UPDATE: Rosalynn Bliss campaigns for Grand Rapids mayor as leader for 'all of us'



GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Rosalynn Bliss wants to succeed George Heartwell as the city's mayor.

The veteran Second Ward city commissioner plans an announcement of her campaign at about 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, at Wealthy Theatre. She filed campaign finance paperwork with the Kent County Clerk’s office earlier today, according to an elections official.

Bliss plans to kick off a campaign “based on creating opportunity for a broader range of citizens,” according to a statement.

“We are on this incredibly positive trajectory, but I think we have more work to do,” Bliss said by phone. “There are many places that are thriving, but there are also places that aren’t.”

Bliss cites her track record of working with constituents in the Second Ward as evidence that she can bring people together on matters that affect the city as a whole.

“I’ve been able to build relationships and resolve problems and do what I can to address community issues in the Second Ward,” she said. “And I would love the opportunity to do that on a citywide basis.

“Clearly, we’ve had great leaders in the past. My hope is that people will vote for me because they see I have leadership abilities to move our city in the right direction.”

RELATED: With George Heartwell term limited, who will run for Grand Rapids mayor?

Bliss has spent the past few months securing support for her campaign, and now touts a base of endorsements on her campaign Web site. She won election to a third four-year term in 2013. But with Grand Rapids voting in November 2014 to impose term limits, the mayor seat will come open because Heartwell is ineligible to seek a record fourth term.

Bliss does not need to resign her Second Ward seat in order to campaign for mayor. If she wins the mayoral election, the commission then would appoint a replacement to her Second Ward seat.

Jared Funk, a Third Ward resident, so far is the only candidate to announce a campaign for mayor.

RELATED: 24-year-old launches bid for Grand Rapids mayor

Former Third Ward City Commissioner James White will introduce Bliss at this afternoon’s announcement, according to the campaign. Third Ward residents in recent weeks have been among the more vocal supporters of police body cameras, which both Bliss and Heartwell have publicly embraced.

While filling in for Heartwell at a Dec. 2 City Commission meeting that attracted a crowd calling for body cams, Bliss made an eloquent statement that called reaction to events in Ferguson, Mo. a moment of opportunity "to listen and talk about racial disparity and race-based tension, and to ensure that Grand Rapids has a police department that is diverse, committed to respecting the rights of all citizens and is transparent and accountable."

The commission on Tuesday, Jan. 27, voted unanimously to proceed with a body cam trial, but not without caution from First Ward commissioners including Walt Gutowski, who also is pondering a mayoral run. City police are not enamored with a $1.5 million-plus plan that includes body cameras and other initiatives like a new racial profiling study and bias training of cops.

RELATED: Body cam plan in Grand Rapids moves forward, with caution

Bliss, 39, a social worker, is director of residential services for DA Blodgett - St. John's. She first won election to City Commission in 2005, getting 52 percent of the vote in a November runoff to beat Shaula Johnston. Her election prompted Heartwell at the time to beam about "a new progressive direction in this city."

Bliss was unopposed for re-election in 2009 and in 2013 won a third term with 74 percent of the vote against Tom Kent, a retired Wyoming city utilities supervisor.

According to their recent campaign finance reports, Bliss has more money in the bank - more than $50,000 - than the other six city commissioners combined. Heartwell raised about $350,000 combined during his three successful mayoral campaigns in 2003, 2007 and 2011.

The mayor’s job pays an annual salary of $37,888. Bliss currently earns $21,776 per year for her work as a commissioner.

If at least three candidates run for mayor, there will be a primary election in August to whittle down the field. Assuming nobody gets more than 50 percent of the vote in August, a runoff election would be held in November.

If Bliss were to win, she’d become the first female mayor in Grand Rapids history – and only the third mayor in the past quarter-century. Heartwell has been mayor since 2003, and John Logie was mayor for 12 years before that.

Here's a list of Grand Rapids mayors.

After Logie’s tenure, Heartwell won election against a woman, Barbara Sue Damore, who got just 11 percent of the vote.

Bliss was preceded by several women city commissioners representing the Second Ward. Senita Lenear in 2013 became the first black woman to win a Grand Rapids City Commission seat.

The city's lone black mayor was the Rev. Lyman Parks, who served four years in the early 1970s. There's a statue of Parks outside the Monroe Avenue entrance to City Hall. A granddaughter of Parks, former City Clerk Lauri Parks, is suing Grand Rapids for a $1 million in a job discrimination suit.

Matt Vande Bunte covers government for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at mvandebu@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter and Facebook.