Issues
Wolverine Pipeline:
As far as I am concerned, the route should have always been planned to follow the original route through Meridian Township. I think that the proposed route through South Lansing should be fought, and that Lansing should not waiver in our municipal right to force the route farther away from South Lansing homes and neighborhoods.
South Lansing Development:
We should be marketing the vacant properties and recruiting new businesses into South Lansing. We should work on making Lansing more appealing and attractive through OPRA, brownfield, tifa, and other tax incentives. South Lansing should have a welcome atmosphere to visitors as they enter from Cedar, MLK, and Waverly Roads. We need to make destination development a priority. The Eastwood Towne Center is a great example of up-scale mixed development that draws shoppers from around Mid-Michigan. If that center were located in South Lansing, I don’t think they would have fewer customers.
South Side Community Center:
I think Lansing should identify a site and bond the construction of a new facility that is modern and more importantly, centrally located. The bond could be paid back over ten years with a commitment from the Parks Millage at $500,000.00 per year. Programs at the Hill Vocational Center in collaboration with the Lansing School District should be encouraged and expanded, but this should not be the plan for the South Side Community Center. Our Community Centers should be modern and allow for a computer center, the South Lansing library, and various civic youth and senior programs to be housed in one location. This center could be a real draw for new families looking for housing. Through various agencies including Planning, EDC, and Health and Human Services, a comprehensive plan could be utilized that would rehabilitate empty business sites such as the old Ford Dealership on MLK between Holmes and Cavanaugh. Any plan should include long term funding for programs and an extensive field for athletic programs including baseball, softball, football, track, soccer and swimming. A state of the art facility would be a draw for families, and could be used to attract national tournaments and visitors to the heart of the city.
Long Term Financial Goals:
Simply stated, our costs continue to rise, while our revenues are not keeping pace. This requires one of two options, cut expenses (and services), or raise revenue (taxes and fees). In addition, as evidenced by this year’s budget, we must continue to address retirement healthcare pre-funding, which should be at around 8 million dollars per year. To compound matters, Police and Fire make up around 60% of our budget, and cutting these departments are rarely endorsed by the public. This leaves a very small piece of pie to shave expenses from. Our first step is to call upon our union partners to agree to a new benefit package for any new city hires that reduces health insurance through retirement. This has been done here at MSU, and does not affect a single current employee of the city. We should also look at combining administrative positions, so we can protect the front line workers while trimming expenses through office workers. Our goal for the next budget year should be to maintain the reserve, keep taxes at their current rate, and contribute at least 4 million dollars to our pre-paid health expenses. Departments should be asked to identify 1% savings in their respective departments while maintaining their current staffing levels and service.
Outsourcing:
I am a strong advocate for Unions. I believe that once a contact is bargained in good faith, both sides should honor the contract. Management and Employees should be working together for the good of the institution, and a professional working relationship that includes candid communication is essential. I am a member of MSU Administrative Professional Supervisors Association and have been a dues paying member since 2001. I am also representing my union with our executive committee to bargain a new contract currently up for negotiation, representing almost 1,000 members. I have a brother in Skilled Trades at MSU, and a Step-Brother who is a Union Pipefitter. To hear criticism of my union ties is laughable. How many other sitting Council members are members of a union, and representing our views in negotiations?
That being said, I have to represent my ward in what is in the best interest of the city residents. If a union member is productive, they should be protected and justly compensated. If members are not productive, then they should be encouraged to get better, not just by management, but by their own union brothers and sisters. One bad employee can cause the whole unit to suffer, and that is not in the city or union’s best interest. When the city bids contracts, they should first look to union shops. My experience is union labor is the best-trained and most qualified workforce. That is why we use Union labor to produce the Great Lakes Folk Festival. IATSE sends us trained, skilled and highly qualified members. Second, the city should look also at local firms for jobs. Employees who work and live in Lansing will spend money in Lansing. I see no good argument for bids going to Grand Rapids firms, unless the first two criteria cannot be met.
I also consider myself pro-development. I want to see investment and jobs created in Lansing. People have to understand though, that Developers are not controlled by the city, and their decisions to use union shops, or not, are not dictated by the city. Lansing needs to encourage all the development we can get.
Third Ward Identity:
One recent idea I have come up with, is a branding strategy for South West Lansing. In other cities, wards have their own distinctive flavor and feel. Think of New Yo rk or Washington D.C. These areas, albeit much larger, have developed their own sections of identity inside the city. The Third Ward suffers from an identity crisis. We have few parks, and virtually no natural access to our most attractive city asset, the Grand River. What we do have is diversity, newer housing stock, a solid population, available land for growth, and great churches and neighborhoods. I want to create pride in our Ward, and create an identity that attracts people to the Third Ward. I also want to create a comprehensive vision for future planning for the Ward, and to get our neighborhood associations working together for a stronger more unified voice within the city.
Triangle of Prosperity:
I live near Risdale Park. You may not know where Risdale is, and that is part of the shame. It is on Pleasant Grove, across from Pleasant View School. It barely resembles a park (could they plant a few bushes and trees?), and looks like an open field. As I mentioned, directly across the street is a Lansing Magnet School for the Arts, one of the best programs that Lansing schools are offering. Next door to that is the bright new Boys and Girls Club of Lansing. My idea is to feature these great city assets and to use the synergy and attract new housing and families. There is already dense housing, but also some decaying infrastructure, including one previous lot that sits empty with the old structure having been torn down. Minutes from I-96, this is the type of area ripe for new development. With some park improvements including landscape, athletic fields and equipment, making a new parking lot and drive for both the park and school to use, making a new crosswalk, perhaps raised with a signal, to replace the outdated inaccessible “over the street” cross walk, and programs these units can share, I would predict that new housing would be attractive to a future developer. I will be meeting with our Southside EDC coordinator and talking to him about this.
South Grand Parking Ramp:
Sell it. It is time for the city to reclaim the Grand River for housing, trails and parks. The ramp will only last ten more years and will need expensive maintenance to keep it operational. We need a new ramp, but on the East side of the river to service the Lansing Center and Oldsmobile Park.
Golf Courses:
I’m still upset that First Tee is not operational three years later. The golf courses are a unique asset for the city. I think we should make them free for Lansing Seniors and for kids 16 and under, and cheaper for other Lansing residents. We should market Lansing as golf and recreation city to attract families and retirees. Some condominium associations and retirement homes market living units including golf courses. This may be crazy talk, but I’m trying to think outside of the box here.
Fire Station #3:
I think we should look to Bond and build one new fire station to replace both stations #3 and #7, to combine their resources and increase their effectiveness. Each station has a crew of only 3 people per shift, and Station #7 is expensive to operate and is so small it cannot house a regular fire rig. Then the existing two stations can be redeveloped into housing, gallery, daycare, or other businesses as we have seen effectively elsewhere in the city.
Alternative transportation and leisure:
I intend to work with our Planning department to get bike lanes and trails to connect from our neighborhoods to our parks and the Grand River. My neighborhood and our adjacent neighborhood, Colonial Village and Lewton-Rich respectively, need access for families to get to the Grand River and Francis Park. I know the neighborhood and can take a number of routes there. New families don’t, and prospective families need to be shown we care about quality of life issues. Designated bike route signs should be easy to place.
In addition, our parks should be connected. We should be able to walk or ride trails from Washington Park through Victor Woods, to Ingham Park and Frances Park. With direct trail and park access, housing development in an old industrial site such as the Lindel Drop Forge could yield lofts for new residential housing. Woods and a trail inside the city of Lansing would be very attractive to some people.
Education:
I would like to eventually see a U-Promise type of program offered in Lansing similar to what has happened in Kalamazoo. This would help spur families to move back into Lansing. I also think that there is a market for a Charter High School Academy. Several Charter Schools are operating in Lansing, but a prestigious academy that has high standards for grades 9-12 would be a real benefit. Originally I thought that the School for the Blind property would be a good location for this. Now however, that is not an option, so I would like to see this either downtown where workers can drop off their kids on their way to the office, or located in the 3rd Ward.