Change EL’s Council from 5 to 7 Members? This and Lots More on Tuesday’s Agenda.

East Lansing’s City Council agenda for Tuesday, June 13, has been released and it contains a big surprise: Council is set to discuss whether to put three amendments to the City Charter before the city’s voters on the November 7 ballot. All relate to Council elections.

One proposal would change the number of people on City Council from five to seven. Another would change when Council members are elected, switching Council elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered. The third would move the swearing-in date for new Council members from November to January. 

The resolutions for all these proposals indicate Mayor Ron Bacon asked City Attorney Tony Chubb to draft them.

Under law, a majority of East Lansing’s Council (three or more council members) can put City Charter changes to the voters. If Charter amendment proposals are put to the ballot, they pass if a majority of voters casting ballots vote in favor.

Changing the number of council members from five to seven:

If the resolution on this matter passed and the ballot language proposed were approved by a majority of voters, instead of having five at-large members on Council, there would be seven. If passed, voters would be asked to elect two additional members of Council in November 2024.

City Council members typically take their city duties on a part-time basis. Currently, being on Council pays about $8,000 per year. Council elects one member mayor from among their own, and that person is currently paid a total of about $10,000 per year.

Changing when council members are elected, from odd-numbered years to even:

The ballot language associated with this resolution seeks to move Council elections from years when voter turnout is relatively low to years when it is higher. (Elections for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and President fall on even-numbered years.)

This could have a significant impact on Council elections because, currently, voters are often motivated to vote in Council elections when they vote. If this change passed, there would be more voters – including Michigan State University students – determining the outcomes of Council elections.

The consequence of this could also be a change in how campaigning works.

If the change were to go into effect, it would extend Councilmembers Dana Watson’s and George Brookover’s terms by a year, as those seats are currently to be decided in the 2025 election. That election would instead take place in 2026. 

Changing when new council members are sworn in:

Under the current version of the City Charter, those elected are sworn-in to Council on the first Tuesday after an election. If this ballot proposal were passed by a majority of voters, it would move the swearing-in to the first Tuesday following January 1 of the next calendar year.

The motivation for this change, according to the offered resolution, is stated as being that overseas and military ballots may not be counted by the time the swearing-in is required to occur. The effect of this ballot change would be to create a lame duck period of about two months.

The proposals are on a “discussion agenda,” but Council could vote to pass them.

Council has the legal right to take votes at legally-noticed public meetings, which this Council meeting is.

The posted agenda shows one item that Council is planning to vote on: whether to use up to $1.275 million in funds from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) for retention bonuses for current city employees. ELi reported that, earlier this week, Council tabled this issue in a 3-2 vote.

Some other significant items are also on the agenda:

Council is set to also discuss billing for the hazardous sidewalks program. The payments were discussed at the May 23 City Council meeting, where Watson asked that property owners who do not respond to letters from the city for payment be put on a three-year payment plan, instead of a one-year plan. 

Some homeowners said repairs can cost them as much as $6,000. The item on the June 13 agenda would have property owners billed each January for three years to make their payments, with the first invoice sent in January 2024. Unpaid bills would be added to owners’ property tax bills the following year, according to the plan presented on the agenda. 

In total, property owners would have 14 months to make their sidewalk payments before it would be added to their property tax and 16 months before there would be a penalty assessed. In September, a 3% penalty would be assessed to an unpaid balance on an owner’s tax bill. 

Council will also be taking up the question of whether to terminate its agreement with Chicago-based developer Convexity to instead shift a low-to-moderate-income rental apartment building plan to local developers PK Companies. The parcel at issue is located at 341 Evergreen Ave., near Valley Court Park.

ELi previously reported Council’s choice comes down to two options: (1) Try to get the low-income downtown housing constructed by PK, the specialists who know how to get this kind of housing done, and risk having to buy the land for a significant sum later or have it sold to someone else. Or (2), stick with the 2018 deal with Convexity and get either a hastily-built affordable-housing apartment building or free parkland that can never be redeveloped.

On the agenda is a draft termination of the agreement with Convexity and a draft development agreement with PK Companies. Read more about the issue here.

Finally, Council is set to take up a request from the Seniors’ Commission to name the art studio at the Hannah Community Center after Kelly Arndt, who recently retired from years of service as the director of the city’s senior programs. 

The letter on the request came from Seniors’ Commission Chair Mark Meadows, who ELi reported earlier today has decided to run again for City Council.