Mayor George Brookover Announces Preferred Charter Review Committee Members

Mayor George Brookover produced a memo announcing his seven preferred candidates to serve on the city’s charter review committee. At tomorrow’s (July 9) City Council meeting, council will discuss Brookover’s recommended committee before making a final decision at the Aug. 13 council meeting. 

The committee will spend a year looking for areas that could be improved in the city charter. It will be the first thorough review of the city charter in 30 years. 

Brookover’s picks include several familiar faces who have held important local roles, and a recommendation that former Mayor Diane Goddeeris serve as committee chair. Besides Goddeeris, Brookover recommends Jonathan Forman, Jeffrey Hank, Veronica Wilkerson-Johnson, Ruben Martinez, Jill Rhode and Pam Weil serve on the committee. 

Before making his recommendations for the committee, Brookover received lists from other council members outlining their 10 favorite candidates. Each of Brookover’s selections appeared on Councilmember Mark Meadows and Mayor Pro Tem Kerry Ebersole Singh’s lists. Councilmembers Erik Altmann and Dana Watson each endorsed five of Brookover’s picks. Four applicants appeared on each council member’s list. 

While the final decision on a committee will not be made until August, Brookover’s preferred candidates appear to have an edge in eventually being named a member of the committee.

ELi learned about Brookover’s preferred candidates by reviewing their applications.

Diane Goddeeris

Goddeeris, Brookover’s recommended committee chair, was included in each council member’s top 10 list. Goddeeris has had a long career in nursing and has a deep history of working in East Lansing government. She served on City Council from 2006 to 2015, including a stint as mayor from 2011 to 2013. More recently, Goddeeris served on the East Lansing Public Library Board of Trustees from 2018 to 2023. 

In her application, Goddeeris highlighted how her past experiences in the city would help her on the charter review committee. 

“I am aware of the need to review the city charter in light of the changes that have occurred since the last review,” she wrote. “As someone who always referred to the city charter during my time on council as well as serving on the Library Board of Trustees, I feel I bring an understanding of what’s in the charter currently. Adding community input on proposals for change is important and I feel my experience working with community members over the years will be helpful as a member of this committee.”

Veronica Wilkerson-Johnson 

Wilkerson-Johnson also appeared on each council member’s top 10 list. She has a doctorate in educational leadership and has worked in several positions in the state government. Wilkerson-Johnson also has a long background working in East Lansing government, as she served on the planning commission for eight years. 

“Having worked in government, education and community relations I believe I have a wealth of experience in working closely with all areas of the community and helping to review and communicate elements that will be necessary in the City Charter for posterity,” she wrote in her application. 

Wilkerson-Johnson wrote in her application that Watson encouraged her to apply to be on the committee. 

Jill Rhode

Rhode is another candidate who drew consensus support from council. She holds a master of business administration degree and is a certified public accountant. Rhode previously worked as Ingham County Finance Director and was the Lansing Treasurer. Currently, Rhode does outside accounting and consulting for municipal clients, according to her application.

Rhode has served as vice chair of the East Lansing Financial Health Team and on the Downtown Development Authority (DDA). Rhode left her post on the DDA in 2020 because the city hired her to work as its tax administrator, a position she held until last year.

Jonathan Forman

Forman is the fourth candidate who drew endorsements from each member of council. According to his application, he is an Ingham County public defense lawyer who often represents individuals at the 54B District Court in East Lansing. 

“Through my work, I have spent significant time studying the East Lansing City Code and City Charter over the past five years,” Forman wrote in his application. “An important aspect of my work as a criminal defense lawyer is analyzing laws and governing documents, and I believe my specific role over the past five years has given me a unique perspective in analyzing the East Lansing City Charter specifically.”

Prior to working as a defense lawyer, Forman was a clerk for former Michigan Supreme Court Justice Joan Larsen and U.S. District Court Judge Mark Goldsmith. 

Jeffrey Hank

Singh, Meadows and Watson all endorsed Hank. He is an attorney who specializes in constitutional law, municipal law, charter drafting, litigation and Home Rule City Act, according to his application. If Hank eventually earns the appointment, this will not be his first time working on amending the city charter. He previously led an effort to partially decriminalize marijuana in the city, an effort that is described in this Lansing State Journal article. Before that, Hank led another effort to amend the Lansing city charter.

“I believe I’m the only person who has personally enacted a section of each city’s charters, and that was as a private citizen,” he wrote. “I have years of experience understanding East Lansing’s city government and the interplay of the charter and code of ordinances.”

Hank has been active at local government meetings recently. Last year, he was a central figure for the Citizens to Protect East Lansing Access group that opposed a housing project that was proposed to be built over a downtown parking lot. The  project was eventually voted down by council. 

Pam Weil

Altmann, Meadows and Singh included Weil in their top 10 lists. She works as an IT consultant, after spending more than 35 years working in IT at Michigan State University, according to her application. Weil has served on several local boards, including as chair of the East Lansing Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission and on the Age Friendly Communities Steering Committee. 

In her application, Weil said she wants to help improve East Lansing by serving on the committee.

“I am invested in E.L. being the best place to live it can be and doing what I can to make that happen,” her application reads. “As a project and operations manager and in my roles on boards and commissions I have had extensive experience integrating foundational documents, policies and procedures into operations and service development. I believe my skills in the area will allow me to serve as a useful member of this committee.”

Ruben Martinez

Martinez was included in Meadows’ and Singh’s top 10 lists. He holds a doctorate in sociology and has worked as a professor of public administration at Michigan State University. According to a cover letter included in his application, Martinez specializes in “leadership and institutional change, education and ethnic minorities, youth development, and stakeholder engagement.”

Martinez has regularly served on boards and commissions since earning his doctorate in 1984. A few past experiences highlighted in his application include serving on the State Court Administrator Advisory Board, Lansing School District Rightsizing Task Force, Michigan Unarmed Combat Commission, University of Michigan HealthSparrow Hospital Board and the Lansing Regional Sister Cities Commission. 

“Democracy at all levels requires citizen participation,” Martinez wrote in his application. “I believe it is my duty as a resident of East Lansing to contribute through voluntary service to local government and organizations.”

Brookover tags Dale Kruithoff and Lynn Richardson as preferred alternates. 

While designating alternates for the committee has not been discussed at previous meetings, Brookover wrote in his memo that he believes it is good to have residents on standby in case a committee member resigns. Alternates would not have a vote unless required, but would attend meetings. 

Brookover indicated he believes Dale Kruithoff should be the first alternate. Kruithoff is a current master of public policy student at Michigan State University. He works as a financial analyst for the Michigan Department of Treasury and previously worked as a corporate secretary for the Spartan Housing Cooperative. Watson and Meadows each included Kruithoff in their top 10 lists. 

Brookover’s preferred second alternate is Lynn Richardson. Richardson has worked as an attorney in the state and federal governments. She has lived in East Lansing for 37 years and serves as vice president of the Pinecrest Neighborhood Association, according to her application. Richardson was included in Altmann’s top 10 list. 

There is still more than a month until a committee is selected. 

While Brookover’s preferred candidates appear to have an inside track to serving on the committee, there is still plenty of time for changes. At the June 18 City Council meeting, the initial motion to create the committee designated the July 9 meeting as the time to appoint committee members. However, after a short discussion council opted to move a final decision back to the Aug. 13 meeting. 

This means there will be more than a month for council to mull over its decision after the discussion at the July 9 meeting. There were 28 applicants for the committee and several individuals left off the initial list have impressive educational backgrounds, have served on volunteer city boards and hold other unique qualifications. 

Importantly, Meadows’ motion creating the selection process for the committee stated that individuals currently serving on city boards and commissions are not eligible to serve on the charter review committee. This disqualifies six applicants.  

The charter review committee’s power will be limited. 

The goal of the charter review committee is to look for areas where the city charter could be improved. City Council may then approve charter amendments to be decided on by voters at a future election. 

City Attorney Tony Chubb clarified the committee’s role at the June 18 City Council meeting.  

“The charter essentially acts as the constitution of the city,” Chubb said. “It’s 45 pages and sets up… the highest level structure of government, our top officials, our ability to to tax, the very, very high end things. The ordinances are likely 10s of thousands of pages that go through the very minutia of day to day rules and regulations that apply to the residents.

“The charter review committee is going to look at the charter itself, not at the ordinances.”

Chubb said that if the committee wanted to make a major change, it would need to be an elected commission, meaning this committee will be limited in its scope. 

Additionally, Chubb said the end result of the committee could take different forms. 

“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,” he said at the June 18 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.’”