Meet the people who could rewrite Lansing's city charter

LANSING — A slate approved by the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce established a supermajority on the city’s new charter commission, winning six of the commission’s nine seats in Tuesday’s election.

The commission’s task will be to begin reviewing the city charter, essentially a city constitution or blueprint, at a meeting on May 21.

Approved by voters in November, the commission is expected to propose possible changes to the charter within two and a half years, which must be submitted to voters.

The commission can suggest changes that could range from updating gender-specific language to adding seats to the city council and the changes could alter just about any part of the city’s operations.

The winning candidates approved by the chamber include familiar names in Lansing circles, including Joan Bauer, Brian Jeffries, Guillermo Lopez, Elizabeth Driscoll Boyd, Muhammad Qawwee II and Ben Dowd.

Steve Japinga, the chamber’s vice president of public affairs, said the commission ended up with a diverse group representing Lansing.

“They have a difficult task to do and they have a lot of experience,” he said.

Former elected officials are doing well

Among the winners are four current or former elected officials.

Here is a list of commissioners, in order of the greatest number of votes received.

Jeanne Bauer is a former state representative and city council member who won 56 percent of the more than 11,000 votes cast. No one else has crossed the 50% mark.

Brian Jeffries is a former city council member and senior attorney for the Student Legal Services at Michigan State University. He received 5,112 votes.

Guillermo Lopez is a Lansing school district administrator and former equal opportunity specialist for the city. He received 5,032 votes.

Elizabeth Driscoll-Boyd heads public relations for Liz Boyd and served as press secretary to former Gov. Jennifer Granholm. She received 4,553 votes.

Lori AdamsSimon is Interim Director for Equity and Inclusion at Lansing Community College. She received 3,628 votes.

Mohammed Qawwee II is a U.S. Army veteran and president of UAW Local 4911, which represents workers at the University of Michigan-Health Sparrow. He received 3,407 votes.

Jody Washington is a former city council member and employee of the Michigan Department of Corrections. His son, Adam Hussain, is a board member. She received 3,222 votes.

Jasmine Anderson is the director of equitable economic development for the Lansing Economic Area Partnership. She received 3,106 votes.

Ben Dowd is associate director and chief operating officer of the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan. Ranking last among nine winners, 27% of the votes – or 3,007 – went to Dowd.

What they plan to do

“The next step is to roll up our sleeves and get to work,” Bauer said.

She said the commission will hopefully start by looking at the city charter and other examples.

“I think it is extremely important that the commission hears from all members of our community, from all facets of the community, including our residents first and foremost, but also the business and labor communities, as well as the education and safety communities,” Bauer said.

The chamber, along with other organizations and individuals, plans to work with the commission on various parts of the potential charter rewrite, Japinga said.

Along with the chamber slate, a group of nine candidates banded together as the Lansing Community Alliance. Anderson was the only member of this list to win.

Julie Vandenboom was a member of the list. She was the first person to run for the commission and was 18 votes short of winning.

Vandenboom said she was pleased to see Anderson, whom she got to know well during her campaign, elected to the commission, alongside Washington and Simon.

Washington and Simon were the only winners who were not on the Chamber or Community Alliance lists.

“A lot of people don’t completely understand what’s going on,” Vandenboom said. “It’s about having conversations with Lansing residents to determine what’s working and what needs to be improved, and then adjusting the charter accordingly.”