Lahanas now will be in charge of, among other things, the oversight of the city’s relationship with MSU and the enactment and enforcement of ordinances affecting both students and residents.

The ordinances include policies regulating snow removal at houses and businesses and the proper cleanup of litter from parties.

“Certainly, I’ve been looking forward to the opportunity. It’s a challenging position to attain,” Lahanas said. “The waiting was worth it.”

Lahanas’ selection is contingent upon the approval of contract terms by the city attorney’s office and the acceptance of the contract.

Once he officially steps into the role, Lahanas said he will continue to focus on East Lansing’s close ties to the university.

“That is a very important relationship with us,” he said. “That’s something we obviously want to continue.”

The student impact
Lahanas previously filled the interim city manager role after former City Manager Ted Staton’s departure in October 2011, giving him the chance to work with student groups on behalf of the city.

Involving students in the search process was key, ASMSU Community Liaison and international relations senior Paddy La Torre said.

ASMSU is MSU’s undergraduate student government.

La Torre served on a panel made up of community members and students that interviewed each of the five candidates for the position last week.

“Being part of the process was a great opportunity,” she said.

ASMSU has been working with Lahanas and the city in recent months to examine East Lansing’s stance on illegal dumping of furniture and couch burnings, among other issues, La Torre said. “We’re looking forward to working with him — we have experience working with him,” she said, noting that the two sides can “pick right up where we left off” in terms of their relationship.

Going forward, La Torre said illegal dumping will be a point of focus, but she also said there are several different areas, such as the party litter ordinance, that could be key in East Lansing’s interaction with the university.

“There’s a lot of different issues if you’re asking from a student perspective,” she said. “We preach continued education.”

Lengthy deliberations
It took more than three hours of debate last Friday, but the city council eventually was able to reach its decision unanimously.

The entire search process itself was exhaustive, council members said.

Executive search firm Affion Public took 56 total applications for the job before council members narrowed the field down to nine semifinalists and then six finalists.

The other finalists included current Saginaw City Manager Darnell Earley and current East Lansing
Director of Public Works Todd Sneathen.

One of the finalists — Sean McBride, the former chief information officer for the city of Tuscon, Ariz. — withdrew his name from consideration to become the executive director of the Kalamazoo County Transportation Authority.

Councilmember Don Power said although each of the five finalists were extremely qualified, there were some areas of experience that concerned him when it came to each of the candidates.

“I thought they all had real strengths,” he said. “They all had some areas of weakness also.”

Ultimately, Lahanas’ selection made the most sense, Power said.

“I think that (Lahanas) has grown exponentially in a short period of time,” he said.

Close to home
Power said at the end of the day, the two internal candidates for the job were perhaps the strongest.

“You nurture, you promote, you train, you prepare,” Power said of Lahanas’ career progression. “Leadership is a very difficult thing to judge.”

Mayor Diane Goddeeris said reaching the end of the search process brought a sense of relief for all involved. Throughout the more than three month process, community feedback was key to decision making, Goddeeris said.

“We saw how people saw our community,” she said. “We know we’re doing things right.”

The candidates met with residents and MSU students during a community reception held Jan. 25 and then were subject to public interviews with the city council Jan. 26.

East Lansing resident and Brookfield Heritage Neighborhood Association President Rhoda Wolff said she was extremely pleased with the selection of Lahanas.

“He’s a really great, competent guy,” she said.

Other residents also echoed similar thoughts, including members of some of the city’s neighborhood associations.

In the coming weeks, Lahanas will have to begin working with other city officials to plan East Lansing’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year, Goddeeris said.

Lahanas is up to the financial challenges facing the city, she said.

“He has a lot of attributes that we wanted in there,” she said.