Challenges, controversies await new Lansing City Council

LANSING – After doors are knocked on, hands shaken, promises made, funds raised and votes tallied, Lansing’s new-look City Council won’t have any time to waste.

The city faces a slew of financial challenges including a projected $600 million in unfunded health care and pension liabilities and intense debate about a potential Board of Water & Light sale. There’s growing frustration in neighborhoods, where some accuse the city of neglect. And there’s another squabble with Lansing Township over development plans, unsettling those who urge regional cooperation.

Former mayor David Hollister has pointed words for those who earn their way to City Hall: “They’re in for the shock of their lives.” There will be at least one new council member sworn in next year, more if an incumbent loses. Newcomers the will learn quickly that getting things done is rarely easy, Hollister said.

Tuesday’s primary will trim the field for the Nov. 3 general election. Four of five at-large candidates will advance, as will two of three candidates in the 3rd Ward. There is no 1st Ward primary. The at-large candidates are incumbent Carol Wood, Patricia Spitzley, Emily Dievendorf, Harold Leeman Jr. and Mary Ann Prince. Adam Hussain and Ryan Earl will challenge incumbent A’Lynne Boles in the 3rd Ward. Successful primary candidates will join incumbent Jody Washington and Shelley Davis Mielock, 1st Ward candidates, on the November ballot.

“It’s going to be a challenging time,” Hollister said. “I call for people to act on their best behavior, be an adult and get into a problem solving mode — not a name-calling mode.”

Hollister is chair of Lansing’s 18-member Financial Health Team, which has been studying the city’s fiscal challenges for more than two years. The group will hold its next quarterly meeting, open to the public, at 7:30 a.m. Oct. 22 at the R.E. Olds Museum. They likely will review details of a report expected to be released in September that Hollister said will rank Lansing among the worst Michigan cities with long-term, underfunded pension and health care liabilities.

Financial challenges

There’s a chance that research from Michigan State University and University of Michigan will rank the Capital City as the worst, he said, now that Detroit’s bankruptcy is settled. And of the six non-incumbent candidates running for City Council, Hollister said that as of last week, only one — Spitzley — has met with him to discuss the Financial Health Team’s report and magnitude of Lansing’s dilemma.

“I don’t have any idea why (the other candidates) have chosen not to,”said Hollister, a former state lawmaker who served as Lansing’s mayor from 1994 to 2003.

Controversy over an effort to simply discuss key issues like finances, evaluation of the Board of Water & Light and other city assets, and neighborhood redevelopment has appeared to halt progress at a time when it’s needed most. None of the candidates on Tuesday’s ballot support the sale of BWL, and only a few are open to studying the possibility.

Uncertainty about key leadership positions including Interim BWL General Manager Dick Peffley, the BWL Board of Commissioners and the sudden resignation last week of Marge Bossenbery, its vice chair, has added confusion.

Bossenbery, citing “verbal attacks” by the city’s political leadership, left her post last week, about two months after BWL commissioners unanimously approved a $650,000 settlement with J. Peter Lark. The former BWL general manager was fired for “just cause” by the utility in January after controversial fallout from the 2013 ice storm. Peffley is a 39-year BWL veteran and could keep the “interim” tag indefinitely.

Rejuvenating South Lansing organizer Elaine Womboldt, 67, has had enough, and believes she isn’t the only one. All the drama pertaining to Lansing’s finances, its relationship with the BWL and dispute with Lansing Township over zoning issues has worn taxpayers out, she said.

Neighborhood worries

If City Council members want to win over the public, she suggests a focus on neighborhood issues like public safety, code compliance for rental properties, blight removal and trash pickup.

“I get the sense people are just tired of the politics,” Womboldt said. ““The citizens of Lansing are coming together and are starting to ask questions, and they want specific answers.”

Womboldt and her husband, David, helped start Rejuvenating South Lansing in October after they asked Mayor Virg Bernero at a community meeting what the city could do to help the south side and felt he didn’t have an answer. Since then, the group has grown to at least 500 active members representing neighborhood organizations that brainstorm ideas to combat problems ranging from overflowing clothing donation bins to drug dealers.

Two issues Rejuvenating South Lansing won’t let up on are filling open positions in the Police Department and the Office of Code Compliance. Lansing looks to fill up to 25 vacant police officer positions, three premise inspectors and one code compliance officer. The premise and code compliance positions were posted on the city’s website in late July after months of debate between the Bernero administration and council members about their status.

No matter who gets elected to City Council, resident Avis Stubbs will demand a refocused approach to neighborhood development. She hasn’t missed voting in a city election for 15 years.

While Bernero is accusing Lansing Township of blocking the redevelopment of the former Waverly Golf Course, Stubbs sees chaos at home near Everett High School. She’s counted 15 medical marijuana shops within about a two-mile stretch on South Cedar Street and says there is an overall lack ordinance enforcement in that area.

“It’s like if you went to Amsterdam over here,” Stubbs said, referring to the marijuana businesses. “It’s so congested with all these places and not conducive to an environment that’s good for kids.”

Regionalism

Hollister said Lansing’s biggest problem appears to be lack of cooperation with neighboring communities in an effort to improve areas, save money and create sound economic development plans.

Just last week, Bernero called Lansing Township “the North Korea of municipal governments” because officials there declined to reverse a zoning moratorium the mayor said is threatening a $5.8 million deal to sell Waverly Golf Course.

Hollister’s Financial Health Team said in its 2013 report that it believed regional funding for the Lansing River Trail, nearby parks, Lansing Center and Cooley Law School Stadium were “ripe for further exploration.” Hollister is also an advocate for a stronger relationship with Michigan State University and a community-wide team approach to revitalizing the Michigan Avenue corridor.

A $155 million proposed Bus Rapid Transit system that would connect Lansing, East Lansing and Okemos by way of Michigan Avenue, Grand River Avenue and Marsh Road could be completed by 2018.

About $139 million of the BRT funding is expected to come from state and federal grants and Michigan Department of Transportation funds; another $16 million is expected to be raised through private investments. The Capital Area Transportation Authority anticipates that a $2.6 million increase in operational costs will be covered with existing resources

“We’re in this together,” Hollister said of his push for regionalism. “We aren’t going to thrive as a community if we continue to be divided.”

Eric Lacy is a reporter for the Lansing State Journal. Contact him at 517-377-1206 orelacy@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricLacy.

Parks millage

Also on Tuesday’s ballot will be renewal of a five-year, 1-mill parks millage for Lansing. If approved, it would piggyback on Ingham County voters’ support last fall for a county parks millage that will help fund construction of new trails and restoration of county parks maintenance. The county millage will generate $3.5 million a year over six years.

Passage of the city’s millage would maintain $2 million a year in funding aimed for city parks and playground improvements. The money also would be used to match funds from state and federal grant programs. The estimated annual cost would be $50 for a home with market value of $100,000.

City parks’ projects proposed to be completed by 2020 include the renovation or replacement of at least 20 playgrounds, improvements at Grand River Park boat launch, a fishing dock at Tecumseh Park; baseball field improvements at Davis Park and a soccer field at Ferris Park.

Lansing lists more than 100 parks on its website, and several are near Hawk Island, one of four county-owned parks. Hawk Island is the only county park inside the Lansing city limits. It’s on Cavanaugh Road, between Pennsylvania Avenue and Aurelius Road.