This week, absentee ballots will be sent out to voters for November’s election. Lansing residents will be deciding whether to reelect two-term Mayor Andy Schor or Punks with Lunch Lansing Executive Director Kelsea Hector.
WKAR News is speaking to both of them about their stances on the issues and why they’re the right choice to lead the city.
"We've gotten through a lot of challenges. We are adding a lot of different new things here in Lansing, you see cranes in the air and development," Schor said.
"I look forward to continuing the growth. I always say Lansing's time is now, and the best is yet to come. We just have so much going on."
Schor says to continue trends of decreasing gun violence in the city, he'll continue to focus on prevention, intervention and justice and working with organizations who promote those goals.
"We've engaged with Advance Peace, and they get in and they take the temperature down a notch when different folks are fighting, or when there are issues. They help prevent retaliation and cyclical violence, and that's been working."
Schor says he expects the city to see more jobs with a battery plant opening up, housing being built downtown and a performing arts center in the middle of being constructed, but there's more work to be done to support local businesses.
"We're working with a lot of folks to develop too. We've got programs for small businesses to do loans and grants and awards to help them to develop and open up," he said.
WKAR's Sophia Saliby also spoke with Schor about supporting the city's unhoused population and building affordable housing.
The general election is on November 4. Early in-person voting begins October 25.
You can listen to our interview with Kelsea Hector here.
Interview Highlights
On meeting demands for housing
We've done a ton of work on housing. We've added hundreds and hundreds of new housing units for all incomes. I believe that we need to have housing, everything from subsidized for those who are going from homeless-to-housing, right up to three-, four-bedroom housing for folks who have another kid and want to stay in the city.
On decreasing gun violence
We want to make sure that we have prevention, having things to do for young people and tools and jobs, working with the Lansing Empowerment Network to create the Step Up Program, which will get youth jobs. Once we have kids that are going down the wrong path, we are doing intervention work with what are called violence interrupters. We've engaged with Advance Peace, and they get in and they take the temperature down a notch when different folks are fighting, or when there are issues. They help prevent retaliation and cyclical violence, and that's been working. And then justice, making sure that if something happens, our cops are able to get them, we're able to clear the case, so that we don't have someone on the street.
On why he should continue leading the city
We've gotten through a lot of challenges. We are adding a lot of different new things here in Lansing, you see cranes in the air and development. I look forward to continuing the growth. I always say Lansing's time is now, and the best is yet to come. We just have so much going on. I'm going to continue to grow Lansing, and I ask your listeners for their vote.
Interview Transcript
Sophia Saliby: This week, absentee ballots will be sent out to voters for November’s election. Lansing residents will be deciding whether to re-elect two-term Mayor Andy Schor or Punks with Lunch Executive Director Kelsea Hector.
WKAR will be speaking to both of them about their stances on the issues and why they’re the right choice to lead the city.
Today, we're joined by Mayor Schor. Thank you for joining us.
Andy Schor: Thank you for having me.
Saliby: To start, let's talk about housing. What is your plan to boost the city's available housing stock, especially affordable properties?
Schor: We've done a ton of work on housing. We've added hundreds and hundreds of new housing units for all incomes. I believe that we need to have housing, everything from subsidized for those who are going from homeless-to-housing, right up to three-, four-bedroom housing for folks who have another kid and want to stay in the city.
We've worked with the Lansing Housing Commission, and you're going to see another 100 units downtown go up. It's being built right now. We worked with a developer over on MLK, who's building 40 or 50 units which are literally homeless-to-housing. We were able to rehab Walter French with affordable housing units. So, we are building housing like crazy because there's a tremendous demand.
People want to live in Lansing. So, we're doing affordable. We're doing workforce housing for legislative staffers and teachers. We're building housing all over the place, and we put together a housing rehabilitation program which allows people to get their houses fixed, so that they can stay in Lansing.
Saliby: You've brought up homelessness. Is there a model or another community you want to emulate that you think would best serve those experiencing homelessness going forward?
Schor: I look at a lot of other communities. I'm on the U.S. Conference of Mayors Board, and I talk to a lot of others about ideas and things that they use. So, I've been able to talk with lots of different folks, from big cities like Seattle to smaller communities, Providence or Grand Rapids or even Detroit.
We look at a lot of different things that people are doing, and we borrow different ideas, and we share the ideas that we have. I was in Omaha, and I saw how they were able to work with their homeless community. So, I'm excited to talk to other communities and see what they're doing and implement what we can here, whether it's housing, whether it's sheltering, whether it's the ModPods that we're going to be putting up, getting folks job training and getting them documentation so that they can get jobs, helping to stabilize with permanent, supportive housing.
These are all the things that we use, that other communities use as well, to help out those who have less than us and are housing-challenged.
Saliby: Gun violence in the city has relatively been going down. That's according to data from the Michigan Public Health Institute and Michigan State University. How will you ensure that trend continues?
Schor: We've been working through a plan for the last few years, ever since the pandemic of prevention, intervention and justice, and it's working. That doesn't mean that we have zero crime. We know that we still have five homicides this year, which is five too many, but that is significantly down from previous years.
We want to make sure that we have prevention, having things to do for young people and tools and jobs, working with the Lansing Empowerment Network to create the Step Up Program, which will get youth jobs.
Once we have kids that are going down the wrong path, we are doing intervention work with what are called violence interrupters. We've engaged with Advance Peace, and they get in and they take the temperature down a notch when different folks are fighting, or when there are issues. They help prevent retaliation and cyclical violence, and that's been working.
And then justice, making sure that if something happens, our cops are able to get them, we're able to clear the case, so that we don't have someone on the street. And it's working. You know, again, we always have more work to do, and I'm excited to work with community partners, but it's working, and we're going to continue using those three tenets as we move forward.
Saliby: What is your plan to increase jobs in Lansing, especially in the downtown area, which is still feeling the impacts of COVID vacancies?
Schor: We've seen a lot of jobs added in the Lansing economy. We're going to see 1,500 alone at the battery plant. We are seeing lots of conversion in the downtown, between the housing that's going up, between the retail that's being added with that housing, the Ovation, we're going to see job additions there.
We're working with a lot of folks to develop too. We've got programs for small businesses to do loans and grants and awards to help them to develop and open up. You know, a lot of jobs are jobs of ones and twos with small businesses. We've got resources through our economic development corporation. It's not just downtown, it's throughout the city.
We need to have jobs, and we need to have good paying jobs for our residents, which, again, our unemployment has come down since the pandemic, and that's a good thing, and we'll continue to work with job providers to make sure that that they can provide the jobs that we've got, the training and the talent for folks here to actually get into those jobs.
Saliby: As we end our conversation, I want you to give your 30-second elevator pitch to voters about why you should continue to be Lansing mayor.
Schor: So, it's been an honor being the mayor for the last two terms. We've gotten through a lot of challenges. We are adding a lot of different new things here in Lansing, you see cranes in the air and development.
I look forward to continuing the growth. I always say Lansing's time is now, and the best is yet to come. We just have so much going on. I'm going to continue to grow Lansing, and I ask your listeners for their vote.
Saliby: Mayor Andy Schor is running for reelection to continue leading the City of Lansing. The general election is November 4. Thank you for joining us.
Schor: Thank you.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
