A Lansing resident has filed a petition to recall city councilmember Brandon Betz. This comes several months after Betz made racially insensitive comments towards a Black activist.
The comments surfaced in a text message exchange between 1st Ward Councilmember Brandon Betz and activist Michael Lynn Jr. Screenshots of the messages show Betz, who is white, using profanity and racially insensitive language.
Betz has since been censured by the council and removed from committee assignments. The Ingham County Democratic Party also called on Betz to resign.
Now, Eastside resident Undra Brown is looking to recall his representative.
“If you don't have committees to serve on, he needs to find another way to be a useful elected officials in the city," he said. "And he has failed to do that. Lastly, he's actually collecting a $26,000 salary and has no committees.”
Brown says Betz needs to be held accountable.
“Having a council member who has no influence over policy, we can call him and ask him to vote a certain way or to really help his constituents because everyone in the city thinks he's a joke," he said.
In a statement, Betz says the petition implies he is not performing his city council duties, which he denies.
The Ingham County Election Commission will hold a meeting on November 15 to determine whether the petition will be allowed to proceed.
If the petition is approved by Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, Brown would have 60 days to gather approximately 2545 signatures from registered 1st Ward voters.
