In November, Tamera Carter won one of two seats in at-large races on the Lansing City Council. Carter is a bank manager and member of the board of directors of Impression 5 Science Center. She ran on a platform of economic development, housing and gun violence prevention.
WKAR's Megan Schellong spoke with Carter about her vision as council member.
Interview highlights
On how she plans to tackle the issues she ran on
With economic development, I would love to address and assist in our improved infrastructure. I think that's huge and important, and working with those department leads for our roads and our sidewalks and also our businesses.
On why she decided to stay in Lansing after graduation from MSU
When I graduated, I was like, I really love the city. It has so many wonderful aspects of our capital. And I truly wanted to make sure that I call this my home. It's not too far from my parents. It's not too far from my other family across Michigan. But I definitely wanted to make this my home just because of the richness in the city,
On why she believes people voted for her
I honestly think it's just the passion I have to really listen and learn from our constituents. On those doors daily, I may have went over time than I should have went for being door-to-door because the conversations were so engaging.
Interview Transcript
Megan Schellong: In November, Tamera Carter won one of two seats in at-large races on the Lansing City Council. Carter is a bank manager and member of the board of directors of Impression 5 Science Center. She ran on a platform of economic development, housing and gun violence prevention. Tamera Carter joins us now to discuss her priorities. Tamera, thanks for joining us.
Tamera Carter: Thank you, Megan, and thank you WKAR for having me this morning.
Schellong: Of course. Good to have you. What's the first step you're going to take in addressing the issues that you ran on?
Carter: Absolutely. With economic development, I would love to address and assist in our improved infrastructure. I think that's huge and important, and working with those department leads for our roads and our sidewalks and also our businesses.
For our housing, we know that shelter is needed and it's a necessity. So creating more of equitable and safe housing for our homelessness, and also making sure that all are welcomed.
And then for gun violence, again, make working with other institutions and organizations and our youth, I would love to be more knowledgeable in educating our youth in our school systems. And having a mentor program I'm creating, which I know we currently have so many various programs, but I would love to make sure that that is sustainable. So those are some things that I would love to tap into as a newly councilmember.
Schellong: You're a Michigan State University graduate, and you've decided to stay in Lansing, hang around a bit longer. What made you want to stay here in the capital region?
Carter: Oh my gosh, Megan. When I graduated, I was like, I really love the city. It has so many wonderful aspects of our capital. And I truly wanted to make sure that I call this my home. It's not too far from my parents. It's not too far from my other family across Michigan. But I definitely wanted to make this my home just because of the richness in the city, the diversity in the city. And it's just the opportunity. And so I looked forward to making this my home and continuously keeping it my home. I love Lansing and I love the support.
Schellong: In November, you captured the greatest share of the vote for Lansing City Councilmembers with 34% of the vote. Why do you think you were the top vote getter?
Carter: You know, I honestly think it's just the passion I have to really listen and learn from our constituents. On those doors daily, I may have went over time than I should have went for being door-to-door because the conversations were so engaging.
My day-to-day role as a bank manager, that's what I do: I listen, I talk about their concerns, we look at different opportunities to really grow. And so on the doors, that's what gave me my fuel is just really to capture the essence of what the concerns are, and also share what they enjoy about Lansing and listen to a lot of the things that they've seen for over 40 or 50 years. And to me that is priceless. So just to really engage with our constituents kept giving me that that drive to keep going.
Schellong: Tamera, when you leave your position, what's one thing you want to say you accomplished?
Carter: That I truly was able to make an impact and really grow the sustainability of our city. I continue to pour into that daily and I want to continue to do that throughout the role and beyond.
Schellong: Great. Tamera Carter is one of the newest members on the Lansing City Council. Thanks for your time today.
Carter: Thank you so much Megan for having me. And again thank you WKAR.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.