The incoming Lansing City Council is half Latino, half educators

Mayor Andy Schor is staking much of his third term on Lansing’s future growth as two new council members take office.

At a Jan. 1 inauguration ceremony at Impression 5 Science Center, the mayor touted $4 billion in investment in the city in his previous eight years – “and I actually looked that up.”

 “You see it when the skyline changes; you see it when there are cranes in the air,” he said, along with a pledge to work aggressively on housing and jobs.

There are two new council members this year: Clara Martinez and Deyanira Nevarez Martinez.

Both were sworn in at the privately funded ceremony.

Also taking the oaths at the ceremony were Jeremy Garza and Peter Spadafore, both of whom were sitting council members who shifted wards. Garza moved from a Ward 2 seat to an at-large seat. Spadafore moved from an at-large seat to the Ward 4 seat. City Clerk Chris Swope also renewed his oath.

 

Half Latino and half educators

With the addition of the two new members, Lansing is now the first city council in Michigan to have a majority of Latino representation, according to Cafecity Caliente, a mid-Michigan Hispanic and Latino-focused news publication. Also at the ceremony was sitting council member Trini Pehlivanoglu, who is the fourth Latino member, along with Garza, Martinez and Nevarez Martinez.

Pehlivanoglu said she’s excited for the different dynamics of a new council.

A different half of the eight council members are members of the Michigan Education Association.

Martinez and Adam Hussain are high school teachers at Everett and Waverly schools. At least a dozen of Martinez’s students attended the ceremony, surrounding her on the small stage when she took her oath.

Spadafore is executive director of the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity. Nevarez Martinez is an assistant professor of urban planning at Michigan State University.

The Lansing City Council does not oversee the Lansing School District, which has a separate board. Nevarez Martinez left the school board for the city council seat and the school board is looking to replace her.

What’s next

Garza, now an at-large member, said he still plans to advocate for a Ward 2 community center.

“We have a good new freshman class coming in; I think they’re hungry, they’re community to the city and they showed it during the campaign and I’m excited to work with them,” Garza said.

Garza said he’s happy to work with the mayor for another four years and see the city transform.

Spadafore said it’s a diverse council that reflects the city.

“It’s a big year for the city, a lot of momentum to keep up with,” he said, with housing and homelessness expected to be at the forefront.

Schor said he’s excited to work with the new council members.

Nevarez Martinez said she wants to dive right into issues of homelessness, turning her expertise into practical solutions.

Martinez told City Pulse that she’s excited to see a variety of voices on council and plans to use her students, and the thought of their futures, to ground herself while giving youth a larger voice.

She stopped herself, mid-sentence, to talk to one of her passing students and then picked up the conversation.

Jumping back in like an experienced dance instructor who barely missed a beat, Martinez said, “How is this going to affect them five, 10, 25 years from now.”

– By Mike Ellis