Kathie Dunbar is running for re-election to the at-large seat she has held on the Lansing city council since late 2005. She says she wants another term because “there’s never enough time to finish what’s going on.”
Dunbar cites accomplishments she’s proud of, starting with the Human Rights Ordinance completed in December 2006. She also helped write the Natural Resources Trust Fund grant to acquire Hunters Ridge, which she says added 28 acres of waterfront wilderness the the city's park roster in spite of opposition from the mayor's office.
She also expresses pride in this year's sanctuary city declaration. "I'm dissappointed immensely that it was reversed," she continues, "but we addressed some really serious issues." Dunbar says with a different mayor and different people on the council, she "wouldn't mind"revisiting the issue.
If given another term, she concludes that the council needs to be concerned about growing the economy. "It's been a recession economy for most of my time on council," she says, "and a lot of the incented developments are coming off line and coming into full tax mode, and we have others coming due in the next five years. That's going to drastically change the environment as far as our revenue and what it can be invested in."