What are Council Candidates’ Plans to Help Retain City Staff?
To help voters learn more about the eight candidates vying for the three open seats on the East Lansing City Council in the Nov. 7 election, Eli is providing this second in a series of three stories where each individual responded to the same question. Order of candidate responses was determined by a random drawing of names.
Additionally, ELi asked each candidate if they would be voting “yes” or “no” on each of the three ballot initiatives. Their responses will be included as a separate package.
The first question posed to candidates was, “Do you support moving city elections from odd years to even? Why?” Here are their responses.
In other pre-Nov. 7 coverage, ELi provided profiles of each candidate along with coverage of the Oct. 1 League of Women Voters of Lansing Area candidates forum . The eight candidates are: Erik Altmann, Dan Bollman, Noel Garcia, Rebecca Kasen, Mark Meadows, Joshua Ramirez-Roberts, Kerry Ebersole Singh and Christopher Wardell.
Noel Garcia Jr
“Many of our city’s leaders have changed in the past 3-4 years, from Council, to the City Manager, and department heads. I’m working to bring in new leaders and help grow our current staff to take on new and challenging roles in the city. We have chosen a new city manager to lead and manage the city on a day-to-day basis, and I look forward to this impending transition. It is important that our new city manager hits the ground running with the support of council and staff. I have always supported a culture survey to be conducted to hear from our current city staff and workforce that will be beneficial to our new city manager. There will always be change in life – our goal is to make sure that the changes are for the better, and that we’re also keeping the best of our history even as new history is made. There has been a well-documented level of turnover in our city government, but this year and beyond, we’re moving forward to improve city government for all our residents. I think if we look back at when much of the turmoil in the city started, we can look at failed relationships that caused some to simply get up and quit their elected positions. As we move forward we have to focus on repairing those relationships in every level of government and city staff.”
Dan Bollman
“City staff members constitute our local experts on a wide range of subjects. During my service as a Planning Commissioner, I have come to rely on staff for the thorough input they include in their reports to the Commission. If I am elected, I would expect to rely on similar guidance from all staff. To attract and retain city staff, I would plan to work with the City Manager and make it known that the city staff’s input is valued, that their experience should be respected and that they should be appropriately compensated for their effort.”
Kerry Singh
“First, is to ask the city manager to create a plan that council can advise on. We should survey the scene, as in to do an updated report on how our wages and benefit packages compete with like communities. We need to be creative to inform additional amenities to make East Lansing a top choice for experienced job seekers. That could mean access to Hannah and aquatic facilities and classes as part of the benefit package, that could mean we talk to the university about annual museum passes for EL staff, that could mean working with MSUFCU on special packages to remove closing costs when buying a home, as examples. We also need to work with articulating a vision for the city that drives a desire of top talent to want to join us in implementing. We can be a best in class university community, with smart economic development, deep community collaboration, and leveraging and protecting our green spaces, arts and cultural amenities.”
Erik Altmann
“We need to rebuild not only the city workforce but also the city’s reputation as a good employer and its reputation as a stable place to live. Rebuilding starts with electing a council that will take governing seriously and leave daily operations to the city manager.
Much of the rest will fall to the city manager. The next council should assign that person two tasks. The first is to identify what caused the exodus of city staff in the last year and identify necessary corrections. Public interest in this issue is very high and there should be a published report. The second task is to develop a rebuilding plan and submit that to the public for discussion and the council for approval. The council then needs to hold the city manager accountable for progress on the plan. Rebuilding will take years but the work has to start as soon as possible.”
Mark Meadows
“I want to bring stability back to City Government. The City has had outstanding staff during my time in EL and I think everyone in the community appreciated them. Apparently, overreach by some Council members and disregard for the Charter defined roles for the Council and the City Manager resulted in a mass exodus.of employees. I also support a salary and benefits study to determine if we are competitive with other units of government.”
Chris Wardell
“I plan to work with Mr. Belleman to help build up the staff we lost, as well as working to boost morale for the employees we still have on staff. If I’m elected, they will know they have someone like me in their corner who champions and respects their work. I am not a micromanager, and they do not need me to involve myself in their work. The work needs to be handled by Mr. Belleman and staff. My job is to serve as a resource for them. Not vice versa. We must get the flowchart back in place and follow proper protocols.”
Rebecca Kasen
“Provide Mr. Belleman with the support he needs to identify, recruit and retain top talent.”
Joshua Ramirez-Roberts
“The way to keep quality personnel employed with the city is to work with the city manager to ensure that the city is maintaining a supportive work environment without overstepping the boundaries laid out in the city charter. We must additionally work to better balance the city budget so that we may offer a competitive wage structure that will attract talented individuals to a career in public service. Whilst we find ourselves in the process of rebuilding it is crucial that the city’s reputation as a good employer is repaired and that we do not falter on our commitment to create a positive workplace.”