East Lansing Mayor Pro Tem Jessy Gregg Also Not Running for Reelection

East Lansing Mayor Pro Tem Jessy Gregg is joining East Lansing Mayor Ron Bacon in the decision not to run for reelection this November.

In a statement on her Facebook page posted early this morning, Gregg said, “After an incredible amount of soul searching I have decided not to seek reelection for the East Lansing City Council.”

“I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say that this job is slowly killing me,” she wrote. “Instead of running marathons, I am now running to the pharmacy for blood pressure medication and anxiety pills (further evidenced by the fact that I am writing this at 4 o’clock in the morning instead of sleeping).”

Gregg was elected to the City Council in 2019. In that election, she and fellow newcomer Lisa Babcock ran against incumbents Mark Meadows (then mayor) and Erik Altmann and won handily. Gregg obtained support from 65.3% of voters, Babcock 63.7%, Meadows 43.3%, and Altmann 43.2%. 

Gregg, Babcock, and Meadows were seated and joined Ruth Beier and Aaron Stephens on Council, although analysis of the ballots by ELi showed a recount might have led to Altmann being seated instead of Meadows.

Gregg’s time in Council was marked by the tumult of the pandemic and extraordinary turnover on Council. She is the only person from the Council seated in November 2019 not to have ultimately resigned.

In July 2020, Meadows and then-mayor Beier quit in the middle of a Council meeting after Gregg, Babcock and Stephens voted to fire long-time city attorney Tom Yeadon. (The meeting was being held on Zoom because of the pandemic.) Stephens was mayor pro tem at the time and so rose automatically to become mayor. Stephens, Babcock and Gregg voted Gregg to the position of mayor pro tem.

The three then took applications for the vacant seats and appointed Dana Watson and Ron Bacon. In July 2021, Stephens announced he was resigning to go to graduate school and so Gregg became mayor for a few months, until the November 2021 election when Bacon became mayor and Gregg again took the position of mayor pro tem. In December 2023, Babcock resigned because she had won a seat on the bench of 54B District Court. Noel Garcia was appointed by Council to fill Babcock’s seat.

In her time on Council, Gregg was especially interested in finding ways to support local businesses and economic development, to advocate for arts and artists, and to make East Lansing’s laws more just. 

Before she announced her run for Council, she was a city desk reporter for East Lansing info and was known among ELi readers particularly for a long-form investigatory report on a new East Lansing noise law that arose from a dispute over a residential air conditioner. 

Gregg spoke at length in her morning statement about East Lansing’s Independent Police Oversight Commission (ELIPOC), a commission founded with Gregg’s support.

“Police reform has been one of the thorniest issues during my time on East Lansing’s City Council,” she wrote. “I don’t think we can change how we police our communities without understanding the complexity of the job, and I hope that whoever takes my place will commit to talking with our officers and not just at them. Every officer I have had the honor of riding along with has joined the force out of the genuine desire to help our community. We need to remember that the goal is the same on both sides. We all want a safer, happier community so how can we get to that goal together?”

Gregg owns Seams fabric store downtown, a position that gave her a bird’s-eye view of the challenges small businesses face in East Lansing’s seasonal economy and regulatory systems. But the use of city resources to support activities of her private business raised questions of possible conflict of interest and misuse of public funds.

Much more so than any council member in recent memory, Gregg spoke directly to her constituents, often taking to social media for the purpose. Her style at Council has been to ask questions and make points designed to help the public understand the limitations of Council’s power, the workings of the city and her own decisions. 

She frequently explained the motivations for her votes, pausing the knitting she does during Council meetings to lean into the microphone. (She has noted that the knitting helps her focus and reduces her anxiety.) She sometimes talked about her personal life, as when in her celebration of Pride Month, she said she is “the proud mother of three transgender children.” (She is also proud of her fourth child.)

Gregg was named only tangentially in an anonymous complaint released earlier this year. That complaint alleged overreach, claiming illegal interference by council members in the daily operations of the city. The Council voted unanimously in April to hire an independent investigator to look into the complaint. Since that time, Council has said nothing about the progress of the investigation. 

As of now, there are five people running for the three open seats this November: Garcia, Meadows, Rebecca Kasen, Dan Bollman and Josh Ramirez-Roberts. The filing deadline is July 25. 

In her Facebook announcement this morning, Gregg said she is “worried about stepping away at what feels like a critical juncture but I think our community has two good choices for my replacement.” She strongly endorsed Bollman, writing, “Elect him before he comes to his senses.”

She then said she believes Kasen “would be a great addition to the council. And of course my colleague Mr. Garcia, who has proven himself thoughtful and dedicated during his appointed term.”

This is a developing story and may be updated.