An East Lansing Resident’s Advocacy has Brought Greater Accessibility Awareness to Local Government

Years ago, Alexander “Zander” Bowles became interested in city government after attending a city meeting for class credit. In the time since, he’s become a mainstay at East Lansing City Council meetings, and an important advocate for improving accessibility in the city. 

Zander can regularly be seen at city meetings in a wheelchair posted up between the meeting room’s entrance and the rows of chairs for meeting attendees. He has cerebral palsy, a neurological condition that impacts movement and posture. 

“It means his muscles are not working the way ours do, and some of his muscles are constantly firing,” his dad, Ryan Bowles, said. “His body is always working harder even though he’s in a wheelchair.”

Zander uses a power wheelchair, and for at least 10 years, he’s used a special device to help him communicate with others.

In a virtual interview with ELi, Zander gave a simple answer when asked why he attends the city meetings.  

“I like to help with accessibility,” he said. 

Zander enjoys attending city meetings in-person to keep up with what’s going on in local government. He also likes to see if the features of city facilities that are critical to accessibility, like the door opening buttons, are working. 

As a wheelchair user, Zander holds an important perspective that the city has leaned on to improve its facilities. When the All-of-us-Express Children’s theatre, located in the Hannah Community Center, was undergoing seating renovations, Zander was invited to give his input on how to make the space more accessible. 

“Zander played an important role in the renovation of the seating area of the community center theater. His feedback/input helped us create a suitable solution for accessible seating in our performing arts theater,” Lois Fogarasi, Hannah Community Center guest services and accounts coordinator, said.

“He sees things through the eyes of a person who uses a power wheelchair; he sees what others don’t, and it’s important to get that kind of perspective because if you mess it up, you mess it up permanently,” his dad Ryan said. 

Although Bowles wants to go to every City Council meeting, Ryan explained that it requires a lot of effort, and Zander isn’t always able to attend. 

“He can’t really navigate without an assistant, so we pay someone to go to the City Council meeting with him,” Ryan said. “Most of the time, if you don’t see him there, we were unable to find someone to help him.” 

Zander needs someone to drive him to and from the meetings, help him inside, and assist him if he has other needs while at meetings. He currently has two aides, but in the past, he’s had up to four at a time. 

“Finding people to work with him has always been a challenge. It’s whoever we can find; it is very, very hard and expensive,” Ryan said. 

Along with his advocacy efforts, Zander relishes being an active part of the community by volunteering at different events the city has, including Jazz Fest, Art Festival, Blues Festival and the Pride celebration. 

For the last two years, he’s been a very successful donation collector at Jazz Fest. The bucket sits on his lap, and he goes around attracting people’s attention to donate. 

“He’s pretty effective at that; he does not let people go by without getting them to donate at least a dollar…and if mom and dad show up, you can guarantee they’re going to get accosted to donate as well,” Ryan joked. 

After two years at ELHS, Zander enrolled in the Skills for Adult Independent Living (SAIL) Ingham Intermediate School District program. It’s a place for adults with disabilities to develop more skills for independent living and career placement.

With council meetings often lasting into the late hours of the night and Zander needing to get up early for school the next day, he will sometimes need to go home before meetings conclude. When this happens, he will finish watching the meetings remotely from bed.

“He’s very fascinated and extremely enthusiastic about being a public citizen. He’s very much interested in voting and actively votes in every election,” Ryan said. 

Zander and his dad each said the city has improved in terms of accessibility but there’s still room to do better, especially by adding and connecting sidewalks. Additionally, it would be good to add new activities and opportunities for people with disabilities. 

“What Zander really wants to do is volunteer work, where he’s serving the community. He’s big-hearted, and we’re working to try and find those things,” Ryan said.