which hires a city manager and delegates responsibility to that person for operating the city.

Last October, before voters approved creating the review panel, Lansing Mayor Andy Schor identified a desire for a city manager system as a reason voters might support setting up a charter commission in the Nov. 5 election. It passed, 7,208 to 6,762  — the first time since the charter was created in 1978 that voters did not turn it down. By law, it must be on the ballot every 12 years.

Schor said the only citizens he knew clamoring for a city manager were the “regulars” who appeared during public comment at City Council meetings.

But Council member Ryan Kost said in October that some constituents in the First Ward, which he represents, would support forming the commission because “they don’t necessarily like this form of government.” 

Today, Kost said he was unsurprised by the members' views.

"Moving past that, they should focus on other Michigan cities that have retained a strong mayor but made changes in the last decade to place checks and balances" on the mayor, he said. 

At last night's meeting, only two people spoke during public comment, and neither addressed the form-of-government issue.

However, today, Jesse Lasorda,  a city manager advocate who ran unsuccessfully for the commission, said he watched last night’s meeting online and wasn’t shocked to see how it played out. 

“What's most irritating to me is that I knew what was coming,” he said.  “I'm still 100% all in for a city manager because what's occurring in our city is insanity.  We keep doing the same things, and we are continually to get the same results.”

Lasorda added that he believes “most” residents who voted to open up the charter last November hail from  southwest Lansing. 

“That group spoke out loudly, but you can also take a look at the Baker-Donora neighborhood or other neighborhoods on the northwest side. Nothing has changed in these neighborhoods, and many of those folks on the commission did nothing when they were in leadership or governmental positions to move the needle for them before,” he said. He expressed skepticism that substantial changes could be made without first adopting a city manager format.

Charter Commission Chair Brian Jeffries

Last night, Commission Chair Brian Jeffries steered clear of presenting his opinion, although he has previously supported retaining a strong mayor. This morning, he confirmed with City Pulse that he held off because he was trying to facilitate discussions.

Commissioner Jazmin Anderson also held off on taking a side. In a text with City Pulse this morning, she clarified her reasoning.

“At this time, I'm not strongly for or opposed to having a strong mayor. However, there are some real valid concerns that residents have about our current government structure, and I think that the root of those concerns seems to be lack of transparency and accountability as well as distribution of power,” Anderson explained. “To some, having a city manager solves those issues, but I don't think it's that cut and dry. If we keep a strong mayor form of government, we need to make sure that the root causes for concern are addressed in the details of the charter.”

Guillermo Lopez was the third and final member to avoid a firm stance. He asked the other members why they felt it wasn’t worth taking a closer look at other cities that are larger than Lansing with city-manager systems, like Grand Rapids.

His peers, including Washington, said they did their research and concluded that a strong mayor was better for the city.

Jody Washington discusses her preference for retaining a strong mayor.

“I prefer a strong mayor, because without that, there are no checks and balances,” Washington said. “I thought long and hard about what a lot of people have said regarding wanting a city manager, and it really boiled down to the fact that they don't like this mayor. I don't think we make decisions on the person in the seat, we make decisions on what's best for our city.”

Boyd agreed with Washington. For her, she said, it comes down to “accountability” to the people. She said that although she came into the process “with an open mind,” she’s come to prefer allowing residents to continue to elect their mayor.

Bauer said she also came into the process with an open mind. While she admitted that she had previously thought it may have been a benefit to move to a city manager, she added that she’s since arrived at a similar conclusion to that of Washington and Boyd.

“As I've talked to people in the community, I've said to them, ‘What do you think city manager and strong mayor?’ Almost all of them want the ability to vote their mayor in or out, and they're a little reticent about having the City Council hire a mayor,” Bauer said.

She cited former Mayor David Hollister, “one of the greatest mayors we've ever had,” as an example of what the city can accomplish with a prominent figure at the helm.

“He revitalized the city and kept General Motors, which was huge. He has said there is no way that we could have kept General Motors if we had not had a strong mayor form of government,” Bauer said.

She added that there are “a lot of other things I’d like to look at as part of the process that could make it a more effective governance model.”

Qawwee was on the same page.

“Just because you don't like someone doesn't mean that you should change the system. We have elections, and those are where people are held accountable. With a city manager, they pick that part of the chessboard,” he said.

Vice Chair Adams Simon echoed these takes.

“People want their voices to be heard, and I personally want to elect the CEO of the city of Lansing,” she said.

While Dowd also said he wanted to stick with a strong mayor, he noted that additional checks and balances, as well as a more detailed roadmap for what kind of relationship the mayor and City Council should have, may be needed.

Kristen Rewa, attorney with the Grand Rapids-based law firm Cummings, McClorey, Davis and Acho.

In other news, members welcomed their primary attorney, Kristen Rewa, from the Grand Rapids-based law firm Cummings, McClorey, Davis and Acho, to her first meeting. She gave a brief presentation to members prior to the strong-mayor discussion.

Rewa said her services were essentially available at their discretion. She could attend every meeting, or otherwise come at their request. She said they could opt to either consult her firm while they take on the primary duty of rewriting charter sections. If they preferred, she said, they could also decide to allow her firm to do more of the heavy lifting as far as the language is concerned.

“We can draft and present actual language, and you can slice and dice that language in an open meeting with the ability for people to watch, comment and give their input,” Rewa explained.

At the end of the meeting, Jeffries announced that several former Lansing leaders would be at the commission’s next regular meeting on Oct. 8 to weigh in. That list includes Mayor Andy Schor, Hollister, City Council President Jeremy Garza and former Council President Carol Wood.

“A lot of good questions were raised tonight, and these questions should be asked to these individuals to give us some direction as we move forward,” he said.

City Clerk Chris Swope also provided another budget update. Of the $500,000 allocated for the Commission, the body has spent $122,000 to date, with $378,000 remaining.