Louis Adado and Larry Meyer will lead the Lansing City Council in the new year after they were recently chosen to serve as president and vice president of Lansing’s city council.
Their colleagues from the council nominated Adado as president and Meyer as vice president Jan. 1.
“It’s nice,” Adado said. “It doesn’t really change my life too much, but it’s always an honor to be selected by your peers for a leadership position.”
Adado is a lifelong resident of Lansing and a graduate of MSU. He is the CEO of the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association, and is responsible for the management of employees and finance.
He has been an At-Large member of the council for three years. Adado is the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, and serves on the Personnel Committee, Planning and Development Committee and both retirement boards. He will be up for re-election at the end of this year.
Adado intends to focus on efficiency and availability of Lansing’s information.
“We want to provide more information on the Internet,” Adado said. “(Meyer) and I both want right off the bat to be streamlining committees and propose eliminating committees to make things more efficient.”
Adado is replacing recently elected state Rep. Michael Murphy, D-Lansing, who served as the council member of the Fourth Ward since 1997. He became council president in 2000. Murphy was elected to serve as the representative for the 69th District in the state House on Nov. 7. With Murphy as its president, the council received a 64 percent approval rating, the highest it’s been in the last 10 years.
“I think Louis and Larry will provide some very good leadership for the city council and will move the agenda forward,” Murphy said. “They’re a good combination. I think Louis and Larry understand what we’ve been able to accomplish and will continue that.”
One of the first issues the council will face is the appointment of a new Fourth Ward council member and a new city clerk to replace the retired Marilynn Slade.
“They both officially resigned only days ago, but it will be hectic,” Adado said. “Hopefully we’ll have someone in both seats by Jan. 22.
“I think we have some very fine candidates with very diverse backgrounds for both positions.”
Like Murphy and Adado, Meyer was elected in 1997 to the council. Although he was born in Illinois, he is a longtime resident of Lansing. He is following Sandy Allen, the Second Ward member of the council, as vice president.
Meyer is the CEO of the Michigan Retailers Association and has become a highly sought after expert in the field of retail and business. He also served as the director of the Michigan Department of Commerce under former Michigan Gov. James Blanchard.
Aside from working on employee productivity, Meyer said much of his energy for the next year will be put into the upcoming Lansing School District bond issue for seven and a half mills.
“Increasing the capital for our young people to learn and compete around the world is important for our growth because it’s important to the world,” Meyer said. “That will be an overriding issue.
“It’s a busy year. It can be exciting because of that.”
