Vandalism and noise problems in city neighborhoods and plans for future downtown development were main issues discussed Wednesday night at a forum for the East Lansing City Council candidates.
Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Council incumbents for re-election — Bill Sharp and Vic Loomis — and hopefuls John Fournier and Kevin Beard answered questions about Abbott Road traffic, redevelopment of rental housing and attracting small businesses downtown. Mostly permanent residents attended the public forum at the Bailey Community Center, 300 Bailey St.
A question about late-night vandalism and noise problems this semester in East Lansing neighborhoods brought almost all four candidates together in their response supporting immediate action.
Loomis said an outside consultant should be hired to address the noise and violence problems.
"I can attest to the increase in activity — I'm kept awake by continued departure of emergency vehicles," he said.
Fournier, a political theory and constitutional democracy senior, said incoming MSU freshmen who spend their first year living on campus have no sense of community relations when they finally move into East Lansing.
He suggested a communal space for students and residents to share and that new students receive information on East Lansing laws and ordinances, such as the noise ordinance.
"We need students to realize this is a community, and there are residents they need to be respectful of," Fournier said, but he was also critical of East Lansing's noise ordinance.
Councilmember Sharp said new students need to learn about permanent resident-student relations during Welcome Week.
He agreed with Loomis on the idea of an outside consultant and suggested possibly closing streets prone to partying at night.
Beard said the immediate problem can be addressed with an increase of police patrol in neighborhoods, but the long-term problem of student-resident relations still needs to be addressed by the council.
In their opening statements, Fournier and Loomis touched on East Lansing's noise ordinance.
Fournier strongly opposed the ordinance, saying it doesn't work because overzealous partying is still a problem.
"We need to create positive relationships and friendships rather than harsh laws," he said.
Loomis said the ordinance is correcting the problems it sought to rectify.
"I can only imagine where we'd be this fall if we hadn't passed the ordinance," he said.
In the redevelopment of downtown East Lansing, Fournier suggested creating wireless Internet service for businesses and residents. That was met with opposition from Loomis, who said the answer to successful redevelopment includes residents shopping in the downtown area to attract new small businesses.
Scott Cendrowski can be reached at cendrow3@msu.edu.
