East Lansing City Council elections will take place Nov. 3 with three seats up for vote. There are six candidates and only one incumbent running. The one incumbent is the current mayor, Nathan Triplett. Elections for city council are every two years, with three councilmember’s terms ending one election and two the next. The new council will have to appoint a Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem following the election. Here are the six candidates vying for your vote.
Erik Altmann
Altmann is a psychology professor at MSU and a member of the East Lansing Planning Commission. Altmann said these positions provide a unique perspective on the city.
He said he would like to take on aging infrastructure issues and would advocate for smaller development projects with direct benefits to the city.
Shanna Draheim
Draheim has lived in East Lansing with her family for 11 years. She has a background in community and environmental sustainability and said she is ready to help propel “what is already a really attractive community” forward to become one of the great university towns by focusing on education at the K-12 levels and addressing aging infrastructure.
Mark Meadows
Meadows is a former state representative and mayor of East Lansing. He said his history working with the student community is strong.
Meadows said if elected he would like to re-instill public confidence in the way council operates, noting some of this confidence has been “eroded” since he left council.
Meadows said he would like to work on development of the corner of Grand River Avenue and Abbott Road. This area has come to be known as the Park District, the development of which has been an on-going process for council and the city as a whole for the past few years.
Jermaine Ruffin
Ruffin graduated from James Madison College at MSU with a degree in social relations and policy and has lived in East Lansing for 15 years.
Ruffin said he would first like to engage the community to create a vision for what residents would like to see the city become.
Ruffin said he wants to know what residents want regarding education, city growth and the development of downtown East Lansing.
He said he would like to engage students to the point where East Lansing is a viable city for them to live and work post-graduation. He said keeping students in East Lansing after graduation is a way to keep talent and ensure growth for the city.
Steve Ross
Ross graduated from MSU in 2008 with a degree in political science and during his time as a student, volunteered on the election campaigns of John Kerry and Barack Obama. In 2009 Ross moved back to East Lansing and started his own business, SMR Strategies, a political consulting firm which works with progressive candidates running for public office.
Ross’ campaign has “three main themes” that include making neighborhoods a top priority, improving the quality of life.
Nathan Triplett
Triplett has served as mayor of East Lansing since November of 2013. Prior to that, Triplett was elected as mayor pro tem in November 2011 and was first elected to East Lansing City Council in November 2007. Triplett is a 2006 graduate of MSU with a bachelor of arts in political theory & bachelor of arts in social relations. He graduated form the MSU College of Law in 2012.
Building a welcoming community for people of all backgrounds and lifestyles is one of Triplett’s priorities. He said he has been a lifelong champion for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality.
While in office, East Lansing achieved a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index, the only community in Michigan to do so and one of only 38 in the United States.
Throughout the seven years he has served on East Lansing’s City Council, Triplett said he believes the city has benefited from his presence on council and is in a strong position moving forward. He also said East Lansing’s debt is down, the fund balance is up among other positives the city enjoyed while having him on council.
