Lansing city council race contentious battle between chamber, labor

In one of the more contentious Lansing City Council battles in recent memory, the familiar battles between business and labor are playing out — but with the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce supporting candidates that seem to reject their key policy positions.

The city will elect new representatives from the third ward on the city’s southwest side, the first ward on the east side and two at-large seats. In the third ward, current City Council President and third ward representative A’Lynne Robinson will square off with political newcomer Jason Wilkes. In the first ward, Jody Washington is facing former state Rep. Lynne Martinez for an open seat. And in the at-large race, current at-large council members Carol Wood and Derrick Quinney face newcomers Tom Stewart and Rory Neuner.

The Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce entered the race early, sending out mailers for the at-large battle attacking Quinney for his ties to medical marijuana businesses in the city. In the current general election, that battle has only heated up — with charges that the group Greater Lansing Progress, which is tied to the Chamber, stole a photo of Quinney from the Lansing City Pulse, and darkened it to make his skin look darker than it is. Lansing Progress has also come under fire for allegedly violating state campaign finance laws.

Quinney works for the AFL-CIO, and has been endorsed by labor groups. Carol Wood has also been endorsed by labor, while Neuner and Stewart have been endorsed by the Lansing Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee. Robinson and Martinez have also received the Chamber endorsements, while Washington and Wilkes picked up the labor endorsements.

And while the chamber-backed candidates have accepted the money from their benefactor, they say they fundamentally oppose the chamber and GLP’s stated policy goals. Specifically Lansing Forward is opposed to project labor agreements (PLAs) — agreements which require developers to use union workers on development projects receiving public dollars — and prevailing wage ordinances. The group also opposes a recently-enacted pollution control ordinance from the county, which allows emergency responders to know what potential hazards they might face in the event of a crisis.

“Although recent legislation banned the use of PLAs by Michigan local governments, if the legislation is repealed I would be open to instituting PLAs for development agreements, specifically in regards to residency requirements and job skill training programs,” Stewart told Michigan Messenger.

Neuner was even more supportive of PLAs.

“I’ve been firm on my support for Project Labor Agreements from day one,” she said. “I do not support what is taking place in our state government regarding PLAs. I believe local government can and should have the option to use PLAs in development projects.”

Meanwhile, Martinez too said she support PLAs.

Robinson did not return inquires to her campaign, nor did the Chamber or Lansing Forward respond to several requests for interviews.

As for prevailing wage laws, only Stewart stood with the Chamber in opposing them.

“If our city were to unilaterally implement a prevailing wage ordinance without first gaining feedback from our residents and the support of neighboring municipalities,” Stewart said, “we would be putting Lansing at a competitive disadvantage to the rest of the area.”

Neuner and Martinez both said they supported a prevailing wage ordinance, with Neuner saying it was a key tool in moving Lansing forward.

All three also said they supported the county pollution control ordinance.

Wood, Quinney, Washington and Wilkes all support the three policy issues.

So why is the Chamber supporting candidates that oppose them on so many policy issues?

Mark Grebner, who runs Practical Political Consulting in East Lansing, says it is about “the game.”

“It is a matter of short term gain,” Grebner said, noting he was “speculating” on Lansing politics from the outside. “Lansing politics falls into this same pattern. Every mayor has had to face a four-four split on the city council. I don’t know why it happens, but it does.”

That split has irritated some in Lansing, including the Chamber and the Lansing State Journal. Those entities both say that battles by what has been identified as the Wood contingency have killed development projects and caused major fight over what ought to be a series of simple project approvals.

Several council members joined with Wood last month in blocking a hearing for a land swap deal with Davenport University. Under the deal, brokered by Mayor Virg Bernero, Davenport would have taken possession of a former housing tower in downtown Lansing, demolished it and built a new university building in its place. The building, Oliver Towers, was shuttered over a decade ago when it was ravaged by a fire.

In exchange the city would get the downtown Lansing property Davenport currently owns and uses.

But late in the game, Lansing Community College, which adjoins the Oliver Towers property, said it was prepared to offer millions in cash to purchase the property.

The Bernero administration wanted the Council to move ahead with a public hearing for the land swap, while ignoring the LCC offer. Council rejected that plan, leading Davenport to pull out of the deal altogether.

Asked why the Chamber would target Quinney rather than Wood, Grebner said it was a matter of political handicapping. Wood trounced the pack of candidates in the August primary, nearly doubling the number of votes Quinney took in. On the other hand, Quinney barely beat Neuner, leaving him vulnerable in a four way race with the top two vote getters moving forward.

“They can beat him,” Grebner says. “With Carol way ahead, what’s the point of attacking her?”

Also playing into the race, aside from the labor and chamber endorsements, will be voter turnout on a millage to fund public safety. Voters rejected a similar measure in May, resulting in layoffs in the city police and fire departments.

As a result, the Lansing State Journal reported Sunday, the police have racked up slower response times and are making fewer arrests.