Meet East Lansing City Council Candidate Rebecca Kasen
Editor’s note: This is fourth in the series of East Lansing City Council candidate profiles by ELi reporters. Eight candidates are vying for three open Council seats in the Nov. 7 election. Check out ELi’s Elections coverage for more profiles. ELi is partnering with the League of Women Voters for a 6:30 p.m. Sept. 14 City Council Candidate Forum. Click here to help ELi and the League formulate questions for the candidates.
Women’s Center of Greater Lansing Executive Director Rebecca Kasen hopes to serve as a “microphone” for the community and its residents if elected as a East Lansing City Council member.
A long-time activist and community service worker, biological mother to two daughters and frequent foster parent, Kasen wants to bring her skills and abilities to city government.
“I have spent my entire career mostly in advocacy,” Kasen said. “I worked mostly in disability rights advocacy for the majority of my career. But then I noticed the intersectional issues and I was really excited to try something new. I’m now the executive director of the Women’s Center of Greater Lansing and I get to work on all of the issues, the intersectional issues, surrounding discrimination and whatnot.”
As the executive director of the Women’s Center, Kasen’s duties include providing direction and leadership to staff, representing the center and its philosophy and helping the center achieve its goals.
Why Kasen is running for Council
“I call myself, as a politician and as an advocate, a microphone,” Kasen said. “I’m not there to speak for the people, I’m there to amplify their voices, and that’s kind of what led me here. I want to make sure that the voices of all of my neighbors, who don’t have the ability at the moment to run for office, can be heard.”
Kasen applied to fill Lisa Babcock’s vacated seat on Council in January. Noel Garcia was appointed to fill that position.
In that application, she said she is interested in serving because, “I believe in East Lansing. I love the city and I love living in the city. I believe there are many areas that the city can improve and I want to be a part of the positive change.”
Kasen said she is running for office to ensure the city moves in the right direction.
“I’m very fearful of the potential direction the city could go in,” Kasen said. “With Mayor [Ron] Bacon and Mayor Pro Tem [Jessy Gregg’s] decision not to run again, I am afraid that we could backslide as a city and I want to make sure we’re continuing to progress and be a truly equitable city.”
This fear comes in part from looking at the community response to potential charter amendments, which Kasen said make her “uncomfortable,” as people don’t want to move municipal elections to even years.
“I think people underestimate students,” Kasen said. “I only see student activists and students who intern here [Women’s Center of Greater Lansing], but every student I’ve met is far more informed and mature than I ever was as an undergraduate.”
Kasen also spoke about the charter amendment concern at the June 13 City Council meeting.
“I came here tonight to encourage the City Council to move city elections to even years,” Kasen said. “My understanding is that the primary fears about not moving it are about uninformed college students making arbitrary decisions or candidates focusing so much on the student vote that they’re focusing on national issues that have nothing to do with East Lansing.
“By moving voting to the even years, it’s not just about the student turnout, it will increase voter turnout across the city,” Kasen said.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s office has since blocked a ballot initiative switching City Council elections from odd to even years from going to voters.
Kasen also shared her concerns of a “certain contingent, a very small minority, that feels that 50 years ago the city was at its best and wants to pull it back there.” She said she wants to help the city progress.
At the City Council meeting on Aug. 15, Kasen shared her concerns about the current climate in East Lansing.
“The hiring of the city manager and the Albert Avenue proposal were opportunities for debate, discussion and civil discourse,” Kasen said. “They turned into name calling, mudslinging and other verbal attacks on Council members and commissioners. Residents are not able to have a civil discourse amongst each other on these topics.”
Kasen’s top priorities
The top three issues Kasen believes the City of East Lansing is facing include housing affordability, racial equity and economic opportunity and development.
Kasen also wants to address the brain drain in East Lansing and keep talented Michigan State University (MSU) students in the community long term.
“We have seven schools of medicine, I believe, or close to that, at Michigan State University,” Kasen said. “Yet, if you live in East Lansing and want to see a specialist locally, you are going to be waiting probably six months. We need to focus on keeping some of the professionals in our regions after graduation.”
As a City Council member, Kasen believes she can fix these problems by settling into her role as a “microphone” for residents.
“I want to make sure that those in the city who have not felt heard, will be heard,” Kasen said. “That I can bring their concerns to the table and, you know, it doesn’t mean that I’m always going to agree with every group. But at the very least their concerns can be heard and recognized.”
Kasen received the endorsement on Aug. 10 of Run for Something, an organization that recruits and supports strong voices in the next generation of progressive leadership.
In her campaign’s press release announcing the endorsement, Kasen wrote, “My campaign is focused on ensuring East Lansing is an inclusive and equitable city for all residents. This endorsement will energize my supporters and encourage new supporters. The future is female. The future is progressive.”
Throughout her interview with ELi, Kasen noted the main reason she loves East Lansing – the diversity.
“The reason I love East Lansing is our diversity,” she said. “You know, my husband thought I was using political pandering by saying we’re the only white family on our street until he went door knocking with me and realized we are.
“We are so diverse in so many ways,” Kasen said. “Economically, racially, you know, across the board.”
Editor’s note: The order of publication of the East Lansing City Council candidates profiles was determined by names being put in a hat and randomly drawn. The order the names were drawn is the order the profiles are running in ELi.