Voters in East Lansing last month overwhelmingly elected Kerry Ebersole Singh as one of their new city council members. In November, she was appointed mayor pro tem.
She’s had a 25-year career in the political sphere, including serving as former chief of staff to Michigan House Democrat Barbara Farrah, working in philanthropy and non-profits, and launching multiple campaigns under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Outside of her role in government, she’s the executive vice president and chief talent solutions officer at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
WKAR's Megan Schellong spoke with Kerry Ebersole Singh to discuss her priorities as council member.
Interview Highlights
On the reasons she won
I've been fortunate, not only to have worked with a number of folks that live in the community, because the proximity to the state Capitol. So I'm a known entity, obviously, many people have worked with my husband, State Senator Sam Singh, as well. We rolled up our sleeves.
On criticisms of leadership diversity
I'm not here to play tiddlywinks. I want to lead, I want to help our community get it on a track to be a best in class community. And we absolutely do have to wrestle with serious issues. But again, I think we have the right mix on council to really take these issues on.
On East Lansing's future
I've 25 years of skills that I have collected that I really want to put to work for the community because I know East Lansing’s best days are yet to come, but we have work to do. We are not where we need to be as a community. And that's what really helped to drive my getting into the race for city council.
Interview Transcript
Megan Schellong: Voters in East Lansing last month overwhelmingly elected Kerry Ebersole Singh as one of theirnew city council members. In November, she was appointed mayor pro tem.
She’s had a 25-year career in the political sphere, including serving as former chief of staff to Michigan House Democrat Barbara Farrah and launching multiple campaigns under Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Outside of her role in government, she’s the executive vice president and chief talent solutions officer at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
She joins us now to discuss her first time as a member of the council.
Thanks for being here.
Kerry Ebersole Singh: Thank you, Megan and I know we make those titles as long as possible at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, so I appreciate I appreciate you getting through that.
Schellong: Yes, no worries. So, let's go back one month to November. You took home a good portion of the votes. 25% of the votes cast for East Lansing City Council candidates went to you. What do you think set you apart from the others?
Ebersole Singh: Yes, listen, I think there's a variety of variables that contributed to my win. And I've been fortunate, not only to have worked with a number of folks that live in the community, because the proximity to the state Capitol. So I'm a known entity, obviously, many people have worked with my husband, State Senator Sam Singh, as well.
We rolled up our sleeves. We worked incredibly hard, working on getting key endorsements, folks that have known me and my prior work or my professional work, as well as hitting on doors across the city. I've been fortunate to be supported by so many friends and former colleagues financially that helped us get our message out and connect with voters through direct mail and digital advertising as well.
Schellong: You mentioned some part, which was the finances, the money. And when looking through Ingham cCunty campaign finance reports, your campaign raised $56,000 in contributions.
Ebersole Singh: Yes.
Schellong: Which was the most amount raised out of all the other candidates. Do you think that raising that amount gave you an edge or an advantage?
Ebersole Singh: Well, it helps provide an avenue to communicate with residents. That's why it's very much important when you're running any campaign to ensure that you have the resources to communicate. And that allowed for pieces of mail that went to mailboxes and again, a month of digital advertising. So folks were connecting and getting to know me and my background, as well agetting materials to be able to go door-to-door.
Schellong: Going back to your campaign now, you ran on a platform of economic developments, supporting local businesses and sustainability downtown. How do you think your past work experiences in philanthropy and government will allow you to fulfill those goals you ran on?
Ebersole Singh: Again, you mentioned I've 25 years of skills that I have collected that I really want to put to work for the community because I know East Lansing’s best days are yet to come, but we have work to do. We are not where we need to be as a community. And that's what really helped to drive my getting into the race for city council.
But I also have had a variety of experiences from public health, from housing, to also the economic development and recognizing the East Lansing is a unique community because we have Michigan State University. And we also need to forge a vision and a strategic plan that really incorporates one East Lansing and where we want to head. And I want us to be a top university community where everyone in the world says, “You know what, that city of East Lansing in Mid-Michigan is an incredible place to live work and play.”
Schellong: You also recently got appointed to mayor pro tem and that's come with some criticism. I know we're just meeting for the very first time today and this is a difficult challenging thing for me to ask. But I need to ask it as a journalist — residents and past candidates like Rebecca Kasen at a recent meeting questioned why you were chosen over Dana Watson who's been serving on the council since 2021. She is the only Black woman on the board. And some are saying that it's unfair that a white person was chosen instead. What's your response to that?
Ebersole Singh: Listen, as I just mentioned, I ran for city council because I knew our community is not where it needs to be. And I believe working together to build on inclusivity, build upon our assets, really address some of these issues head on. And, you know, I've been wide supporter of the work of the Independent Police [Oversight] Commission as an example.
But I would say, listen, there's the background and what we see, for the city in our region. I think experience comes from a variety of angles, not just specific service on boards or commissions. But I would say too, that this is also a political process.
I was disappointed when Councilwoman Watson chose to endorse three other candidates during the election. And I look forward again, not only working with her on a variety of issues moving forward. And I've been very clear with my colleagues as well, you don't take something on like this to serve your local community for kicks, you know? I want to get things done. I'm not here to play tiddlywinks. I want to lead, I want to help our community get it on a track to be a best in class community. And we absolutely do have to wrestle with serious issues. But again, I think we have the right mix on council to really take these issues on.
Schellong: That’s Kerry Ebersole Singh. She is East Lansing’s mayor pro tem and a member on the council.
Ebersole Singh: Thank you.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.