Meetings and Events 1/27/14 - 2/2/14

Committee of the Whole - 5:00 p.m., Thursday, January 30th, 2014. This meeting will be held in council chambers, 10th floor, City Hall.

State of the City Address- the council will recess and attend Mayor Bernero's State of the City Address. The State of the City Address is open to the public. 

Thursday, January 30th, 2014

GM Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant

Oldsmobile Room

920 Townsend

Lansing, MI

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. - Refreshments served from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. - Live broadcast at 7:00 p.m. sharp

Early arrival is recommended as attendees will be escorted to the Oldsmobile Room in groups of 10 to 15

The theme of Mayor Bernero's speech--"Growing Lansing Together"--will emphasize the extraordinary community partnerships that enable the city to move forward and the need to continue building those partnerships across the Lansing region. The mayor will highlight the city's major accomplishments over the past year and preview some of the challenges and opportunities he sees in the year ahead. 

Public Safety Meeting - Tuesday, January 28th, 2014 - 12 p.m. - 1 p.m. The committee will be brought up-to-date on pending issues and will set priorities for 2014. 

Stay warm out there, everyone!

Jody

Citizen Alerts

1. The Lansing Board of Water & Light (BWL) has received reports of a scam where impostors threaten customers with loss of service if they do not make a utility payment over the phone within an hour. 

The scam calls show up on caller I.D. from "866-258-6606", and the scammers sometimes identify themselves as representing the BWL, DTE Energy or other utility companies.

Consumers Energy issued an alert last week warning customers of a scam demanding customers quickly pay for utility payments over the telephone using a Green Dot prepaid credit card.

Customers should never give money or personal information over the phone to anyone they don't know. BWL customers are never asked by BWL customer service representatives for credit card information over the phone or in person or to make payments through a wire service like Western Union or Money Gram.

BWL customers have the option of "customer-initiated" credit card payments through a secure Intranet site or secure automated voice payment system.

This scam has been reported to the Lansing Police Department. Customers are urged to report suspicious activity to BWL customer service at 517-702-6006 or to their local police.

2. The following alert has been submitted by residents in the Gier Neighborhood:

"There are door-to-door person(s) saying they are from an energy company and demanding a copy of the resident's energy bill. Someone showed up at my door and my neighbor's. Both my daughter and neighbor refused to give this individual any document, but he was persistent. I called Consumers Energy and was told that there is a gas choice company that might be doing the door-to-door soliciting. I was transferred to them, but they were closed for the weekend. Also, my neighbor found online that they're 'Just Energy'. Apparently they scam people into signing a 5-year contract."

Jody

Council Meeting and Committee of the Whole

Council Meeting:     Thursday, January 23, 2014, 7:00 p.m. – 10^th floor, City Hall. 

The meeting is being held due to time constraints regarding the passing of the resolution regarding the Notice of Intent to Issue Bonds; Wet Weather Control Program, Sanitary  Sewer Projects.

There will be no Committee of the Whole this week.

Committee Meetings:  All Committee meetings are held in the 10^th floor council conference room, 10^th Floor, City Hall

Planning &Development – Nothing affecting Ward 1 – Resolutions to Set Public Hearings for issues                                             regarding 316 Moores River Drive.   Moores River Holding, LLC wants                                                       to utilize the property for an experimental, research, and development                                                           laboratory in the existing building.  The Lansing School District wants                                                            the City to Quit Claim its interest in the property.

Personnel -                            Thursday, January 23@ 3 p.m.

Ways & Means -                    Thursday, January 23 @ 6:30 p.m. / NOI to issue bonds, wet weather                                                   control program, sanitary sewer projects

Ways & Means -                    Friday, January 24 @ 3:30 p.m.

PSA Regarding Trash & Recycling Collection on MLK Day

Due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, City of Lansing’s trash and recycling collections on Monday, January 20th and the rest of the week following will be delayed by one day. Thursday’s regularly scheduled collections will be picked upon Friday. The regular collection schedule will resume on Monday, January 27, 2014.

Leadership Positions and Committee Assignments

The Lansing City Council has begun a new year with new leadership.  The vote for leadership was as follows:

Nominated for President:  A’Lynne Boles and Kathie Dunbar

Boles:  Yes:  Boles, Brown-Clarke, Quinney, Washington and Wood

             No:   Dunbar, Houghton, Yorko

Dunbar:  Yes:  Dunbar, Houghton, Yorko

                No:    Boles, Brown-Clarke, Quinney, Washington and Wood

A’Lynne Boles was elected President

Nominated for Vice President:  Judi Brown-Clarke, Tina Houghton, Jessica Yorko

Brown-Clarke:  Yes:  Boles, Brown-Clarke, Quinney, Washington and Wood

                             No:  Dunbar, Houghton, Yorko

Houghton:         Yes:  Dunbar, Houghton, Yorko

                             No:  Boles, Brown-Clarke, Quinney, Washington and Wood

Yorko:                Yes:  Dunbar, Houghton, Yorko

                             No:  Boles, Brown-Clarke, Quinney, Washington and Wood

Judi Brown-Clarke was elected Vice-President

I voted Boles and Brown-Clarke due to the fact that I believe they both possess leadership qualities and no one else expressed an interest in either position to me.  I did not bargain committee assignments for anybody’s vote. 

Committee Assignments :

General Services:                 Yorko (chair), Wood (vice-chair), Washington

Intergovernmental Relations:  Houghton (chair), Dunbar (vice-chair), Yorko

Public Services:                    Dunbar (chair), Quinney (vice-chair), Brown-Clarke

Public Safety:                                    Washington (chair), Yorko (vice-chair), Boles

Development & Planning:   Quinney (chair), Washington (vice-chair), Houghton

Ways & Means:                     Wood (chair), Houghton (vice-chair), Quinney

Personnel:                             Brown-Clarke (chair), Boles (vice-chair), Dunbar, Wood

Board & Commission Assignments:

Boles:                         Capital Area Michigan Works, Employee Retirement, Planning Board

Brown-Clarke:                      Capital Region Airport Authority, Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors 

Bureau, Tri-County Regional Planning Commission

Dunbar:                      Community Corrections Advisory Board, Planning Board, (is assigned to the                           Capital Area Michigan Works by the mayor to represent him—not part of council              assignments)

Houghton:                 Lansing Entertainment & Public Facilities Authority, Planning Board, Tri-                                         County Regional Planning Commission

Quinney:                   Capital Area Michigan Works, Tri-County Office of Aging

Washington:             Capital Area Michigan Works, City of Lansing & Charter Township of Lansing                                              Liaison Commission, Tri-County Office on Aging

Wood:                         Police & Fire Retirement, Tri-County Regional Planning Commission

Yorko:                                    Downtown Lansing, Inc., Entrepreneur Institute of Mid-Michigan, Tri-County                                               Regional Planning Commission

Jody

Events Around Town

Allen Neighborhood Market - The indoor market is held every Wednesday at the Allen Market Place on Kalamazoo Street from 3:00 - 7:00 p.m.  Each week I will place more events and information regarding the Allen Neighborhood Center.

Coffee with Andy Schor - House Representative Andy Schor will be holding his "Coffee" on Monday, January 13 @ 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. This will be held at the Foster Community Center, 200 N. Foster.  This is a great opportunity to meet Mr. Schor and his staff.  It is also an opportunity for you to hear what is happening at the capitol and to ask questions.

Riverwalk Theater - "Twelve Angry Men" is being performed at the Riverwalk Theater on January 9-12 and 16-19.  Tickets are $14 ($12 senior/student/military), and Bargain Thursdays are $10 ($8 for seniors/students/military).  Show times are 7 p.m., Thursdays, 8:00 p.m. Fridays, and Saturdays, 2:00 p.m. Sundays.  You can make reservations by calling 482-5700 or at their web site:  riverwalktheater.com.  The theater is located at 228 Museum Drive, south off Michigan Avenue, across from the Lansing Center.

This is a great opportunity to support the local arts in Lansing.  I know I will be attending.

Bea Christy Award Dinner - This year will be the 27th annual Bea Christy Award Dinner.  It will be held on February 21.  Tickets are $19.00.  Nominations for the award must be in by February 5th.  If you have any questions or would like to purchase tickets or donate raffle items, please contact Jennifer at the Lansing Neighborhood Council, 393-9883.  Will have more information regarding this event later.

That's all the event announcements for now. As always, I want to ensure that the constituents in the First Ward are informed and, hopefully, engaged.  I promised during my campaign that I would be transparent, ethical, and hard working.  I am doing my best to live up to those promises.

Have a great weekend! 

Jody