What Lansing Council

At the March 23rd Lansing city council meetings council heard requests from two developers interested in purchasing city property: the operator of the Lansing Shuffle and Deep Green, the UK based data center developer. Many residents spoke in opposition of these sales and some spoke in support. Council debated the optics of taking a pay raise for their part time positions, and they set a hearing for making changes to the metered parking rules.

Our guest this episode is Judge Rosemarie Aquilina. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina has served on the 30th Circuit Court for Ingham County since her election in November of 2008. She is an adjunct professor at both the Michigan State University School of Law and the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, and she has previously served on the oversight board for the Board of Water and Light and the City of Lansing's Elected Officers Compensation Commission. 
Judge Aquilina:
https://cc.ingham.org/courts_and_sheriff/circuit_court/aquilina.php
Read Judge Aquilina’s books:
https://bookshop.org/beta-search?keywords=Rosemarie+Aquilina
Lansing City Council meeting schedules and documents:
https://www.lansingmi.gov/186/City-Council
Find meeting issues maps and bingo results from the meetings on the podcast’s patreon page here:
https://www.patreon.com/whatLansingCouncil
Youth group with four participants who spoke at council: 
https://www.oneloveglobal.org/ppm 
Peace & Prosperity Youth Action Movement (PPM) is a group of teens and young adults focused on increasing social equity within our community.

At the March 9th Lansing city council meetings the council moved forward with round two of the proposed Deep Green data center property sale and rezoning - setting public hearings for these items. Council approved a new code violation tagging system for white, yellow, red, and black tags. They approved a rezone for a church to operate a shelter facility on S MLK Jr Blvd. They introduced ordinances intended to tighten allowable liquor store locations and activities. They rescinded one make-safe-or-demolish order for the historic Pruess building in old town. Public comment focused on opposition to the data center and disappointment for the city’s actions kicking some folks out of the Causeway Bay hotel, folks who were recently relocated there by the city.  

Our guest this episode is Alyssa Cooling (Turcsak). Alyssa is the 4th Ward Member of the City of Lansing's Arts and Culture Commission. Her day job is in the nonprofit sector. Alyssa is proudly in recovery from a substance use disorder and runs the program Sober in Lansing (currently on a brief pause). She is a graduate of the Lansing Citizens Academy and the East Lansing’s Citizens Academy AND she’s a patron of this show!

Alyssa’s group Sober in Lansing on Instagram and Facebook:
https://www.instagram.com/soberinlansing/
https://www.facebook.com/soberinlansing
Lansing City Council meeting schedules and documents:
https://www.lansingmi.gov/186/City-Council
Find meeting issues maps and bingo results from the meetings on the podcast’s Patreon page here:
https://www.patreon.com/whatLansingCouncil

Alyssa’s shout outs:
Housing Ombudsman for Lansing:
https://www.lansingmi.gov/300/Housing-Ombudsman
517 Coffee company:
https://www.517coffeecompany.com/
The poetry room:
https://thepoetryroom.org/

**CORRECTION** In the episode we discussed how the city of Lansing offers services to help homeowners with lead testing and abatement, that program was part of the Economic, Development and Planning department, not Human Relations and Community Services and it ended in 2025: https://www.lansingmi.gov/346/Lead-Safe-Lansing

At the February 23rd Lansing city council meetings the council heard plans to revise the tagging process for properties with code compliance issues, they saw a tax break request presentation from a developer hoping to build apartments downtown for single folks making the median area income, there was one split vote for the appointment of a new Ward 1 representative to the police commissioner board, and a refreshingly eclectic mix of concerning issues were raised at public comment. 
Our guest this episode is Ryan Kost. Ryan has been Lansing's first ward city councilor since 2023. While in office he has focused on addressing housing needs, holding landlords accountable, and advocating for workers' rights. He works for the State of Michigan, and has three adorable dogs.
Lansing City Council meeting schedules and documents:
https://www.lansingmi.gov/186/City-Council
Support this podcast, and find meeting issues maps and bingo results from the meetings on the podcast’s patreon page here:
https://www.patreon.com/whatLansingCouncil

At the February 9th Lansing city council meeting attendance exceeded the chamber capacity and over sixty community members voiced their comments, mostly for-or-against construction of a new data center on the edge of downtown. The chief executive and chief technology officers from Deep Green, a Manchester, England based company, and the board of water and light general manager presented plans for the 24 mega-watt energy consuming (and 16 mega-watt energy producing) facility. The city council members had a lot of questions about the project. The superintendent of the Ingham County Intermediate School district gave an educational presentation about plans to renovate a historically significant facility through a bond proposal on the ballot this May. Three city construction projects are on track. The city council approved a closed door settlement in the case of a man killed by Lansing police officers in 2020. 
Our guest this episode is Talon Richard Wooster - Lansing resident, member of and advocate for the Lansing Homeless Union and the Rent is Too Damn High.

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

At the January 26th, 2026 Lansing City council meeting many residents and folks from the surrounding area voiced concerns about the proposed downtown data center, trade union workers spoke in support. The city’s planning department and the Board of Water and Light (BWL)  presented and answered questions about the project. Public commenters and the council had concerns about the city's policy for addressing homelessness and the cold temperatures, as well as the treatment of homeless folks by the city police as captured in a video circulating online. The Union Missionary Baptist Church applied for a rezoning of their property on S MLK Jr Blvd to continue to operate as a temporary warming center for families. Council drafted a letter asking Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to remove their masks when in Lansing, and asked the mayor to make a plan to protect all people here.

Be advised, violence is discussed in this episode.

Our guest this episode, Selina Máté, has worked in refugee resettlement for the last six years, she is also a creative content strategist, the co-owner of Peculiar coffee co., and was appointed to Lansing's Historic District Commission last year.

Check out Selina’s coffee company here:
https://www.peculiarcoffeeco.com/

Deep Green more info for Lansing website:
https://deepgreen.energy/lansing-public-info

Lansing City Council meeting schedules and documents:
https://www.lansingmi.gov/186/City-Council

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