u/ExternalTheory1683

At the May 18th Lansing City council meetings:

• Council approved the city’s budget for the 2026/2027 fiscal year, which spans from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027
• They gave a tribute recognizing May 19th as Malcolm X Day in the City of Lansing; May 19th was Malcolm X’s birthday
• They unanimously approved a letter calling for an immediate end to unauthorized federal military escalation and an unlawful war with Iran 
• In public comment we heard residents of the Fabulous Acres Neighborhood plead for help with some extremely inconsiderate neighbors
• Commenters brought stories of struggles with homelessness and the destabilization resulting from camp sweeps performed by city police officers with no safe option for relocation

Can listen to more details about the meeting in the latest episode of “What Lansing Council” the podcast here:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3kHfCnY7K4dKEgWDy6GIHl?si=JpY29UoGQC66-hUNeTezFw

YouTube: https://youtu.be/eha-cLoAnXk

At the May 11th Lansing City Council Meetings:

• Council heard from the community about the death of a citizen, who was for a time, a member of the fallen angels encampment
• The Spec-Tran CATA (Capital Area Transportation Authority) service specifically for folks with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) status received additional criticism for poor service
• Council passed four changes to the parking code: 1) parking enforcement hours are reduced to 9am - 5pm instead of 8am - 6pm, 2) the timing for paying the least amount for parking tickets was amended from “within two hours” to “before midnight on the day of issuance”, 3) all ticket fine tiers increased by $10, and 4) the cost to park for longer than two hours in metered street parking spaces (where that is allowed) was increased.

For more details about the meeting listen to the latest episode of “What Lansing Council” with guest Christopher Greene-Szmadzinski.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3yxughJfM9GcLUa9ui2Gov?si=O0IZn1thTRKqPUYCFVmx-Q

YouTube: https://youtu.be/DCZ5apbQJpE

Lansing City Council had a light agenda at their May 4th meetings: 

• Six city departments gave budget presentations: the 54A District court, the Mayor’s office, Downtown Lansing Inc., Human Resources, Finance, and Treasury
• All departments are excited to move into the new city hall, public safety complex, or offices at the Ovation this year… “new hall in the fall”...
• Six out of eleven public commenters begged council to stop the police from sweeping unhoused people out of places they congregate in the city - with an emphasis that it is not a financially prudent practice

For a discussion about the meeting you may listen to the latest episode of “What Lansing Council”. Our guest this episode is Dana Watson. Dana served as an East Lansing city council member from 2020 - 2025. She works as a Health Equity Social Justice Coordinator for Ingham County, and as a board member for the Justice League of Greater Lansing.

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1PC6a6ASopG2W6WhtLlQ5g?si=qpqHVmqiQMeHVIIMPvvQKg

YouTube: https://youtu.be/hecLZQENpWo