Panel splits 6-3 for ending Lansing City Charter ballot requirement every 12 years

WEDNESDAY, Dec. 18—Since 1987, Lansing voters have had the option to establish a charter commission at the ballot box every 12 years.

They never did so until November 2023, when 449 voters tipped the scales to elect a nine-member body to revisit and modernize the city's foundational document.

Last night, commissioners voted to recommend doing away with the very provision that led to their election last May.

Lansing is among just five Michigan municipalities with the 12-year policy, said City Clerk Chris Swope, based on conversations with the Michigan Municipal League.  

Commissioners voted 6-3 to eliminate the requirement. Instead, they favored allowing the City Council to place the question on the ballot by majority vote. Voters could also implement the process via an initiative petition.

Last night's decision was the second primary recommendation the commission has approved. The other was to urge sticking with the strong mayor system rather than a city manager form.

Those and any other changes it adopts must first be approved by the governor, who would then decide whether to allow them on the ballot in Lansing.

Commissioners also decided that residents should have to vote on commissioners in the same election.

Members Jazmin Anderson, Ben Dowd and Jody Washington voted against the change.

Dowd backed removing the 12-year time frame but disagreed with the language proposed by attorneys from the Grand Rapids-based law firm Cummings, McClorey, Davis and Acho, which was what was adopted.

It says: "The question of whether there shall be a general revision of the city charter may be submitted to the voters in the manner provided by law."

Dowd said the language needed to explain the process so that a revised charter states the charter commission question can be placed on the ballot via a City Council vote or otherwise established through a citizen-led petition.

"Who's going to go in and search the law?" Dowd said. "When we're talking about trying to be transparent and how folks can do things with this charter, I feel that just by putting in 'by law' puts a barrier for someone to figure out."

Though Anderson voted against removing the 12-year policy, she acknowledged the merits of allowing residents to choose the commissioners on the same ballot.

"Doing it that way makes voters more aware that it's on the ballot and what it is because you have people who are actively running who are advocating for that at the same time," she said.

Washington had advocated earlier for putting the charter commission on the ballot sooner than 12 years. After voting against nixing the 12-year rule, she added that she was skeptical that a ballot initiative was realistic.

"A ballot initiative would never happen. That's too much work," she said.

Vice Chair Lori Adams Simon voted for the change, noting that "every 12 years is a long time."

"Clerk Swope stated that you can amend the charter anytime," she said. "So, you don't need a time frame. And I'm not in favor of the process because I thought this election was very costly for the city, and I'm not in favor of doing that again."

Commissioner Liz Boyd was also in favor.

"I support electing commissioners at the time the question is put before voters. I don't like the 12 years. I would rather go to 16 years, which would correspond to what we do at the state level for the state Constitution," she said.

One of the commissioner's attorneys, Matt Cross, said the change was legal and viable.

"I think you guys encapsulated everything I would have to say. We could really nix this section altogether, and you still have avenues to revise the charter under the Home Rule Cities Act," he said.

In other business, Swope also reported on the budget. So far, including election costs, the commission has spent $143,600 and has $356,400 left in funds out of the $500,000 the city has allocated.

Its next meeting is scheduled for Jan. 7.