Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome to the East Lansing City Council regular business meeting of June 2nd, 2026. The meeting will come to order. Could we have the roll call please?

Councilmember Whalen. Here. Councilmember Meadows. Here. Councilmember Singh. Here. Mayor Pro Tem Grigsby. Here. Mayor Altman.

Here. I will move approval of the agenda as presented. Is there a second? Moved by Altman, second by Grigsby. I will make an amendment. I will move an amendment to the agenda, which is I will move to amend the agenda by adding item 4.3 under the business agenda to enter into a closed session to discuss and consult with the city attorney regarding privileged and confidential attorney-client legal correspondence that is exempt from disclosure by state law under MCL 15.243 sub 1 sub G AS ALLOWED UNDER SUBSECTION 8 SUB 1 SUB H OF THE MICHIGAN OPEN MEETINGS ACT AND ALSO TO ADD ITEM 4.4 STATING THAT UPON RETURN TO OPEN SESSION CITY COUNCIL MAY TAKE ACTION REGARDING MATTERS DISCUSSED IN CLOSED SESSION THAT IS MY AMENDMENT TO THE AGENDA IS THERE A SECOND SECOND OKAY MOTION BY ALTMAN SECOND BY SINGH ANY DISCUSSION OF THE AMENDMENT All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. That amendment is adopted. So the vote is on the agenda as amended. Any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. The agenda is adopted. Is there a motion concerning the minutes of previous meetings?

Move approval of the minutes.

Motion by Singh to approve the minutes of the 26 May 2026 regular council meeting. Is there a second? Second. Motion by Singh, second by Grigsby. Any corrections to those minutes? Seeing none, the motion is on the minutes as presented. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. The minutes are approved. Communications, all written communications received by council by 4 p.m. the day of the business meeting are posted to the online agenda packet. Communications from the audience, Robin Etcheson.

Topic here is leadership.

for me today.

Leadership. You were voted in by citizens of East Lansing, which is obvious. Consider this. Would they vote for you again under your performance? You know, some of you campaigned to get this position by criticism of the former mayor, Mayor Bacon. Under his leadership, you used your criticism. But now here you are yourselves, facing some more severe criticisms of your own. Just a word of warning. People that live in glass houses should be very careful about throwing stones. This is 2026, not 1926. What it appears to me is that this city council is trying to take East Lansing backwards, not forward. East Lansing projects itself as a progressive community. And for the most part, most of the citizens that I've encountered since I've lived in East Lansing have been pretty progressive. But it doesn't appear that this here sitting city council is very progressive at all. This is 2026, not 1926. And back in the history of East Lansing, there were deed covenants and what they call, they're basically restrictions.

And one of the restrictions was do not sell to blacks.

This is 2026, not 1926. Has anyone really considered the potential cost to the city of East Lansing with lawsuits? Five years I've witnessed several major lawsuits filed against East Lansing and now more. And if East Lansing doesn't change its position and the way it's progressing, there will be more. Has anybody even considered the cost to East Lansing? Not even just to mention the image of East Lansing, but the cost to East Lansing. It seems to me that under Mayor Bacon, East Lansing was trying to move past its history. But now it seems that some of you sitting on this council right now is trying to take East Lansing backwards. This might be where some of you may want to take East Lansing, but this may not be where East Lansing wants to go, the citizens of East Lansing itself. Again, I want to remind you over and over again, this is in 2026, not 1926. So moving forward, you've talked about transparency and accountability, but everything I witnessed over the last going on five years with this city council, and even some of the previous city council, that all your actions are against transparency and accountability. You tried to, no you haven't tried to, you actually dumbed down the Ellipop Commission. Now you're trying to dumb down the Human Rights Commission. What is the problem? I'm not clear on what is the problem with transparency and accountability. Everyone wants to know what's going on. The citizens may come before you. They want to know what's going on. And if someone makes a mistake, if you make a mistake, if anybody makes a mistake, then they need to be held accountable. But the city council itself, you're not doing justice to the citizens of East Lansing. You're not doing justice to the police officers of East Lansing. You put them in a very precarious position. with your lack of commitment to transparency and accountability, and you hired a police chief, a police chief.

You have 30 seconds remaining.

Who's definitely not committed to transparency and accountability. Again, I need to let you know, be advised, there will be more lawsuits, and if you continue down this path, there will be more violence, more violence perpetrated by the East Lansing Police Department. Just be advised. It's on you.

Thank you. James McCurtis.

Thank you, James McCurtis from the Lansing NAACP branch.

I just want to say while Mr. Etchison was speaking, you know, Councilman Meadows, you just, like, on your computer, that's dismissive.

The least you could do is look at us while we're speaking. That's just dismissive. It gives off a bad sign. It's a bad vibe like you really don't care. That's what it looks like. That's the optics. Have you seen the video? Video of Isaiah Kirby when he was killed by East Lansing police? I'll tell you what I saw, and it's hard to unsee it. It's a young man who was running, people keep saying, toward the police. I want to be clear, he was running past the police, as if he was trying to run away, like running past the police. Police gather around, he gets shot. And he's down on the ground, and he's not a threat. Police officer says switch to non-lethal and they use lethal, excessive force and shoot him 17 times. See, every time I come up here, I want to talk about that and the police brutality with the pepper spraying incident and what Chief Brown said about minorities being in East Lansing because the message is black and brown people, you are not wanted here. That's the message. We've called for Police Chief Jennifer Brown's resignation since August. In every subsequent meeting since then, at one meeting I even said that this is on you as city councilmen and council people because no actions were taken. We even called for Mr. Bellman's resignation because no action was taken. Nothing happened. Then a lady comes up and she says she was sexually harassed by Mr. Bellman. And then he held a special meeting to try to clear his name, whatever, whatever. And then action was taken to put him on leave while an investigation takes place. Here's the problem. He's the only one that can hire and fire the police chief. So while he's on leave, police chief is still at the helm, still leading a group of police officers where the culture has not changed, where she is still standing by her statement, which Bellman called racist, and Months have gone on with nothing happening to her. Now, it's a good start to have Bellman on leave, but we don't know what that investigation is going to conclude. But there's no consequence, no punishment, nothing when it comes to Police Chief Jennifer Brown. The culture of the police department needs to change and it starts at the top. That's the problem. How long is it going to take before removing police chief Jennifer Brown? I get it takes a while to change the culture. But it starts at the top and it starts with the city council. City council didn't put any pressure on Bellman to remove the police chief. Didn't put any pressure on Brown to resign at the time when all these things happened. And now we have a big mess in East Lansing. that's a problem a problem that you need to fix you have 30 seconds remaining and the police chief is still at the top leading this police force meanwhile bellman is out because of an investigation she still leads the police force a police force that acted as judge jury and executioner when it came to Isaiah Kirby. That's on your hands. Thank you. Danita Brandt.

Good evening.

Danita Brandt from Bailey neighborhood. What I see and hear from residents and other speakers during public comment is frustration. Frustration with the system, policies, procedures, protocols, process that grinds exceedingly slowly and can be perceived as an excuse for avoiding response to the immediate need for feeling like one is being heard. The feeling of not being heard fuels more frustration and impatience and invites us, your constituency to fill in the knowledge gaps with conjecture and misinformation. This boils down to communication, which also goes by the name transparency. During every public comment session of the last three months that I've been following these meetings, council is implored again and again to listen, to be transparent, and to do the right thing. I want to speak from the position of knowing you are listening and that you do in fact have hearts, but you all, meaning from the mayor and the council to the city manager and city staffers, might not be the best communicators, be it for structural or procedural reasons. By structural, I mean the organization of city council meetings, which exist to get the business of being a city done, including listening to input from its constituencies, but these are not town halls and do not provide an opportunity for give and take between council and its constituency. Council members may use their comment time to respond to issues brought up during public comment, but other time we get crickets. So the end effect is that response seems random or capricious. As a community, we've got to have a means for back and forth between you, our city leaders, and us, the people you serve. I'll credit Councilmember Grigsby for his efforts to create time and space for dialogue and for acknowledging every email I've sent him. But this effort can't rest on one person's shoulders. I'll credit Councilmember Singh for using her time at a previous meeting to go through the list of demands from the Coalition for Justice asking for updates on progress. Thank you for that. Council demonstrated that you were listening by delaying a vote on the proposed HRC changes and soliciting input. Let's make sure there will be conversations before that vote is taken. including a clear explanation and justification of the reasons for the proposed changes. The explanation and justification is already there, but it's buried as the last page of a PDF that is buried in an online City Council agenda, and evidently that's not the best way to communicate. Council listened to public input then voted unanimously to put the city manager on leave. Council took these actions after extensive and at times highly charged testimony during public comment, attesting to the effectiveness of public comment, but also raising troubling questions. Why do we, your constituency, feel we need 11th hour campaigns to protect our interests? I think it could be as simple as getting the word out and as hard as getting the word out effectively. These are questions of communication. Let's talk about how we can be better at that. To do this right, we must start at the top and hire a city manager with a proven track record of being an effective communicator. Thank you and thanks for acknowledging the importance of our presence by reconfiguring the room and giving us more space.

Thank you. Sarah Zwickle.

Thank you. My name is Sarah Zwickle. I live one block north. You know, for weeks there's been passionate, intelligent, inspiring words from our community. And for weeks people have come, paid babysitters, spent after hours of work to express their grief, their hopes, their frustration, and their sincere requests. What a gift that they come. That they feel that they can express what is in their hearts, that they can risk being vulnerable with each other. But when there's no reciprocal risk from you, no balanced show of action, it is un-painful and confusing. It is not honoring their work at citizenship, at non-violence and a flourishing community. So here we are again, seemingly stuck. So how do we respond? I will continue to bring words from elders who have restored faith in the ability of people to work together to course correct governments, councils, that may be steering off course. And so today I'm going to read from a book written by Thich Nhat Hanh. He's a peace activist, and these aren't naive words. He lived through two wars in Vietnam, so they're pretty ground truth. Taking action to stop suffering is right action. Understanding the foundation of this, of every good action, No action can be called right action without right understanding or communication. In order to understand, we have to listen. But how do we know we have right understanding? If you try to help someone but your actions only worsen the situation, then you did not have right understanding. If your, and I'm replacing a few words here, city council passes an unjust ordinance, it is because your counselors did not have right understanding of the problem they were trying to address. All actions, all our personal, political, and humanitarian activities must be based on a clear understanding of yourself, your situation, your own people, your own city. Deep listening and loving speech are wonderful instruments to help us arrive at the kind of understanding we all need as a basis for appropriate action. You listen deeply for only one purpose. to allow the other person to empty their heart. This is already an act of relieving suffering. To stop any suffering, no matter how small, is a great action of peace. But we know when one person suffers, we all suffer. The path to end suffering depends on your understanding and your capacity to act without causing harm. or further suffering. This is acting with compassion. This is your best protection. To understand both sides in a conflict and to see what to do and what not to do, we must have confidence in our own view, in our own experiences and understanding of the difference between truth and wrong perceptions. We must be able to withstand the influence of public opinion and propaganda. This strength comes from looking deeply with compassion and from solid practice. Those who make the news and those who make political strategies have a strong effect on us. Political parties and politicians are always trying to persuade us. They try to change the way we think and feel so we must be rooted in ourselves and our practice, and by that he means meditation and mindfulness, looking deeply so that we will not be misled. If we do not maintain our own stability and insight, we can be easily swayed. Please remember right action comes only from right understanding and we must practice deep listening in order to understand. With this in mind, you become bodhisattvas of peace and reconciliation.

Thank you. Thank you. Todd Haywood.

Good evening, Mayor Altman, Mayor Pro Tem Grigsby, Council Members Meadows, Singh, and Whalen. I appreciate the opportunity to address you this evening. I'm here to present you with a formal appeal of FOIA ELPD-2026-532. Six News Investigates requested the following on May 8th, 2026. On May 7th, 2026, officials from the city and the police met with the family of Isaiah Kirby, as well as others, including James McCurtis, Jr., president of the NAACP Lansing branch. During this meeting, a video of these events related to the death of Isaiah Kirby at the hands of law enforcement officers was shown. That video was planned for and developed for public consumption. ELPD subsequently decided not to release that video. This request is for that video as presented to, among others, the family, the president of the NAACP, friends and attorneys of the family, and it should not require any time to search and review. The video is readily available. It was created for public consumption and would not require separation of exempt and non-exempt material. The video should be released immediately without a need for an extension. Unfortunately, you took an extension and then you denied the release of the video. On June 1, 2026, the release of this video was denied for two reasons. Privacy concerns that the release of that video would be a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy, and two, the release of the video would interfere with an ongoing law enforcement investigation and potential any court involvement. I'm handing this to you and the acting city manager, Newman, during this meeting and during public comment because the denial is inherently problematic under FOIA and for the public. The video in question was shown to multiple persons, including but not limited to attorneys for the Kirby family, the East Lansing City Council, the president of the NAACP Lansing branch, and multiple persons associated with ELPACT. The video was presented to the attorneys for the Kirby family the Kirby family and the president of NAACP as a final video. It was prepared for public release on May 7th. However, on May 7th at 6.20 p.m., the East Lansing Police Department sent out a statement notifying the media this video would not be released because ELPD was quote, re-evaluating and preparing what video footage may be released at a future date, end quote. the future date was may 14th 2026 exactly seven days later not only did elpd release all of the body cam video six in total but also the fleet and dashboard cams to assert that releasing an edited video prepared for public consumption and shown to multiple non law enforcement individuals because it would interfere with ongoing criminal investigations or somehow be an unwarranted invasion of privacy is in comprehensible the public has a right to view the video and compare it with the narrated video Chief Jennifer Brown in the ELPD created and released on May 14th, as well as the raw video of the various officers' videos. There is no risk to the privacy of anyone, nor is there a risk to the investigation, which has been handed to the Office of the Attorney General. You are urged to reverse the denial promptly and release the May 7th edited video presented to multiple persons, including the City Council. Mr. Mayor, here is the appeal.

I will take it. Thank you. Cath Edsel.

Good evening.

A couple of weeks ago, several of you on council said you believe women. But for nine months, brown women, black women, white women, Asian women, native women have come before you and you have not believed them. East Lansing is and always has been a sundown town. I'm not the first one to come before you and say that this is not the first time I've said it. Public defender Jonathan Foreman, a white man, told you about a black client's mother saying she told her child never to come to East Lansing. Other parents of black children have told you that their children have been targeted and followed by ELPD repeatedly. You have video evidence of officers pepper spraying, tasing, and violently arresting black people far beyond what was necessary or warranted, and now you have a video evidence of them shooting a young black man at least 17 times, many of which happened after he was no longer a threat. During the same time, under the same leadership, a white man and his dog charged full speed at ELPD officers and lived to tell the tale. Initially, ELPD attempted to tase him, but then resorted to wrestling him to the ground to effect an arrest. The same man had asked to be left alone after multiple welfare checks, but ended up with felony charges because of ELPD's help. But the main issue is that as a white man, he was not shot and killed as Isaiah was. Anecdotes aside, in 2025, 54% of all use of force incidences were against black people in a county that is 12% black and a city that is 8% black. No realistic calculation of disproportionality can justify these numbers. Only racism, deeply embedded in this police department with a racist chief leading the way, can explain those numbers. So I ask, is this the best we can do? Mark? Carrie? Chuck? Is this what you support? Over the years, East Lansing has adopted ordinances and resolutions that make it seem like we are a community that opens its collective arms to diversity, to progress, to honoring each other's humanity. We are a sanctuary city. We protected LBGT rights before it was cool. We passed a resolution to address racism. We have human rights commission that is almost 60 years old. So East Lansing residents, visitors, and students can have an avenue toward justice when their civil rights are violated. We created a police oversight body to address racial inequities in policing. We have an office of diversity, equity, and inclusion. But as I've said or inferred many times from this podium, under this city manager, this police chief, this city council, and these city attorneys all become performative at best. And at the rate at which it's being dismantled is mind-blowing. At what point did this council abdicate its role to protect the morals and values of this community to a Trump-loving city manager and police chief? At what point did this council decide that undoing all the hard-won gains toward a fairer and more just East Lansing was what was best? and why did we hire a law firm either bent on or directed to undo all our historic gains who decided to have the city attorneys disempower ellie pock and hrc at a cost of one point one million dollars and i do have the receipts and who in fact directed them to rewrite the hrc ordinance in the current national environment Who thought removing people's ability to seek remedy when their civil rights were violated was a good idea? Was that you, Mr. Altman? This community needs to know. I and many others in this room and throughout the city are hoping that Robert Bellman's leave is the beginning of his termination. but we cannot stop there the city of east lansing has been in chaos for close to ten months due to decisions and actions of the police chief whom robert bellman chose to hire the hiring process was not a good faith effort from beginning costing tens of thousands of dollars and in the end he hired the least qualified candidate against the recommendation of the hiring panel made up of community members Ensuing decisions of this chief to criminalize homelessness, criminalize loitering, her September 27th press release, her statements about use of force towards and criminal behavior of minorities and the ensuing public backlash have become an embarrassment to this community. Robert Bellman's public acknowledgment that Chief's statement was racist, with zero accountability, was simply performative, increased divisiveness, and provided no relief for those in the community suffering yet again from the city's legacy of racism. Bellman and Brown's inability or unwillingness to gather input from the community most directly harmed by the chief's actions and words or apparently any direction from the DEI director or how to repair the harm demonstrates a racial incompetence unacceptable in East Lansing. Instead, they have repeatedly inflated these relationships by bullying and strong-arming the commissions created to protect the community from civil rights violations and brutal brutality, including the city attorneys to threaten commissions with litigation and removing the staff liaison most qualified from those commissions. The decision to withhold video footage for over a month following the shooting of Isaiah Kirby further damaged trust and added proof that neither of them has the capacity to help this community heal. It is time to clean house of this Project 2025 mess and spend whatever is left of your terms working to create a safe and welcoming and forward-thinking community. Thank you for your comments. Your time has expired. Fire Bellman, Fire Brown.

Thank you for your comments. Carla Forrest-Hewitt.

Good evening.

I'm speaking today as a member of the Coalition for Justice and many of us are present here and at home. I'm here once again to remind you that you are elected officials and with that role comes a responsibility to lead with care, accountability and integrity. many of us have touched on different things and i'm going to there's so many things that we need to address and so one of the things i want to give perspective to is that mayor Altman you have consistently emphasized the need for fiscal restraint due to the deficits and financial obligations at the same time you have allowed city manager or whoever to propose budget cuts to parks and recreation in particular. There are other cuts that I will not get into. Reductions that impact community and youth programming and you have supported increases in entry costs that create additional barriers to access and participation. Parks and recreation programs are not luxuries. They are essential investments in the well-being and future of this community. They allow for those who cannot have private pools and pay for elite youth sports teams and drama camps to have an affordable local option. It is very telling about values when we divert money from social and community programming and open our wallets to paying for litigation that is directly related to leadership decisions and the expansion of a police force. The city continues to spend significant resources on public relations firms outside investigations, litigations that are related to civil lawsuits. It is clear when you don't address harm, when it happens, on your watch, that you don't value people. It is not without irony that we watch you give our dollars to these public relations efforts that are geared towards managing the fallout from bad decisions, such as the police chief's publication of inaccurate and harmful information, which defended actions of police officers who directly pepper-spayed Lonnie and Mason during Welcome Week. At the same time, the city manager has been involved in allegations that require the hiring of an outside investigative firm. The publication of those findings have only intensified concerns. Seeking legal strategies that are designed to reduce oversight and accountability further entrenches harmful decision making and distances leadership from the very communities that they serve. Poor choices by leadership have real-life consequences, and without being held accountable, no learning can be had. At this moment, I do not have confidence in the ability for a counselor with the current modality that they have to make sound judgments and guide the community towards a stable, ethical, moral future. The decisions that you have made and continue to stand behind reinforce this concern. And I should say, not everybody, I'm hoping that this is not true for everyone in council. I ask that you acknowledge the mistakes, own the errors and harm caused on your watch, learn from them and demonstrate better leadership starting now. Do not pass the ordinances that defund or weaken the HRC. Reinstate the oversight powers of ELIPOC. Rescind efforts to introduce a sergeant at arms to limit public comment. and to three minutes. Commit to transparent corrective action when harm occurs under city leadership. Avoid aligning the city with aggressive litigation strategies. Reject poor or harmful external advice. Reduce taxpayer spending on litigation by leading with accountability and humility. Because we will continue to come here and remind you of your duty to the community. Thank you.

Thank you, Josh Hewitt.

What's up, everybody? I see Chuck Grigsby's son is here. Welcome, man. It's good to have another black guy here. Yeah, your dad has been pretty disappointing, just so you know.

Please address the council, Mr. Hewitt.

So, council, Chuck Grigsby's son, just letting him know, his dad has been pretty disappointing. It's good that he's here to see for himself. Yeah, anyway, so pretty much so. Today, I was sent... a video to take a look at. It was pretty much by a lady who's been doing extensive research on policing in the United States. Her name is Andrea Ritchie. And there was a New York University DC dialogue on May 7th, 2018. And she pretty much talked about some of the issues with policing. And in that interview that she did, she provided examples of officers who received some of the best training techniques and standards, including crisis intervention and de-escalation. But yet black people in the community were experiencing things differently. That's what she said. She went on to say that training without accountability does nothing. Training without leadership, supervision, and discipline does nothing. And that one of the best ways to reduce police violence, particularly for black and brown people, is to reduce police contact. I think we all want to work, well, we all want to have a safe East Lansing, but I think instead of allocating a lot of our taxpayer dollars to hire more officers, we should be investing more in affordable housing, mental health care, jobs and education. In addition to that, I just want to say again what happened to Lonnie and Mason is pretty clear was pretty wrong. It's been probably nine months now and we still haven't heard pretty much any council members say in public what they really felt or thought about the situation, even though it was pretty clear that a lot of harm was done. I just want to say thank you. to council members saying, I'm just meeting with different groups of residents and just having open discussions. And I really felt as if we don't have to agree on everything, but I just felt like a sense of humanity from her. So I just want to say sincerely thank you. To the rest of city council, you guys are paying these attorneys a lot of money to pretty much uphold injustice in the city. These attorneys are not representing East Lansing, not representing us at all. And I don't think it's a good way to be spending taxpayer dollars, to be honest with you guys. They're pretty much just fleecing the city. And a lot of stuff is not stemming from issues that came up randomly. It's going all the way back, and it's just compounding over and over. I just don't think, again, that we should be spending money that way. I know there was a change in who the attorneys were a few months ago. I remember, not specifically, I remember Eric Altman was saying that even though they'd be paying them more, his assumption is that they'd be doing better work, so there'd be less billable hours. It's kind of ridiculous, but that was his assumption. I have two minutes left. I'm going to use the rest of my time in silence. I don't really have much more to say. I just want to have silence for Lonnie Mason, Lonnie and Mason, for Isaiah Kirby, for Doug Milock, and just anybody who was harmed in this city. And specifically, because of the leadership of Jen Brown, I'll say again, she needs to go. And this is not us being reactive again. We've been seeing this, as James McIntyre said, for months now. So yeah, we can just look at each other and yeah, just be silent.

Thank you for your comments. Nadia Sellers.

My name is Nadia Sellers and I am with the Coalition for Justice and thanks to you councilmen and women for not doing your job. Our correlation is growing and I'm proud to be a part of it. I am not going to speak to you guys because you don't listen, even though that should be your job. Let's be directed to the residents and taxpayers of East Lansing. Residents, East Lansing is trending in the wrong direction. And you, as taxpayers and citizens, deserve better. In just the past several months, two black men were falsely arrested, pepper sprayed, charged, and later had those charges dropped. The City's own Human Rights Commission found that their civil rights were violated by Jen Brown and the City of East Lansing. So now, they ordered to pay restitution, which is the taxpayer's responsibility. Then we witnessed another tragedy involving the use of deadly force and the loss of a young man's life. 17 shots. A family is mourning the loss of a loved one. Criminal investigations are being passed on and on. And the possibility of costly litigation looms over the city. Again, taxpayers, your dollars. Hopefully the officers go to prison. Other officers will end up in therapy. You have a city manager facing allegations of sexual harassment that's on paid leave, your tax dollars. Rather than being held accountable, he remains on paid leave, funded by you. The resident of East Lansing deserves a leadership that upholds the highest standards of professionalism and integrity. You elected a mayor, or you have a mayor, who's chosen to stand behind the conduct of Robert Bellman, which many of you have told us you find unacceptable and disrespectful. You have a city council considering actions that will weaken local civil rights protections, the rights that belong to you. This is not the East Lansing you guys deserve. You're paying the price. Please listen, taxpayers of East Lansing. You're footing the bill for poor decisions made by this council, costly legal battles, settlements that could have been avoided, more than a million dollars of your money spent on legal expenses and other related costs, bad decisions, money that could have been invested in your schools, your city programs, services for the homeless, community infrastructure improvements, parks, community programs, and actually things that can benefit you, the taxpayers and residents. But you elected these officials and you know you have a voice and you have the power to demand accountability. I urge every resident listening tonight to contact your mayor and every member of this city council and tell them this is not what you voted for. Tell them you expect transparency, accountability, and leadership that puts you, the residents, first. You don't have to come here and speak to them because they don't listen. The only time they listen is when they were campaigning. When they were campaigning, you gave them time. Now they want to strip you of your time and reduce five minutes down to three. Please contact East Lansing City Council, contact City Hall and demand action. Demand responsibility, stewardship of taxpayer dollars and demand the city leaders restore trust and order in this community.

Your community is so out of order.

And if they're unwilling to do so, demand they step aside and allow others to step in and lead. The future of East Lansing belongs to its residents, not politicians, attorneys, or special interests. You have 30 seconds remaining. It's time for the people of East Lansing to make their voices heard. Call for the firing of Jen Brown. Call for the firing of Robert Bellman. Call for fiscal responsibility. Call for the resignation of Mayor Altman. Call for restoring funding to Elly Potts and the HRC. Members of the council, if you believe the victims If you believe, if you have compassion for those who have been victimized by your police department, can you please raise your hand? Because the news is here. Thank you for your comments. So it's clear none of you have compassion for these people. Thank you for your comments.

For Kirby, for Smith, for Woods.

Thank you for your comments.

It's obvious you don't have compassion. You're not even going to raise your hand.

Could we cut the podium microphone, please? Is there anyone else in the audience who would like to address the council?

Good evening, city council. The points I'm going to be making, could you state your name for the record? Sorry, Kelly Ellsworth. The points I'm going to be making tonight are twofold. One will be on what bravery of a police chief looks like and then on retaliation. On May 29th, Carson Heider, 22 years old, an officer in North Carolina, was caught on camera punching a woman in her face, in her head, up to 10 times. The very next day, the chief had the courage to fire him. Yet since August of 2025 cause for the police chief in East Lansing for her resignation have been ongoing. Then on April 15th, Isaiah Kirby was murdered under her leadership and the lack of leadership from the city manager on retaliation. What is workplace retaliation? What does that mean? It occurs when an employer takes adverse action against an employee for engaging in legally protected activities. These activities may include reporting discrimination, harassment, or safe violations. Retaliation can manifest in various forms, such as demotion, termination, salary reduction, or unfavorable job reassignment. October 2025, the Human Rights Commission joined the NAACP, the Women's Center of Greater Lansing, and LAPOC to call for the resignation of East Lansing Police Chief Jennifer Brown. They also called for an external investigation regarding the over-policing pepper spray incident during Welcome Week. In March and in April of 2026, the Commission made the findings and offered mediation with Lonnie Smith and Mason Woods. The Attorney for the Department and Brown declined the mediation offer. The very next month, workplace retaliation, remember with that definition, the last thing was unfavorable job reassignment. The very next month, workplace retaliation took place against Ms. Elaine Hardy with an unfavorable job reassignment. With the removal of Ms. Elaine Hardy, the City's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director from both the Human Rights Commission and ELIPOC as their liaison. Now, in Ann Arbor, they also have a Human Rights Commission. And their duties, according to Section 1.222, shall receive and review complaints from individuals alleging violations of Ann Arbor's Human Rights Ordinance, Chapter 112, non-discrimination, and take appropriate action. including but not limited to referral of complaints to appropriate agencies or to the city attorney, mediation of complaints, or dismissal of complaints. Report annually to the city council regarding complaints received and actions taken. With city staff, develop procedures to one, enforce, and two, provide notice of non-compliance with non-discrimination provisions. Provide an annual report to City Council regarding compliance of city contractors with non-discrimination provisions of Chapter 112. Investigate, study, hold hearings, and make recommendations to City Council regarding complaints from any class or group protected under the Human Rights Ordinance. City Council may, in addition to the powers and functions provided here, delegate to the Human Rights Commission other powers and functions permitted by law concerning the protection of human rights. I implore you not to strip away the rights of this Human Rights Commission. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to address the Council, please? Please state your name for the record.

Farhan Omar. First and foremost, I want to start off by saying this, and this isn't to defend Chuck, because he doesn't need to be defended. I've known Chuck, I've worked with Chuck, and he's a good man. And so I just want to say that, first and foremost. I want to know whose idea it was to go after the East Lansing Police Commission and also the Human Rights Commission, especially during a time when trust is at an all-time low. What exactly does it accomplish by stripping away powers from these two commissions? Does it increase trust somehow when you take away power from East Langston Police Commission? Does it increase accountability and transparency when you go after the Human Rights Commission? A commission that was created by a need, both of them, by a need. And for you guys to go after these two commissions further proves to the community and to everyone else who's watching, who's been following what everyone else has been saying, and that is you guys are not committed to accountability and transparency. Each year you guys run for office, and on your flyers you have put accountability, transparency. It looks good, it sounds good, except when it's you that's being held accountable. Now you want to change things. Now you want to get rid of commissions. Rather than strengthening and supporting the recommendations that are coming out of these commissions, these commissions hold public meetings just like you guys. You can show up. You can hear what the community is asking for. The demands, the recommendations that are coming from these commissions come from the community. The things that you guys bring out and it's on your agenda, nobody knows where it comes from. It's not from the community. And look where we're at right now. It started off with kids getting pepper sprayed. It started off with your police chief lying about the evidence. It started off with somebody getting killed. It started off with somebody coming out and accusing your own city manager with sexual assault. Things have been going down. And as the leaders of this community, this city, you guys are just doubling down on everything that has gone wrong. As if you guys approved this, as if you guys are behind this, as if you guys are co-signing for every bad thing that happens in this city. Somebody's dead. Somebody got pepper sprayed. There's tons of lawsuits against the city. Somebody was sexually assaulted by your own city manager. What have you guys done since then? All of this, a lot of this could have been prevented had you listened to the community. But once again, guys just don't care. Guys just don't. It's sickening to see what's been happening around here. And then you initiate these investigations that's paid by the taxpayer, but then when it's time to release these investigations, these findings, guys don't do that. That's like me going to the hospital, getting MRI and everything, and the doctor says, you know what?

I'm not going to disclose what's wrong with you.

Well, what's the purpose of doing the test? What's the purpose of initiating these investigations if you're not going to release the findings to the community? It's a waste of time. It's a waste of money. I'd rather you just say, you know what? We don't care. We don't care. The city manager can do whatever he wants. The police chief can do whatever they want. Our police officers can do whatever they want. We don't care. Just say that. Just be honest. But when you're initiating all these investigations as if you care, but then you're not releasing the findings to the public, That's a problem. That's a problem, especially when we're paying for it. If you want to hide things from us, use your own money. Take it out your salary. Pay for these investigations. Pay for these attorneys. Then you can keep them from the community.

It's honestly pathetic coming here every week talking to you guys.

And it feels like we're talking to a wall every time we come here. We're not against you. We just want what's best for this community. That's all we're asking for is what's best for this community.

You have 30 seconds remaining.

Thank you. I don't know what else to say besides just we got to do better. We got to do better. What more evidence do you guys need? How many more people need to die? How many more people need to be sexually assaulted? What more needs to happen for you guys to wake up and do your job, the job that you were elected to do, which is to represent the people? Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to address the council? Seeing none, do we have any callers?

There are four callers on the queue. Caller with the phone number ending in 242, you are now permitted to address council. Caller with the phone number ending in 242, you are now permitted to address counsel.

Hello?

We can hear you.

Can you hear me? Okay, great. Thank you. Hi, my name is Simon Peraza. I am a resident of East Lansing, long time, raised here in the 90s, raised my kids here. I am also a member of ELIPOC, the East Lansing Independent Police Oversight Commission, and And I have been instructed by the city of East Lansing to, uh, be very clear, um, to, uh, to not speak about matters that are under investigation, um, or matters that are in litigation. Um, and the list is growing. So, um, I'm certainly here not speaking as a commissioner and speaking as a member of the public. Um, I've got so many concerns and none of it's written down. So we're just gonna, you know, go on this journey. Um, number one, uh, I, I think, uh, some people are, are saying sexual assault. Some people are saying, uh, sexual harassment. Some people are saying toxic workplace. I think, um, the facts, uh, we know what the facts are. Um, and we also know that I'm concerned that if somebody was actually sexually assaulted, um, that there, that this would not be an environment that would be supportive to them coming forward. Um, when we get caught lying about pepper spraying and then next comes somebody dead by taxpayer funded bullets, we still don't know how many, um, this, this is not a good pattern. Um, the human rights commission. Has a longer and deeper history with East Lansing than any of you. So I would certainly ask you to respect the history and legacy of East Lansing, the parts that we like to brag about, because we don't talk about the parts that we don't like. Let's at least uphold that. And please do not limit this body any further. Please do not try to legally intimidate this body any further. And please do not try to use the budget to, uh, to harm, um, this body or to reduce its effectiveness. These bodies need more, more support from the city, not less their experiments that the people of East Lansing have said very loudly for decades that they want to invest in these experiments to see how we can be better. And you can't pull the rug out of this stuff three years into it. four years into it when things get hot, like Ellipop. You know, one, I've seen one body cam worn footage, one incident. I've been on the body of the commission for a year and a half. And that is the only video I have ever gotten access to. Something's wrong. When your oversight body cannot mention police names in public and they can only meet in public. Something's wrong when your oversight body cannot speak publicly about police killing. I would ask you, we're constantly being pressed by our bar owners that love to get the kids drunk and then have us pay to clean it up. We're constantly being told it's a war zone. We need more cops. We need more cops. I don't think any more bullets could have been used to solve the mental health crisis that we saw in April with Isaiah Kirby. I don't think more bullets is the right answer to deal with a population that is very troubled and needs support. We don't need more cops. We need better cops. We used to be proud of the way that our cops behaved because I grew up here and I used to deal with them a lot on the other side. And I can tell you, we were still very proud of our police. So 30 seconds remaining, where are these social worker resources? We have bullets, we have guns, we have young guys ready to use them. even when they're being told not to by their superior. So I will ask you, please do not harm or restrict the Human Rights Council any further. Do your jobs. We're climbing the ladder and we're running out of people to keep accountable since you won't hold the chiefs and the city.

Thank you for your comments. Could we have the next caller, please?

Kayla Gomez, you are now permitted to address council. Hello, can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you.

Okay. My name is Kayla Gomez, resident of East Lansing, and I am calling during my daughter's birthday because that is how important this is to all of us. I am just calling to state, please, to the council, delay the HRC vote. Give us more time. This is ridiculously fast. We need to review everything in detail and try to get everything together so we can do this right. I'm also, again, asking for Bellman to be fired along with Chief Jen Brown. Enough is enough. Please help the city move forward in the right direction. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments. We have the next caller, please.

Michael Daniels, you are now permitted to address council. Michael Daniels, you are now permitted to address council.

Can you hear me?

We can hear you.

Okay, I'm not going to speak the whole time. I just want to say we need to hold everyone accountable. The numbers as far as the excessive force and not releasing body cam footage, that's not okay. You're supposed to be open and transparent with the public, and we're supposed to know what's going on with the situations. I know we can't know every single thing about the investigations, but... you're supposed to keep the public updated on what's going on in the community and you guys are not being transparent and you guys are not releasing video and footage of situations and that's not okay. So that's all I have to say.

Thank you. Can we have the next color please?

Tashmika Toraki were now permitted to address council.

Hello everyone, can you hear me?

Yeah, we can hear you.

Council members tonight. I want to make sure the public understands something very clearly that the City of East Lansing has known about racial disparities in the LPD's use of force for a very long time. My last public comment. I shared the timeline 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 through through now. and to be honest when i started reading the record based on my experience of this council i assumed i would find a history of the same silence self-protection and retaliation but that's not what i found i found promises made boldly and publicly just broken ordinances and resolutions forgotten or neglected reports ignored and involving both current and former council members and city employees For years, community members showed up to this podium and told you what was happening to them. And every year, the city of East Lansing found a way to delay, deflect, and disappoint. It's so disheartening to watch you all continue that trend. Tonight, I want to take a page from Kath Edsel's playbook and name for anyone listening what this negligence has cost real people. ELPD tased a black high school student who was protecting a female friend. They smashed the faces of black men into pavement on two separate occasions, and tried to give one of those officers an award. They shot D'Anthony Van Atten eight times in a Meijer parking lot and then praised the officers for offering first aid after creating the wounds. They tased a man eating a breakfast sandwich. They threw a 15-year-old child to the ground for not having an ID. They pepper sprayed Lonnie Smith and Mason Woods during welcome week, charged them with fighting with no evidence, and defamed them in the press release. Chief Jen Brown lying and hiding evidence. Lonnie and Mason's mothers have been attending these meetings regularly. They deployed pepper spray and killed Isaiah Kirby in less time than it'll take me to finish this public comment. This is not a pattern that started last year. The data has been in front of the city. In 2022, 56% of use of force incidents were against black individuals who make up 12% of East Lansing population. By 2025, 83% of people ELPD used force against were non-white. That is not a trend moving in the right direction. That is acceleration. And these stats have been read over and over. As a matter of fact, the city paid for the report that they came out of. And now instead of addressing these disparities, you are moving to do something I've not heard a single citizen ask for. And you've spent over a million dollars on attorney fees to subvert the calls for justice. You're attempting to limit the power of the very commission created to support the city and providing all community members with safe and equitable policing, the HRC and LEPOC. The bodies impacted community members fought to establish. That is retaliation. It's not reform. If you choose to strip the HRC or LEPOC of their power, you will diminish and disregard the historical and contemporary labor of people hurt by bias and discrimination in the past and make people more vulnerable to those same harms in the future. I do not expect that you take responsibility as individuals for promises broken by people representing the city. However, as the current elected officials, you have inherited the opportunity to keep these promises and protect the people in your community. Citizens Coalition for Justice has made eight clear demands. They include the removal of Chief Jen Brown, the restoration of full funding to LAPOC and the HRC, independent legal counsel for both commissions, and the dropping of charges against individuals targeted by ELPDs over policing. These are not radical asks. These are the minimum conditions for accountability. Delay the vote on the HRC ordinance, fire Jen Brown, and fire Robert Bellman. And to the public watching tonight, this council has had everything it needs to protect you for almost a decade. I had the opportunity to get, I got messages from a friend of Isaiah Kirby's and talking to them and hearing them describe him was really sad. And I'm not gonna sit here and tell you the story, but what I am going to say is that it was so sad to have to tell them that this has been going on for so long and that the death of their friend was wholly preventable if the city had only acted to prevent the use of force that the ELPD is using flagrantly. The question has never been whether you knew or not. The question is when you will choose to act. When will you have the courage to act on this information?

You have 30 seconds remaining.

That's all. That's my final question. Along with all the questions I've already submitted, along with all the community members have written emails, called, showed up, protested, marched, cried at your podium, and received nothing from you other than retaliation. Thank you.

Thank you. Are there any further callers?

Those are all the callers in the queue.

Okay. That brings us to communications from the council. Council Member Whalen.

Yes, I've got a personal comment tonight. Today recognizes the 70th anniversary of Maynard and Nancy Stafford. Maynard is 96, Nancy is 93. They fell in love and got married 70 years ago today. I got to know them after I married their daughter Sally almost 38 years ago. Maidern and Nancy are kind. They're loyal. They're people of authentic faith. They're very bright people. They also, I'm sorry, I'm going to do this very quickly. So Maynard and Nancy are very kind and very bright and very loyal, authentic people. They also love each other extremely well and they have done that for 70 years with each other. They've raised and loved three children. They have three, two son-in-laws and a daughter-in-law. They have nine grandchildren. and they have nine great-grandchildren. They love and respect their community, and they also are deeply loved by their family and everyone that has met them. I want to recognize that for the 70 years that they have celebrated their marriage today. I also want to say that As summer has approached, I want to welcome people to come downtown to celebrate our businesses and community and as we see more and more people out and about in the community, I look forward to a good summer of interacting. Thank you. Mr. Meadows.

Just briefly, I hope that Robin Etcheson doesn't think that I can only do one thing at a time.

Public comment is closed. You are out of order.

So I assure you that I was listening to you even though I was also doing a little bit of work on the computer to take a look at LAPOC and some of the comments that were made there. I'D ALSO LIKE TO SAY THAT I APPRECIATE VERY MUCH KELLY EDGESON'S COMMENTS THIS EVENING AND THE REFERENCE TO THE ANN ARBOR VERSION OF OUR HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION ORDINANCE AND WE'LL BE TAKING A LONG LOOK AT THAT WHEN WE GET INFORMATION BACK FROM THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION AFTER THEY'VE HAD A CHANCE TO REVIEW THEIR PROPOSED CHANGES. SO THANK YOU FOR THAT.

That's it. Mayor Pro Tem Grigsby.

So WOW. I'M TRYING TO NOT BE EMOTIONAL HERE. BUT SO I WAS HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH A LADY, AND SHE ASKED ME, SHE SAID, how do you deal with people criticizing you as a person, criticizing your family, and just really putting you in a situation where you can't really speak for yourself? And I told that person, I said, look, The issues and the challenges that we have as a city and the work that needs to be done on behalf of those issues are more important than my emotional state, more important than my feelings. And that's how important it is to me about some of the things that some of the commenters have made here in public comment. One of the things that I take pride in is being an example in my leadership, lead by example. One of the biggest challenges I've had since I've been here six months ago and got it started was really being able to address harm, harm in a way that finds resolution and finds healing, finds a champion in the work. I KNEW WHAT I WAS GETTING INTO IN REGARDS TO HOW GOVERNMENT WORKS AND HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO GET THINGS DONE IN A MANNER THAT PEOPLE EXPECT YOU TO GET THINGS DONE. AND IT'S VERY, VERY CHALLENGING BECAUSE THERE IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT STEPS THAT NEED TO BE MADE IN REGARDS TO LONG-TERM SUSTAINABLE CHANGE THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE WHEN IT GOES PAST PEOPLE AND IS BIGGER ABOUT ISSUES. So I'll say that. I want to thank my wife because I know for a fact that she has had to deal with a lot of issues that really simply just don't make sense in regards to what our family stands for. I want to thank my mother for coming here tonight. I wanted her to come in here and I wanted her to experience WHAT MY COMMITMENT IS. I WANTED HER TO SEE HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO WORK WITHIN THE DYNAMICS THAT I'M IN AND THE community expectations that are put upon me for historical long-term challenges that have been here before I got here being here as I am here and will be here when I leave here and I to do my best in that space that I am in right now to address those issues and I want to thank her for really fundamentally providing me the tools to be able to be in the seat to be able to hear things that um I'd be honest with you, to hear things that I just definitely want to say what I feel that does not help anybody or the issues that I stand for. And she has led me still to this day by example in her leadership. AND I THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING. I WANT TO SAY SOMETHING REAL QUICKLY ABOUT MY SON. I WANTED MY SON TO ALSO COME IN HERE. WE HAD A CONVERSATION AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF MY ELECTION AND WHEN I GOT ELECTED, I SAID, YOU KNOW, SON, I SAID, YOU KNOW, I'M PROBABLY GOING TO BE CRITICIZED AND LOOPED INTO A LOT OF THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON WITH THE CITY. AND HE SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT, DADDY, THAT'S WHAT YOU SIGNED UP FOR. TOUGHEN UP. TAKE IT. HANDLE IT. DO YOU. And it made me think that any kind of like insult, you know, criticism that would lead to me to be upset about or get angry about, there has to be some element of truth for it to be something that affects me. So a lot of the things that are said about me don't affect me. What affects me is the fact that we're not working together for the so important issues that you say you stand for. AND THAT MAKES IT DIFFICULT. AND SO I WANT TO THANK MY SON FOR BEING AN EXAMPLE FOR ME TO BE A BETTER PERSON. AND I JUST REALLY APPRECIATE THAT. AND CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BEING A HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE AND GOING ON TO DO SOME GOOD THINGS IN THIS WORLD AT THE NEXT LEVEL. I DO PLAN ON DOING A COUPLE OF MORE COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS. I WOULD HOPE THAT I WOULD HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE DIVERSITY IN THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND HEAR FROM OTHER PEOPLE AND UNDERSTAND KIND OF THEIR EXPERIENCE AND WHAT WE CAN DO AND WHAT I CAN DO TO BE A BETTER LEADER IN MY POSITION. AND I PLAN ON DOING THAT WITH MY COLLEAGUES AND MYSELF, AND THAT'S VERY, VERY IMPORTANT TO ME BECAUSE, YES, CORRECT, THAT THIS FORMAT, THIS GOVERNMENTAL CONSTRAINT DOESN'T ALLOW THAT DIALOGUE, DOESN'T ALLOW THAT REAL CONVERSATION THAT I THINK IS IMPORTANT FOR ME TO BE ABLE TO TAKE IN AND LEARN HOW TO BE BETTER FOR THE COMMUNITY. I'm here. I'm here. And I am going to stay here. I'm going to do the work. I'm going to be committed to the work. I may not do everything you want me to do, how you want me to do it, when you want me to do it, where you want me to do it, but I'm doing the work. And I just got here six months ago. And I've done, in my humble opinion, some work. And I will continue to do that. And so, For audience members who are watching, I know that we have a sample here in front of us, and I know there's people that are watching. And I know this sounds like a broken record, but please reach out to me. Let's have that conversation. Let's have that communication. So I'm able to be better qualified to be a better leader for you in this position. Thank you.

Thank you.

Council Member Singh.

um briefly um you know uh based on uh public comments tonight i just want to reference you know continued dialogue with folks from the citizens demanding justice nothing tangible to report tonight outside of what i reported last week but just wanted to reference those conversations continue. I also want to reference additional dialogue with current and former city employees. I want to, you know, just thank folks for reaching out. I think it's one of the aspects that, you know, as we've kind of looked through the charter review commission's recommendations and have prioritized updates to the Charter that there definitely seems you know with the structure of our city government it feels as though sometimes that hardened structure that council isn't supposed to be involved in operations or direct staff sometimes we're not always getting a great understanding of where and how the workplace culture is developing or evolving And so I just wanted to at least say that publicly to reference perhaps some future more detailed conversations. But just want to again reference the employees that I may quote you here. Our acting city manager and interim fire chief said, you know what, when the bell rings, They still get a suit up, get in the truck, the doors are gonna open and they gotta go out. And the operations of the city as we work in parallel to continue to address some of these critical challenges. And again, I will say this again collectively for the community that we hear from that this is a long road. there are absolutely going to be times and frustration and we're not acting fast enough but being committed to the work and continuing to work together towards a more perfect community is what we're trying to get to so I do want to and I'm not saying this to try to garner any sympathy But my colleague mentioned end of school year is here. People are graduating. I will have 10 third grade boys at my house Friday afternoon for celebrating the third grade end of school year for a party. So just think about that when I have young children running around. So anyway, thank you.

Thank you. I want to welcome interim chief Newman, who's also our acting city manager, who will be on duty for the next few days. I appreciate his willingness to step in to that role. And with that, I will pass the baton to him for the city manager's report.

Thank you, Mayor.

I'm John Newman, interim fire chief. First, I'd like to express my thanks that you've entrusted me the opportunity to fill in for a period of time. From the city manager's office, some announcements to be made. The East Lansing Aquatic Center opened for the season on Saturday, May 30th. The next summer concert event will be held on Friday, June 5th, at the Ann Street Plaza. The Greater Lansing Area Moms will be hosting the Glam Jam Summer Kickoff on Sunday, June 7th, from noon to 4 p.m. And the fifth annual East Lansing Pride will take place on Saturday, June 13th, from 4 to 9 p.m.

We're going to take a brief recess. We are back in session, uh, city managers report.

There was one last, one last item to report. And that is with city council's approval of the revolution resolution on May 26th, recognizing June 20, 26 is pride month. And to raise the LG BT QIA flags at city hall in East Lansing and a community center. Those flags have been raised at both locations. And that concludes the report.

Thank you, sir. I wanted to recognize the Mayor Pro Tem at his request.

I just want to apologize, Mr. Inouye, in regards to that distraction. And I just want to apologize to the community about any distraction. My family is very, very strong in what they stand for. And so that was an example of that. So I apologize for any distraction that we had this evening. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. City Attorney's Report, Mr. Jopik.

Yes, thank you. Nothing to report this evening.

Okay, that brings us to the consent agenda. Mr. Newman.

For the consent agenda, agenda item 3.1, approve a resolution temporarily relocating precinct 13 from Brody Hall to the Kellogg Center for the August 4th, 2026 and the November 3rd, 2026 elections. Agenda item 3.2, receive the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission's 2025 annual report.

Would any council member like any items removed from the consent agenda? Seeing none, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? Moved by Meadows, second by Whelan. Is there any discussion of the consent agenda? Councilmember Singh.

No, just getting ready.

Got it.

I just wanted to say thank you to the Director of Parks and Recreation and his team and the Commission, all their work on that item. Thank you. Any further discussion of the consent agenda?

Okay. Seeing none, the motion is on the consent agenda as presented. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. The consent agenda is approved. That brings us to our business agenda. Item 4.1 is consideration of a resolution to execute the cost-sharing agreement with MDOT for the Harrison Road Rehabilitation Project in an amount of $309,000 which includes a 15% contingency and authorize the city manager to sign. Director Lacoste.

Good evening, Council. What you have before you is the final piece of the puzzle, a project that we've presented several times in front of you. It is a resolution to execute a cost-sharing agreement with MDOT for the Harrison Road Rehabilitation Project from Grand River to Saginaw. On these projects, MDOT actually holds the contract, and so what we approve here is a cost-sharing agreement. The total estimate for the project is 1.46 million and 877,664 is funded by the Federal Highway Administration. As you remember, this had a lot of public comment, had three different phases to the design, which included some extensive conversations and improvements to the Glencairn crosswalk. I won't get any more details because we've talked about this project many times, but I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

questions for the director mr look or mr whalen i guess more of a comment i do appreciate the amount of listening that your team has done and the community collaboration has been i think inspirational for all the other neighborhoods any other comments or questions so just for the public the timeline of this project is the summer right july and august

Correct. Consumers Energy has some gas main work they have to do before us. You'll see some construction before that, but our project is expected to take place in July and August.

And that will mean that Harrison is shut down or will be one lane?

It'll be shut down because it's a narrow road, so trying to maintain traffic would just extend the timeline into school, which we'd like to avoid.

So there will be detours posted? Correct. Okay, great. The plan is, right, hopefully to have it all done before school starts, right?

That is the plan, yes.

Any further discussion or comments? Is there a motion?

I'll move that we approve a resolution to execute the cost sharing agreement with MDOT for the Harrison Road rehabilitation. project in an amount of $309,000 which includes a 15% contingency and authorized acting city manager to sign.

motion by meadows second second by grigsby any further discussion all those in favor say aye aye any opposed that motion carries that project is authorized thank you director lacasse okay that brings us to item 4.2 consideration of canceling the june 9th 2026 discussion only council meeting i will be the resource for this THE MAIN SCHEDULED ITEM FOR THAT DISCUSSION ONLY MEETING WAS STRATEGIC PRIORITIES. I THINK THAT STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR VARIOUS REASONS ARE SORT OF A HEAVYWEIGHT TOPIC. THEY HAVE BUDGET IMPLICATIONS. AND I THINK WE NEED TO HAVE A FULL-TIME CITY MANAGER AT THE HELM FOR THAT DISCUSSION. ACTING CITY MANAGER NEWMAN IS WEARING TWO HATS AT THE MOMENT. HE'S ALSO OUR INTERIM FIRE CHIEF AND I DON'T WANT TO DISTRACT HIM FOR THE IMPORTANT PROJECTS HE'S WORKING ON THERE. SO BASED ON THAT, I SUGGESTED POSSIBLY CANCELING THE JUNE 9TH MEETING. WE DO HAVE TO VOTE ON THIS BECAUSE WE HAVE TO MEND THE SCHEDULE. SO ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? MR. MEADOWS.

I was going to make a motion.

No, motion would be appropriate.

I'll move that we cancel the June 9, 2026 discussion on a council meeting and adjust our schedule of meetings appropriately.

Second.

Motion by Meadows, second by Whalen. Any comments or discussion about that? OK. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. We have canceled the June 9th discussion only meeting. So that brings us to item 4.3. AND I WILL MAKE A MOTION TO ENTER INTO A CLOSED SESSION TO DISCUSS AND CONSULT WITH THE CITY ATTORNEY REGARDING PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEY-CLIENT LEGAL CORRESPONDENTS THAT IS EXEMPT FROM DISCLOSURE BY STATE LAW UNDER MCL 15.243 SUB 1 SUB G AS ALLOWED UNDER SUB SECTION 8 SUB 1 SUB H OF THE MICHIGAN OPEN MEETINGS ACT. THAT IS MY MOTION. i'll second motion by altman second by grigsby any discussion can we have a roll call vote please council member whalen council member meadows council member singh yes mayor pro tim grigsby yes mayor altman yes we are adjourned to closed session we are returned to open session we are now on item 4.4 of the business agenda which is that upon return to open session City Council may take action on matters discussed in closed session is there a motion yes

I'll move to continue the leave of absence of the city manager during the pendency of the investigation and to authorize the mayor and the city attorneys to proceed in the manner discussed with the city attorneys in closed session.

Motion by Grigsby. Second. Second by Whelan. Any discussion of the motion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion carries. as read by the mayor pro tem. That brings us to item five, adjournment. Is there a motion to adjourn? Move by Grigsby. Second. Second by Singh. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? We are adjourned.