What Lansing Council

At the May 11th 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. 
Today our special guest is Christopher Greene-Szmadzinski. Christopher serves as the co-chair of the Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory Council and also sits on the Lansing Park Board. He posts about pazcki sightings and other important and random Lansing geography at Lansingography.com
See Christopher’s amazing maps and infographics - including a visualization of the city’s 2026-27 proposed budget:
https://www.lansingography.com/
Support this podcast financially: 
https://www.patreon.com/cw/WhatLansingCouncil
UPCOMING LIVE PODCAST SHOW EVENT!!!! JUNE 2ND!!!
⁠⁠https://www.therobintheatre.com/events/what-lansing-council-podcast-live-panel-discussion⁠
Dolly Parton 9-5 music video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbxUSsFXYo4
Lansing Facts tourism video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smFvDuGiS0Q
Lansing’s 2023 Parking study:
https://www.lansingmi.gov/1248/Parking-Study

Council had a light agenda, with some heavy issues at the May the Fourth meetings. Six city departments gave budget presentations: the 54A District court, the Mayor’s office, Downtown Lansing Inc., Human Resources, Finance, and Treasury. Public comment focused on begging council to stop sending police to sweep unhoused people out of places where they congregate in the city. 
Our guest this episode is Dana Watson. Dana served as an East Lansing city council member from 2020 - 2025, she continues to work as a Health Equity Social Justice Coordinator for Ingham County, and as a board member for the Justice League of Greater Lansing.
Support this podcast financially:
⁠https://www.patreon.com/whatLansingCouncil⁠
UPCOMING LIVE PODCAST SHOW EVENT!!!! JUNE 2ND!!!
⁠https://www.therobintheatre.com/events/what-lansing-council-podcast-live-panel-discussion⁠
The 45 B (East Lansing) expungement clinic mentioned in the episode, unfortunately happened on May 1st this year, but it is an annual event. More information about the expungement process in Michigan can be found here: https://michiganlegalhelp.org/resources/crime-and-traffic/overview-of-michigans-expungement-laws
Working Families Party: https://workingfamilies.org/state/michigan/
Greater Lansing Justice League 5K - May 12, 2026, 8:30 AM, Benjamin Davis Park:
https://www.justiceleagueglm.org/event-details-registration/lansing-juneteenth-5k

During the April 20th Lansing city council meetings the council passed ordinance changes with the intention of restricting the locations of new liquor stores - so they are not built right next to each other. They voted 6 to 1 to put the sale of the building currently operated as the Shuffle to a city wide vote, to see if the public would be interested in selling this public asset. They wrote a letter opposing federal legislation aimed at restricting voting rights. They also started the process to change a few things about metered parking. The Lansing area federal credit union chief executive officer was appointed to the Lansing entertainment and public facilities authority (LAFCU to LEPFA), and five departmental budget presentations included three 4/20 jokes.
Our guest this episode is MC Rothhorn. MC is a co-owner of Eastside Compost and a member of the Genesee Gardens co-housing.
Support this podcast financially:
https://www.patreon.com/whatLansingCouncil

UPCOMING LIVE PODCAST SHOW EVENT!!!!
https://www.therobintheatre.com/events/what-lansing-council-podcast-live-panel-discussion

Eastside Compost: food scrap hauling business service all of Lansing and East Lansing! https://eastsidecompost.com/
Eastside Compost Earth Day event at the Allen Neighborhood Center on Wednesday 4/22/2026 from 5:30pm - 6:00pm at 1611 E Kalamazoo St, Lansing, MI 48912
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CFczt1SEx/

During the March 30th Committee of the Whole meeting, the City Council heard a budget overview presentation from the city’s chief strategy officer. They heard departmental budget presentations from the Fire Department, Parks and Recreation Department, and the affiliated agencies the Lansing Economic Development Corporation (LEDC), and the Lansing Entertainment and Public Facilities Authority (LEPFA). Also, members from the Economic Development and Planning Department presented their Community Development Block Grant Annual Action Plan - for federal monies from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Our guest for this episode is Erin Buitendorp. Erin is the Community Development Manager in the City’s Economic Development and Planning Department, Erin leads six dedicated staff members in ensuring federal HUD dollars reach the people and partners who need them most. A Licensed Professional Counselor, creative artist + Lansing Lore preservationist, Erin came to public service by way of a decade in higher education and a term of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA member serving the City.

Project Erin worked on - The City of Lansing City Council Proceedings Collection digitized from 1916 to 2024:
https://archive.org/details/lansing-council-proceedings?sort=date

Community development office within the Department of Economic Development and Planning:
https://www.lansingmi.gov/296/Community-Development-Office

Support this podcast financially:
https://www.patreon.com/whatLansingCouncil

UPCOMING LIVE PODCAST SHOW EVENT!!!!
https://www.therobintheatre.com/events/what-lansing-council-podcast-live-panel-discussion

Fire Department Dashboard:
https://app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJrIjoiMmQ4MDdkODktNjY5My00NDAxLWJlOGUtZTBiOWNmY2MyYzJhIiwidCI6Ijg3NTA5ZGVlLTA5NWItNGZmOC1iYTVhLTAwMzVjZGZjNzE1ZCJ9

Tiny Bit of Wood woodworking and community art studio class schedule:
https://www.tinybitofwood.com/book-online

Capital City Film Festival: https://capitalcityfilmfest.com/schedule

An hour and a half before the April 6th Lansing City council meetings, word got out that the UK based data center company, Deep Green, was pulling their request for the purchase and rezoning of the city owned parking lot on East Kalamazoo and South Cedar St. Many community members shared their thoughts about the process surrounding this project. Council heard budget presentations from the information technology, assessing, city attorney, and police departments, as well as a proposed small development project along South Cedar St. Council passed the ordinance changing the placard system for rental property violators (from pink/red to white/yellow/red/black), and to allow for red tag fees to be waived if progress on fixing housing issues is demonstrated.
CORRECTION the liquor store ordinance update had its public hearing at this meeting - the vote for the approval of this item will be in subsequent meetings. 
Our guest this episode is Rebecca-Lynn Ferguson. Rebecca is a Lansing-based creative and community advocate who works with language learners in the Lansing Public Schools and serves on several boards, including RIF (Reading is Fundamental), Ingham Health Plan (IHP), and the REO Town Commercial Association (RTCA).

Find meeting issues maps and bingo results from the meetings on the podcast’s patreon page here:
https://www.patreon.com/whatLansingCouncil

UPCOMING LIVE PODCAST SHOW EVENT!!!!
https://www.therobintheatre.com/events/what-lansing-council-podcast-live-panel-discussion

REO Town’s 25th Annual Meeting
Event Details

REO Town Commercial Association (the coolest domain name!)
https://reo.town/

Lansing Empowerment Network:
https://www.facebook.com/lansingempowermentnetwork