Three City Council seats up for grabs in East Lansing

(This story has been updated to correctly reflect that Ron Bacon and Dana Waston are the second and third African Americans to serve on the East Lansing City Council, and to  identify Chuck Grigsby as a challenger for one of two at-large seats on the Council.)

Architect Daniel Bollman, 56; lawyer and former East Lansing School Board member George Brookover, 71; Adam DeLay, 33, a department analyst at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services; and Chuck Grigsby, 49, CEO of Primetime Mentoring & Tutoring Educational Services, are running alongside appointed Council member Dana Watson, 44, a public health official, for two four-year terms on the Council this November. The top two will win.

Two candidates are also competing to fill a partial term on the Council. Ron Bacon, 47, a manager at Genentech, is looking to stay on Council for another two years. Mikey Manuel, 29, who works at the family-owned Blondie’s Barn restaurant in Haslett, is hoping voters will put him on the Council instead. 

The election is the culmination of a tumultuous few years on the East Lansing City Council, especially in 2020, when an August rift on the dias led longtime Council members Mark Meadows and Ruth Beier to resign.

That battle was over retaining former City Attorney Thomas Yeadon. The remaining members selected Bacon and Watson to serve out those terms — making them the second and third African Americans to serve on the East Lansing City Council. This year, Aaron Stephens also resigned from the Council to attend graduate school. His seat and Beier’s would have been up for election this November, while Meadow’s seat still had three years left when he resigned, leaving a partial, two-year term, up for grabs. This year’s election will decide how they’re filled.

Watson said that as a working mother and former renter, she brings a unique voice that emphasizes “voices that should be heard.” She also said that she will focus on encouraging growth and lessening harms of the decisions made by the legislative body in the city. Among her other priorities: She’ll focus on the environment, housing and public safety concerns, she said.

For Grigsby, a former professional basketball player, he’s looking for a spot on the Council to help drive “solutions” for East Lansing. He sees the city poised to become a national leader on “several policy initiatives” while also harnessing the power of the Michigan State University community. He said that if he is retained on Council, he will seek to address the pension-legacy issues in the city — which will include a permanent income tax for residents. He also wants to prioritize transparency and accountability in government decision-making and emphasized plans to continue focusing on initiatives that improve the environment and public health of the city.

Bollman, the architect, wants to use his experience serving on various committees in the city to harness a stronger partnership with MSU, empowering and valuing city employees and prioritizing equity and diversity in zoning and budgeting priorities. He has over a decade in municipal experience, including various roles for historic preservation in Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor and East Lansing. Bollman is the former author of City Pulse’s “eye” feature.

For Adam DeLay, a former Lansing Township trustee, election to the Council is a step in pushing for “great change.” He said the confluence of issues from the Trump administration and racial reckonings to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis has put the nation at a “crossroads” for change. He said he’d focus on police reforms, including reinvesting 25% of the budget into community support services to address poverty and mental health. He also said that he wants to bolster transparency at City Hall and help with post-pandemic economic recovery.

George Brookover, an attorney well known in political circles and a  former East Lansing Public Schools board member, is hoping to use his experience to “assist the city in navigating current issues which it confronts.”

All five candidates responded to a questionnaire that sought their opinions on the recent decision to implement a citizen oversight committee for local cops. It also asked their thoughts about the Council’s decision not to sign a controversial letter coordinated by former East Lansing police officer and current Ingham County Sheriff Scott Wrigglesworth that criticized Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon’s decision to stop charging add-on criminal charges for felony possession of a firearm during a felony — except in the most extreme circumstances.

Siemon’s decision was based on evidence from her officer that showed a racial disparity in its application within the county. Wrigglesworth said the prosecution of that crime bolsters safety. Still, East Lansing Mayor Jessy Gregg was among only two local leaders not to sign it.

DeLay said he supported Siemon’s decision, citing her statistical information. He said he didn’t “buy” Wrigglesworth’s claims. Watson, who also declined to support the Wrigglesworth action, said she could not “sign-on to perpetuate racial injustice.” Grigsby, who also opposed the Wrigglesworth letter, said that when data shows a disproportionate impact on any group of people because of a policy, it’s “easy to amend, change or get rid of it.” Bollman said he supported Siemon’s policy decision because she provided data to back up her claims, which Wrigglesworth had not. He also indicated he was uncomfortable supporting infighting between countywide elected officials, preferring to allow voters to make that decision at the ballot.

Brookover thinks everyone should stay in their own lane. He doesn’t agree with either Wrigglesworth or Siemon, noting that both of their actions were “unnecessary and counterproductive,” citing their independent authorities to investigate and charge crimes.

All five candidates supported the Police Oversight Committee that was adopted last year.

Grigsby chaired the commission that recommended the adoption and creation of the oversight committee, and Watson said “dismantling systems is hard work,” emphasizing the community engagement in the city’s process. Brookover cautioned that the committee also had to align with collective bargaining agreements as well as city insurance policies, but also supported the idea.

East Lansing residents will also have to choose between Bacon and Manuel to complete a two-year term left vacant when Meadows resigned.

Bacon said he will continue to focus on modernizing the city operations by reducing and eliminating codes that hamper growth. He also wants to see more affordable housing in the city, more regional cooperation and ways to address the city’s growing pension obligations.

Manuel said he is seeking election to do his part for the community. He said he will work on reducing the cost of government by cutting spending and increasing and supporting diversity in the city — particularly through encouraging small businesses to hire people of color — and by addressing the ongoing financial issues tied to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

As with the candidates for the two four-year seats, City Pulse asked both Manuel and Bacon about the controversy between Wrigglesworth and Siemon, as well as their thoughts on a citizen oversight committee for the police. 

Bacon served as a liaison between the committee that recommended the oversight committee and the Council. He is “proud” of the work. Manuel said he too supported the committee, so long as it did not devolve into a broad anti-police mentality.

The battle between the two top countywide law enforcement officers over guns and criminal charges, however, resulted in nuanced responses. Bacon voted to not sign the Wrigglesworth letter because he opposed a public rebuke of another elected official, but he said Siemon’s policy roll out was poorly handled. He acknowledged that both officials had significant concerns to address related to both stopping gun violence and punishing it, and that addressing gun violence is a nuanced conversation.

Manuel, for his part, said both elected officials are right and both are wrong. He said he can see the justifications from both officials and believes it is inappropriate to make the debate a binary option, when there are numerous layers to addressing gun violence.

Support City Pulse  -  Donate Today!