ELIPOC Amendments Approved by Council

City Council approved amendments to the ordinance regulating the city’s police oversight commission at its Tuesday, March 19 meeting. 

The amendments to the East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Commission (ELIPOC) ordinance have drawn controversy after the adjustments appeared on the March 5 City Council meeting agenda, to the surprise of commissioners and Council liaisons to the commission. 

Also at the meeting, a resident of Hillcrest Village Apartments spoke in favor of rent control policies after her rent was increased by 17%. It was the second week in a row discussions of rent control came to Council, after Councilmember Dana Watson asked the city lobbyist about state legislation that could give the city some power to implement rent control at the March 12 discussion-only meeting. 

Additionally, Council returned from a lengthy closed-session to vote on a vague motion regarding the legal dispute between the city and Country Mill Farms. 

Ordinance regulating ELIPOC amended. 

Council voted unanimously to pass amendments to the ordinance regulating ELIPOC.

The ELIPOC amendments have been controversial since they were introduced at the March 5 Council meeting without commissioners being alerted. The amendments clarify that the commission does not play a disciplinary role over individual East Lansing Police Department (ELPD) officers, a role the commission has not played. 

City labor counsel Gouri Sashital explained at the March 5 meeting the amendments were made in response to litigation between the city and one of the police unions. The union claimed the commission had to be part of collective bargaining because it holds disciplinary power. The amendments were made to clear up ambiguity in the ordinance, clarifying that discipline is not the commission’s role. 

ELIPOC is made up of volunteers who issue recommendations to the police department, but cannot mandate policy changes or discipline officers. 

Edsall asked Council to remove an amendment that adds a section to the commission’s purpose statement that says the commission is “advisory” and does not “possess or exercise administrative or supervisory authority” over ELPD or its employees. 

Edsall also asked for the word “recommendation” to be changed to “determination” in a pair of clauses regarding discipline. At the March 12 meeting, ELIPOC Chair Ernest Conerly expressed concern that the amendments could be interpreted in a way that further limits what ELIPOC can do. For example, he asked if recommending “further training,” for officers could be interpreted as a form of discipline. ELIPOC has recommended more training in the past. 

Sashital said that the amendments were made after discussions with the administrative law judge overseeing the case, in reaction to concerns raised by the union at a hearing and reviewing relevant laws. She recommended not implementing the changes Edsall advocated for. She also said it is not “in the city’s best interest” to delay a vote on the amendments. 

Council voted unanimously to approve the amendments, with multiple members saying they are voting in favor to protect ELIPOC.

“I believe there should be a police oversight commission,” Mayor George Brookover said. “I believe it’s a necessary thing to [have]. But I also do not want the state of Michigan to tell us that we now have to negotiate with the police unions, with all due respect to them, about how our police oversight commission operates or doesn’t operate.”

Two Council members show support for rent control policies… but the state legislature must act first. 

Resident Sarah Abend spoke about increasing rent prices during public comment after her apartment complex increased her rent by 17%. 

Abend, a professional artist, said one of the reasons she came to East Lansing was increasing housing costs in Detroit, where she previously resided. Now, ownership of Hillcrest Village Apartments, where she lives, has changed hands and the new owners increased rent from $860 to $1,005 per month.

“There is no protection for people under our circumstances,” Abend said. 

Abend asked that Council advocate for House Bill 4947 to pass the state legislature. The bill would give local governments more power to put rent control policies in place. This same bill came up at Council’s March 12 meeting, when Watson asked the city lobbyist to look into where it stands. 

“I’d love to stay in East Lansing, for the time being,” Abend said. “I want to live in a community where I feel like my local government is here to protect all residents. Not just those who fall under certain incomes.”

During Council communications, both Watson and Councilmember Mark Meadows addressed possible rent control policies if the legislation were to pass.

Meadows said Council looked into rent control policies during his first stint on Council, back in 1995. However, the state legislature had removed local governments’ ability to put these policies in place.

“That there is a bill now to actually give us authority again is a great thing,” Meadows said. “I don’t know if we will take, as a city, some stand on that. Personally, I am urging my legislators to support this.”

“We definitely should be fighting for our renters as much as we fight for our homeowners,” Watson said. 

Council approves vague motion regarding Country Mill Farms. 

After a closed session that lasted more than 90 minutes, Council returned to open session to vote on a vague motion regarding the Country Mill Farms lawsuit. 

“I motion, if I may, to accept the advice of the city attorney related to the Country Mills vs City of East Lansing matter,” Councilmember Erik Altmann said. 

Altmann’s motion was passed unanimously without discussion. 

The legal battle between Country Mill Farms goes all the way back to 2017. Stephen Tennes filed a lawsuit against the city on behalf of his company Country Mill Farms, LLC after East Lansing adjusted its farmers’ market policy to require vendors follow the city’s civil rights ordinance at all locations. Because Country Mill Farms announced on Facebook it would not allow its venue in Charlotte to be used by same-sex couples to be married, the company was banned from the farmers’ market. Country Mills was allowed to continue selling at the market after Judge Paul Maloney issued a preliminary injunction against the city. 

In August, it was announced a judge ruled against the city in the dispute with Country Mill Farms and at a Nov. 3 Special City Council meeting, the previous Council voted to give Chubb “settlement authority in the requested amount.”

It is unclear what advice Chubb gave Council at the March 19 meeting. ELi will continue to report on the matter as we find out more.