Now, he wants to make his mark on the city by running for one of two four-year term East Lansing City Council seats that will be vacated by incumbents Vic Loomis and Kevin Beard after the Nov. 5 election.

Eysselinck, the implementation project manager for software company Vertafore and former chair of the Community Development Advisory Committee, was born in Belgium, raised in Egypt and educated at St. Olaf College in Minnesota. He also lived in New York City before moving to East Lansing.

Essyelinck said in a digital age, someone who is well-versed in computers can be an asset to city council. He recently sat down with The State News and answered questions about his candidacy.

BE: “It’s going to be a mixed use facility … I think the best way I saw it described was similar to the Broad Art Museum. It was a very big change in buildings for East Lansing. You have that on the east side and now we are going to have Park District on the west side. … I think it’s very important that those two balance each other architecturally, functionally… I think that is going to set a statement for the downtown.”

BE: “I’m not running for city council to be anyone’s nanny. I believe the students are all adults here, and they need to obey the laws and be provided for in things they are interested in doing.”

BE: “ I moved here just before the greatest financial recession in our country’s history. That has been the single most critical problem that we have had to focus on. … In order to work out of these problems, East Lansing has been spending a lot of what funding it can to pay down on financial commitments for pensions. … We haven’t paid as much attention to our infrastructure. That makes me nervous. It’s not sexy to talk about updating our sewers, but a lot of people are going to be mad if they don’t work correctly.”

BE: “I think the residents need to be more involved in events and activities at MSU. Yes, we live here all year round, but you have a great facility there (at MSU), and as residents here, we need to be engaging with you on your home-turf, too. … I’m on campus once a week. I think that if most residents of East Lansing visited campus once a week, there would be a better understanding.”