East Lansing City Council candidate Nathan Triplett, left, talks to Cele Tuchinsky on Tuesday evening at her house on Clarendon Road. Triplett likes to promote himself by going door-to-door and talking to voters.
Drops of sweat emerged from Russel Scovill’s pale forehead as he tried attaching a new license plate to the back of his green Dodge Caravan on Tuesday. Minutes passed, but the East Lansing resident still couldn’t anchor it in.
“My grip isn’t what it used to be,” Scovill said.
Fortunately, a fresh set of hands weren’t far away. Scovill turned around when he heard the footsteps of Roger Peters, one of the four candidates vying for a seat on the East Lansing City Council, who eagerly asked if he could help screw in the plate. Scovill accepted Peters’ offer.
“So maybe I can get your vote now, huh?” Peters said playfully.
Little things like that, Peters hopes, will improve the chances that he’ll be able to utilize those fresh hands as a new member on the East Lansing City Council.
Tuesday’s City Council elections feature four candidates running for three spots.
Peters, like fellow candidates Nathan Triplett and Diane Goddeeris, has been going door-to-door through the streets of East Lansing since August to gauge the array of issues concerning the community. The three candidates said they prefer this method because of the face time they get with voters.
Beverly Baten, the other candidate in the election, hasn’t used the door-to-door strategy in the past two council elections but said she’s going to campaign in the neighborhoods on Sunday to touch base with the voters.
Candidates obtain information on where registered voters live and target those areas. If a voter isn’t home, they slip their campaign cards in the crack of a door or near the handle.
“I view this type of interchange as a learning experience for me and also a kind of ‘intelligence-gathering’ to see what is on people’s minds and how they are thinking about the issues,” Peters said.
Goddeeris said she campaigns from door-to-door so people know she’s accessible.
“I’m finding that some people want to talk, and others think it’s OK,” she said. “But people know that the offer is there and that I’m accessible.”
In order to get a broad spectrum of opinions, the candidates have been trying to start dialogues with as many community members as possible, Triplett said.
Triplett’s door-to-door campaign Tuesday canvassed about 45 homes in more than an hour, but less people were willing to chat because it was dinnertime.
“Door-to-door is the only way that you can really get in touch with what the concerns of the people whose votes you’re asking for are,” he said. “It’s the best way to get out there and ask ‘What are the issues of concerns to you?,’ ‘What do you think is wrong with the city?,’ ‘What’s right with the city?’ and ‘What can we do better?’”
Although most residents prefer not to discuss issues with the candidates, others elect to discuss a number of issues, often leading to long, insightful conversations.
When the latter occurs, Peters said it’s like “hitting the mother-load.”
“It’s interesting to get another perspective — especially from a businessperson or somebody who happens to be a specialist in a particular field,” he said. “They may have different reasons to disagree with a city’s decision or a city policy.”
When Peters visited the residence of Alan Groskopf, owner of Baskin-Robbins, 1137 E. Grand River Ave., on Tuesday afternoon, he learned an interesting perspective about the East Village project.
The East Village project — which involves redeveloping the region bounded by East Grand River Avenue, Stoddard Avenue, Bogue Street and the Red Cedar River with an infusion of residential, retail and entertainment properties — would occur near his store.
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“It’s a pipe dream,” Groskopf said. “I don’t think it will ever happen. I think the idea that you’re going to get retired people and students to live in the same facility is totally unreal.”
While people like Groskopf are interested in discussing concerns they have with the city, others would rather address concerns they have with the candidate.
Because he’s only 24 years old, Triplett said he often has to slay concerns that he’s too inexperienced to be a council member.
“Coming to the door with my experience as vice-chair of the city’s human relations commission, member of the (Community Development Block Grant) Advisory Committee and legislative aid for the Michigan Legislature provides an air of legitimacy,” he said.
“Once people know you’re doing it not just for the sake of doing it, that you really have something to bring to the table, they want to know what you’re going to do.”
