Charter Amendment Committee Members Picked; Proposed Rental Ordinance Changes Revealed at Council Meeting

City Council has selected the seven members to serve on a charter review committee that will take a look at the city charter – the document that sets the foundational framework East Lansing operates within. 

At the Aug. 13 council meeting, the body moved to adopt Mayor George Brookover’s suggested committee members. That means Diane Goddeeris, Jonathan Forman, Jeffrey Hank, Veronica Wilkerson-Johnson, Ruben Martinez, Jill Rhode and Pam Weil will serve on the committee. Additionally, Goddeeris, a former East Lansing mayor, was named committee chair. 

Council also voted to make Dale Kruithoff the first alternate to step in if a committee member cannot finish their term and Lynn Richardson as the second alternate. Find out more about committee members and their backgrounds by reading ELi’s past reporting here. 

There were 28 applicants to serve on the committee, which will spend a year reviewing the charter. However, six candidates were immediately disqualified because the motion creating the committee emphasized a city rule that individuals can only serve on one city commission at a time. 

The discussion before voting to create the committee was brief, but Councilmember Dana Watson said she would like communication to be better going forward when council starts similar initiatives. Watson was unhappy that six volunteer commissioners took the time to apply, unaware they were ineligible to serve on the committee. 

The commission will be given discretion on what its work produces. 

“They could have a report that they would provide that would just be at a high level and say we should really look at the budgeting section or administrative officers, that would just kind of be overall guidance for the council for potential amendments,” City Attorney Anthony Chubb said at the June 18 City Council meeting. “Or it could be… that they give actual proposed amendments and then that would allow council to say ‘I think we should take these up and put them on the ballot.’”

At that meeting, Chubb also clarified that the scope of the committee will be limited. He said the committee would have to be elected by voters to propose major changes, like changing from a strong city manager to a strong mayor form of government. 

The committee will soon start its work. The resolution establishing the committee states that the body will have its first meeting within two weeks of having members appointed. 

That resolution also designates that the committee will hold at least three meetings solely to gather public feedback. The committee will establish when those meetings will be held at its first meeting. 

Proposed changes to city rental ordinances revealed, referred to housing commission. 

For months, residents have been attending city meetings to express concerns that city housing and rental policies do not allow them to have certain guests stay at their homes for an extended period of time.

The concerns first started coming up late last year, when some residents living within a proposed rental restriction district said they believed there were several circumstances when a rental license would be needed for a friend, relative or other person to stay with them long term. While much of these concerns were cleared up, and the rental restriction zone was eventually put in place, it exposed a need to clarify ambiguities in the city code. 

For the last couple of months, Councilmember Mark Meadows has been working with Chubb and Planning, Building and Development Director Annette Irwin on reworking the housing ordinances to be easier for residents to understand and address concerns brought up at meetings. The first draft of the ordinance revisions was referred to the Housing Commission for feedback at the Aug. 13 meeting. 

Perhaps the most significant update of the proposal is the addition of an “exceptional circumstances” exemption. The code has allowed family members and a host of other individuals to stay in a home without a rental license. However, it is difficult to clearly capture everyone who may need to stay in a home under a list of exemptions, which led to disputes about how broad exemptions actually are. The new ordinances would allow for homeowners to apply to have guests who fall in this gray area. 

“People are complex and diverse and they live together in complex and diverse relationships,” Councilmember Erik Altmann said. “There’s always a possibility for an arrangement that doesn’t fit neatly into one particular category… Some of the scenarios that were raised in good faith from the community made that point quite clear.”

The exceptional circumstances clause allows homeowners to apply for an unrelated person to remain living in their home for up to a year, with renewals available if more time is needed. There are appeals processes outlined if applications or extensions are denied. 

Residents also have looked to address perceived issues with the housing and rental codes. Recently, a petition circulated received enough signatures to be placed on the November general election ballot. If voters approve of the initiative, it would amend the city charter to state that the city may not use relationship-based criteria to determine who may stay in a home. 

While members of the petitioning group and some city officials have traded barbs at meetings, Patrick Rose, one of the leaders pushing for the charter amendment, said the proposed ordinance amendments are a “good faith effort” to address concerns. 

“We are grateful you are making so many changes the community has requested,” Rose said. 

Rose said members of the charter amendment group have already begun to discuss the ordinance changes and should have recommendations soon. 

Residents are encouraged to offer feedback on the proposed ordinance changes. Those interested can speak at a city meeting, or email City Council at council@cityofeastlansing.com. 

Brookover said the proposal is likely to be modified as the city receives feedback and the proposal is more critically examined. 

“This is sort of still a living document,” he said. “I just want to caution people that this isn’t set in cement and there may be changes to this as we become less ignorant about some of the concerns.”

Council approves Memorandum of Understanding with DDA for new executive director. 

The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is one step closer to being able to hire an executive director, as council approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the city and DDA. The MOU is essentially an agreement between the city and DDA about hiring and employment details for the new position. 

At its July 23 meeting, council rejected a proposed MOU because some members thought the agreement gave the DDA hiring and oversight powers that should go to the city manager. 

The new version of the MOU states that the executive director “will be selected by the City Manager with the input of the DDA.” The previous MOU said the director will be selected by the DDA but will meet employee eligibility requirements. The new document also says the DDA will do an annual “360 review” of the executive director. 

Meadows took issue with one part of the revised document, which stipulated the DDA would set the salary for the employee. He motioned to add language that states the DDA may set the pay rate, but it must be approved annually by City Council. 

Meadows felt the amendment was necessary because City Council approves the DDA budget annually. Council approved the MOU unanimously. 

The DDA discussed the MOU at its last meeting on Aug. 8 but did not vote on it. The DDA is now set to vote on whether or not to approve the MOU at its Aug. 22 meeting. At the previous meeting, the DDA indicated a subcommittee favored the revised MOU. 

If the DDA does vote in favor of the agreement, it will move closer to hiring an executive director for the first time in its roughly 30 years of existence. Up to this point, the DDA has relied on various city staff members to carry out its work.