Tonight: City Council to pick finalists for First Ward vacancy

MONDAY, Jan. 31 — All eleven people who applied to serve as the appointed replacement for disgraced First Ward Lansing City Councilman Brandon Betz have been vetted by the City Clerk’s Office and will be interviewed by the Council at 6 tonight.

Over the last week, the Clerk's Office verified that each applicant is a registered voter, has lived in the First Ward for at least a year, has no felony convictions and is up to date on their local tax obligations — the only four legal requirements for a person to serve in the vacant position.

The Council’s Committee of the Whole begins interviews at 6 p.m. at City Hall. Readers can watch the meeting live online through City TV. Click here.

After the interviews, the Council will use paper ballots to winnow the field down to three. Those finalists will then be called back for a longer round of 30-minute Council interviews that begin at 6 p.m. tomorrow.

Afterward, the Council plans to pick a winner.

Betz’ replacement will need four votes, since the Council is temporarily down to seven members. The appointment will last through Dec. 31. A special election in November will determine who fills the final year of the four-year term, which expires on Dec. 31, 2023.

In a letter, Betz wrote that he resigned about halfway through his term last month to focus on his “personal relationships and health.”

City Pulse interviewed the candidates. Click here to learn more about them.

Don’t have time for all that content? Here’s the speed-read version:

Undra Brown

Brown, 23, labels himself a “serial entrepreneur” with investments in several local businesses, including Lansing Mobile Detail and Rogue Strategy Group. As a “disruptor” at Rogue Strategy Group, Brown said that he primarily lobbies in support of the cannabis industry. His consulting firm is also managed by Scott Hagerstrom, a GOP operative who helped run Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 and has faced sanctions for pushing election conspiracies.

Caitlin Cavanagh

Cavanagh, 33, bills herself as a “nationally renowned expert in juvenile justice” and is an assistant professor and associate director at Michigan State University’s School of Criminal Justice, where she focuses on parent-child relationships and the criminal justice system. She’s an adviser for the family division of Ingham County’s 30th Circuit Court, a volunteer-in-training for CASA for Kids Inc. and vice president of the nonprofit Steiner Chorale in East Lansing.

Ben Dowd

Dowd, 39, is an associate director at the Community Economic Development Association of Michigan, the interim executive director of the Old Town Commercial Association and a board member of Suits and the City in Lansing.

Brian Daniels

Daniels, 35, is a U.S. Army veteran, a Purple Heart recipient and the founder and head trainer of Empower Lansing,a boxing and fitness studio that he opened in 2019 on Michigan Avenue. He also serves on the city’s Parks Board and recently garnered some local business-related recognition with a spot on the Lansing Region Chamber of Commerce’s acclaimed “10 Over the Next Ten” list.

LaSandra Jones

Jones, 66, is a lifelong resident of Lansing who retired in 2015 after working for about 25 years as a department supervisor for the state Treasury Department.. She has served as president of the Potter-Walsh Neighborhood Association since 2016 and regularly volunteers for the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program of Lansing, or RSVP,  a nonprofit run by Council Vice President Carol Wood.

Sam Klahn

Klahn, 25, said he grew up in the First Ward and graduated from Eastern High School. He’s  unemployed but most recently worked for the Boone and Crockett Club, a Minnesota-based wildlife conservation nonprofit organization. He’s also a community activist and the co-founder of Lansing Area Mutual Aid.

Ryan Kost

Kost, 34, is a central control operator for the state Department of Technology, Management and Budget, his only “significant” job to date, he said. He is secretary of the Eastside Neighborhood Organization and  vice president of Foster Your Neighborhood, another local neighborhood group.

Glenn Lopez

Lopez, 68, is a lifelong resident of the First Ward who retired last year following a 44 years at the Lansing School District in a variety of positions,  including as an instructional assistant, lunchroom supervisor and gym teacher.

John Schneider

Schneider, 35, is a senior organizer for For Our Future, a left-leaning advocacy group designed to “lift up the voices of people and grassroots organizations to drive real change.” He also volunteers for local community garden projects.

Farhan Sheikh-Omar

Sheikh-Omar, 27, is an instructional assistant and substitute teacher for the Lansing School District and a political science student at Lansing Community College. He also bills himself  a “community activist” with strong ties to several local nonprofit organizations, including the Village Lansing and The Fledge.

Tirstan Walters

Walters, 22, is a departmental technician for the state Department of Health and Human Services who focuses mainly on Medicaid waste, fraud and abuse. He has also volunteered at Constellation Cat Cafe and as a local poll worker.

Former at-large Council candidate D. Taft, an ordained minister known for his eccentric clothing and colorful roadside campaigns, filed to run for the partial term but did not file an application for the appointment. He won’t be interviewed.