Welcome to the State of the City

‘The Lansing Show,’ with Mayor Andy Schor

[intro music (feat. AnnaMaria Horn)]

ANNOUNCER: Here’s your host tonight, Maaaayyyoooorrrr Aaaaannnndddy Schor!

ANDY: Thank you, thank you. Last year I said we’re changing up formats and doing this State of the City as a talk show. I was tired of being the talking head. So, this year I’ll be sitting.

[cymbal crash]

(CITY PULSE IS WRITING THIS SCRIPT. THERE WAS NO CYMBAL CRASH, BUT THIS IS PRETTY CLOSE TO WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED IN THE DART AUDITORIUM AT LANSING COMMUNITY COLLEGE ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2026 … IN FRONT OF A LIVE STUDIO-ISH AUDIENCE.)

ANDY: Tonight you will see and hear about economic development, roads, housing, human services, parks and ways we can all work together to ensure Lansing continues to grow and thrive.

[hold for applause]

ANDY: Please welcome my friends Zac Clark, general manager of the Lansing Lugnuts, and Big Lug!

CLARK: We’re here for our 30th anniversary. LAFCU fireworks. Coors Light thirsty Thursdays. Capital City Market kids’ days. We’re expanding on the Locos (Lugnuts alias) this year, and the Olive Burgers (another one).

ANDY: Only here.

CLARK: “Harry Potter.” “Star Wars.” Barbie. “Peanuts.” The list goes on and on. Let’s go nuts!

[applause]

MASCOT BIG LUG WALKS OUT, THROWS THINGS AT PEOPLE, WALKS BACKSTAGE.

[more applause]

ANDY: Next up are the three people who lead housing programs for Lansing: Kris Klein, president of Lansing Economic Development Corp.; Julie Pingston, president and CEO of Choose Lansing; and Rawley Van Fossen, the city’s director of economic development and planning.

VAN FOSSEN: Thank you, Mr. Letterman.

ANDY: This is unscripted.

VAN FOSSEN: On the preservation side, we take existing houses, anywhere from historic mansions to everyday homes, and ensure they can survive another 100 years. We’ve put $900,000 of federal money toward that. We have new housing projects galore, with more than 1,000 units in production or in the pipeline, including New Vision’s skyscraper downtown.

ANDY: It’s not just housing, we also expect Lansing to be the best place in the world. Let’s hear from Julie Pingston.

PINGSTON: I’m an anomaly on stage tonight. I am not a city of Lansing-affiliated employee. I do market and promote the city through Choose Lansing. We hide tourists well, but we have 6.7 million visitors come to this community. It might be an Ohio soccer team that you thought was from Haslett. That’s $750 million in visitors a year.

KLEIN: We had a battery cell plant announcement with Tesla this week. We’ve had over 2,000 housing units since 2018 and more on the way.

COMMERCIAL BREAK: Lansing Economic Development Partnership’s SEED Academy for emerging developers.

ANDY: Last year, I was standing during this speech instead of sitting, and I put landlords on notice.

VAN FOSSEN: There are good developers here tonight — wave hello! We’ve taken action to ensure others are accountable. Autumn Ridge is now Evergreen Park and under new ownership. Sycamore  Townhomes is under new ownership. If you’re looking to be a developer in the future, you’re playing by our rules.

COMMERCIAL BREAK: Video of people dancing all over Lansing. Bass solo. More dancing. Cute kid in a dino costume.

ANDY: So, you can see we had a lot of fun last summer, and this year, we’re going to reopen the historic Moores Park Pool and celebrate 100 years of Groesbeck Golf Course. Residents expect good services — one of the areas I hear the most about is roads. Anyone surprised?

ANDY: Welcome Andy Kilpatrick, the city’s public service director, and Nicole McPherson, city engineer

ANDY: Everyone who drove here wants to know about potholes.

KILPATRICK: We’re the real fun department. March and April are peak months for potholes. Here are my top 10 ways to report potholes: Call 311 during the business day. They put it in for you; if you want to DIY, download Lansing Connect on your phone; use the city website and type in “report an issue”; and the 24/7 operations number is (517) 483-4161. MDOT and freeways are not us. NOT US. Report it to them. That’s not 10, but it’s a lot of ways to report a pothole.

MCPHERSON: Expect more neighborhood roads to get fixed soon.

ANDY: Neighborhood roads have been neglected. We haven’t had the money. We have $300 million in need; we’ll get a few million more in the new state budget this year.

KILPATRICK: Most of this will go toward neighborhood streets because our main streets already have plans. Maybe another 9 miles of roads may get funding. You’ll see more as that funding ramps up.

ANDY: The legislature ratcheted that up little by little. Good news for once on roads.

ANDY: My next guests provide basic service needs. Welcome Delvata Moses, interim director of the city’s Human Relations and Community Services Department, and Daphine Whitfield, contract manager.

MOSES: We gave out $1.6 million to assist agencies. We recently collected 900 coats in a coat drive, helped 350 people and gave out lunches, too. Thanks to everyone who helped!

ANDY: We started work on the Mod Pods last year. We call it the NOVA project now.

MOSES: When council passed this, it was packed in the room. That began the adventure we’ve been on since last year, with two goals: one, create a robust transitional housing program; two, we don’t care if you’re yelling at us. We want to listen to what you’re asking for, so we want this to be planned by the community.

COMMERCIAL BREAK VIDEO: Police Chief Rob Backus saying there have been reductions in fatal and non-fatal shootings and that there is one open homicide case currently with prosecutors. Our summer safety plan, starting last summer, began with gun locks, and we’ll do that again this year.

ANDY: Welcome our newly appointed Fire Chief, Carrie Edwards-Clemons!

EDWARDS-CLEMONS: We have a kids’ car seat program, CPR program, AED program, Safe Sleep program, and we have all these things going on for the community for free. Not only do we respond to fires and EMS, but we respond to community needs as well.

COMMERCIAL BREAK VIDEO: “The Office” spoof with ANDY as a Michael Scott-like boss of the city’s 311 phone line, which routes calls about just about anything.

[applause]

ANDY: I could talk about more. No talk show would be complete without the host telling you to check under your chairs for a special gift. Just kidding, we didn’t do that. But, as Oprah likes to say, “You get a car! You get a car!”

ANDY THROWS CAR-SHAPED STRESS BALLS OUT INTO THE CROWD. AS FAR AS HE CAN.

ANDY: We told our special guests yesterday that they were doing this today. The state of our city is strong. Lansing’s time is now. Thank you for watching the first, and probably the last, “Lansing Show.”