Fourteen Candidates Determined Eligible to Fill East Lansing Council Vacancy
Two hours after ELi submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the applications of those hoping to be appointed to a vacant seat on East Lansing’s City Council, the city sent out a press release releasing the names of the 14 applicants determined to be eligible.
They are: Nichole Biber, Daniel Bollman, Island Ewert, Tina Farhat, Noel Garcia Jr., Barbara Hiranpradist, Rebecca Kasen, Eston Livingston, Mikey Manuel, Laith Mihyar, Abigail Tykocki, Chris Wardell, Kalette Willis and Eugenia Zacks-Carney.
The press release did not indicate whether anyone else applied but was determined ineligible by the East Lansing City Clerk. The City Charter requires that anyone serving on Council be a resident of and registered to vote in the City of East Lansing. In past instances, not everyone who applied was eligible.
The FOIA request by ELi will provide the full list of those who applied as well as the actual applications. Once obtained, ELi will bring those applications forward and provide background on the candidates.
As ELi previously reported, the deadline to apply was yesterday, Dec. 28, at 5 p.m. The seat is open because Lisa Babcock has been elected to serve as a judge on the 54B District Court.
Council is planning to discuss how to handle the applications at its next meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 10, which is set to begin at 7 p.m. at the East Lansing Hannah Community Center. (Council is also planning at that meeting to have a discussion of deer management.)
The appointment will last until whoever is voted into the seat on Nov. 7, 2023, takes office.
In November, three of the five council seats will be up for grabs including this position, Ron Bacon’s and Jessy Gregg’s.
Bacon is currently East Lansing’s mayor and Gregg is mayor pro tem, but after the Nov. 7 election, the five elected Council members will decide who among them will serve next in those roles.
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