Committee on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

Regular Meeting

Lansing, MI · March 12, 2025

Minutes

Minutes Committee on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Wednesday, March 12, 2025 @ 4:30 p.m. City Council Conference Room CALL TO ORDER Council Member Jackson called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. PRESENT Council Member Jackson, Chair Council Member Spadafore, Vice-Chair Council Member Carter, Member OTHERS PRESENT Sherie Boak, Council Office Manager Matt Staples, OCA MINUTES MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER CARTER TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM FEBRUARY 12, 2025, AS PRESENTED. MOTION CARRIED 3-0. PUBLIC COMMENT No public comment. DISCUSSION/ACTION DISCUSSION – Ordinance Amendment/Repeal Chapter 684 Section 684.04 Council Member Jackson noted this is a follow up discussion from the last meeting, to consider as an amendment or repeal. He then read the 684.04 into the record, noting this is a crime if you enter a restroom of the opposite sex. It was brought to Committee attention, and at the last meeting it was asked for options. In the packet today is a draft ordinance to repeal, so the Committee can discuss repealing, amending or doing nothing. Council Member Jackson noted his interest in considering repealing all together without replacement. He cited examples of action that could be grounds to be criminally charged or removed from the building. He supported that anyone coming in to the building should be comfortable with their own bodies and own skin. Council Member Spadafore stated he had no problem with the rationale, but would be interested in what the County has in their experience with this. This is a good attempt, without looking at other sources of guidance, but it is a conversation with merit for comparison to see other facilities in the County and East Lansing. Also to look at the way to write affirmative language. Council Member Jackson inquired into what could be affirmative instead of stigmatize, noting he is open to comparing and contrasting. The sooner off the books better, but what is a couple more weeks. Council Member Spadafore noted in 2019 Ingham County adopted an gender inclusive bathroom policy, looking at that might be a more means to be more inclusive. Council Member Carter concurred with moving forward, but was also interested in doing the due diligence and doing comparisons across the board. Council Member Jackson recalled discussions on council with discussions on having a “family bathroom” in the building. Mr. Staples stated the reason OCA recommended the repeal compared to anything else is because the 684.04 is a criminal prohibition against anyone using a restroom in the City, public or private, that has a sign indicating is for use of opposite sex. OCA looked at it, no way to make inclusive without repealing the criminal aspect. This is just part of the criminal code, and best way to do that is to repeal, then there is no criminal position on using the opposite sex bathroom. Council Member Spadafore stated that after hearing the reasoning from OCA, he has no problem repealing now. Council Member Jackson asked if the Committee is interested in exploring something inclusive like the County did. Council Member Spadafore stated that would be another aspect of the law, so his earlier statement is a separate track. Council Member Jackson noted it is the Mayor’s and Councils role to look at this. Council Member Jackson noted this will then be introduced March 24th with setting the hearing for April 7th. Council Member Jackson noted a policy falls into the administration. Council Member Spadafore asked OCA to look into the Ingham County policy and see if there is something the City of Lansing can do in an ordinance. Mr. Staples MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER SPADAFORE TO INTRODUCE AND SET THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR APRIL 7TH, 2025 FOR REPEALING CHAPTER 684, SECTION 684.04. MOTION CARRIED 3-0. Other Council Member Jackson asked about dropping the time limit from 4 hours to participate remotely. Ms. Boak stated she would speak to the Clerk’s office on the Charter Commission sign up and to see if there were any interested parties that missed the timeline. Adjourn Adjourned at 4:48 p.m. Submitted, Sherrie Boak Recording Secretary, Lansing City Council Approved by the Committee on April 9, 2025

Agenda

Packet

AGENDA Committee on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion March 12, 2025 at 4:30 PM Lansing City Hall, City Council Conference Room 124 W. Michigan Avenue, 10th Floor To provide input or ask questions on any item that is listed on the agenda, members of the public may contact the City Council at city.council@lansingmi.gov or (517) 483-4177 prior to the meeting. To view the meeting live and participate in virtual public comment: https://www.lansingmi.gov/1212/Council-Committee-Meetings Council Member Jackson, Chairperson Council Member Spadafore, Vice Chairperson Council Member Carter, Member 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Minutes A. February 12, 2025 4. Public Comment on Agenda Items (Up to 3 Minutes) 5. Presentations: 6. Discussion/Action: B. DISCUSSION - Ordinance Amendment/Repeal Chapter 684 Section 684.04 7. Other 8. Adjourn Persons with disabilities who need an accommodation to fully participate in these meetings should contact the City Council Office at 517-483-4177 (TTY 711) 24 hour notice may be needed for certain accommodations. An attempt will be made to grant all reasonable accommodation requests. Page 1 of 11 DRAFT Minutes Committee on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Wednesday, February 12, 2025 @ 4:30 p.m. City Council Conference Room CALL TO ORDER Council Member Jackson called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. PRESENT Council Member Jackson, Chair Council Member Spadafore, Vice-Chair- excused Council Member Carter, Member OTHERS PRESENT Sherie Boak, Council Office Manager Matt Staples, OCA Cheryl Bernard Lori Welch, Sustainability Manager Jeremiah Kilgore, Public Service Emery Drever MINUTES MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER CARTER TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM DECEMBER 11, 2024, AS PRESENTED. MOTION CARRIED 2-0. PUBLIC COMMENT Emery Drever, on behalf of resident of Lansing Township, and as an employee of the City Clerks of office, repeal “use of designation restrooms” in ordinance. Emery spoke on the impact personally on the impact on the queer community and transgender community. Emery then referred to the definition in the City Humans Rights Ordinance, asking again to repeal City ordinance 684.04. If the City does not want to repeal, Emery asked for rewording the language, but would be interested in further input. Council Member Jackson asked OCA if this is under the criminal chapters of the ordinance, and OCA confirmed. Emery distributed the public comment and copies of 684.04. (attached to the minutes) Council Member Jackson asked OCA to work on the ordinance and look at adjusted language, and Council Member Carter asked for adjusted language as well and aligned with what other communities are doing. Mr. Staples stated he would speak to the OCA, and this is a penial ordinance, and not sure if it can be amended without making it penial. Council Member Jackson Page 2 of 11 asked about reducing to a civil infraction, and asked Emery to provide sample language. Mr. Staple asked if OCA should prepare a draft ordinance to repeal, and it was confirmed, and was also asked to look into what is legal or not and what can nor cannot be done. DISCUSSION/ACTION DISCUSSION – Sustainability Discussion with Lori Welch, City of Lansing Sustainability Manager Council Member Jackson explained that in this Committee stability and climate does not always see diversity and inclusion, however under privileged people do see this impact as well. Ms. Welch noted that the funding they need, and what would be most beneficial would be for planning and studies to understand an issue and prep for implementation. It was also noted there is always a need for staffing. They did receive a capacity grant from Bloomberg which will involve 3 FT to work closely with Ms. Welch and her staff. The first of those 3 will start if they can help support most of the efforts they need help with. Council Member Jackson asked if there is more work beyond the 3 positions just spoken about, is there more. Ms. Welch stated they will help implement what they already have on their plate and help to write grants as well. There is a long running recycling program where there is a reduction in waste, and they are trying to build a circular system to follow best practices to not put in the landfills. With the proposed budget coming to Council in March, they did put in a FTE position. Council Member Carter with alternative ways, recycling, and food waste; are those all new. Ms. Welch stated that in the last five (5)years there are no dedicated staff to grow and enhance the program to keep the participation up and recovering as much as they can. Council Member Carter stated she has heard issues with constituents on the air quality and minimizing pollution. Ms. Welch hopes that with Bloomberg staff from the grant can assist with that. When applied they asked for assistance with moving in that direction. Council Member Jackson asked about the staff for landfill programs, and if there is a savings. Ms. Welch stated if they can get the tonnage amounts up on recycling, then they will be better, but right now the City is not meeting the tonnage standards. There needs to be foundation work; an audit, what is being thrown away, how much food waste and organic can be captured, what is industry standard and also public awareness. Council Member Carter asked what the food waste pilot is. Ms. Welch stated this was started in September they placed carts specific to community centers and downtown Fire Station. There are currently 300 registered users, and have captured 20,000 lbs in food scraps. Currently working the figures on what the emission reduction benefits are. Council Member Jackson asked if Lansing has to track the emissions. Ms. Welch stated the City does not track the amounts at the landfills, but they do follow the emissions in those other sectors when doing the inventory. Ms. Welch stated her priority list is to use the greenhouse gas data and the climate vulnerability assessment, and then go into an update on the Climate Action plan for the City for emissions and then combine into the City action plan. Council Member Jackson asked if she wants another FTE, and Ms. Welch confirmed. RESOLUTION – Appointment; Cheryl Bernard; 3rd Ward Member of the Diversity Equity Inclusion Advisory Board; Term to Expire June 30, 2027 Council Member Jackson reviewed the application briefly. Page 3 of 11 Ms. Bernard spoke briefly on her background and why she wishes to join the Board. She has been a resident since 1981, work currently for the State of Michigan with WIC and that gives her some experience in diverse populations. Her interest is in making everyone aware of all the programs that are happening in the City. When this opportunity came up, she was drawn to being a part of the marketing and mechanisms to make sure they make people aware of all the cultures the City has to provide access to. Ms. Bernard also noted in the past she worked with the Urban League working with students on professional development with minority speakers. Council Member Carter asked for her input on how to bring people together and stop working “silos”. Ms. Bernard acknowledged she believed everyone needs to be brought together but as a board member going to the neighborhoods, and organizations. Council Member Carter asked if she would work towards the Urban League professional development again with this Board, and Ms. Bernard state she would love to get that implemented again. Council Member Jackson noted that DEI is more than race, but age, gender, etc., and asked if she is able to keep an open mind on the totality on the different group. Ms. Bernard acknowledged she understands it is more than race and ethnicity. MOTION BY COUNCIL MEMBER CARTER TO APPROVE THE RESOLUTION FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF CHERYL BERNARD AS 3RD WARD MEMBER TO THE DIVERSITY EQUITY AND INCLUSION ADVISORY BOARD. MOTION CARRIED 2-0. Other No other topics at this time. Adjourn Adjourned at 5:00 p.m. Submitted, Sherrie Boak Recording Secretary, Lansing City Council Approved by the Committee on Page 4 of 11 Page 5 of 11 Page 6 of 11 Page 7 of 11 Page 8 of 11 DRAFT 2 03/07/2025 1 ORDINANCE NO. ___________ 2 An Ordinance of the City of Lansing, Michigan, to repeal Chapter 684, Section 3 684.04 - Use of restrooms intended for opposite sex. 4 The City of Lansing Ordains: 5 Section 1. That Chapter 684, Section 684.04, of the Codified Ordinances of the City of 6 Lansing, Michigan, be and is hereby repealed in its entirety and shall be null and void of no 7 effect. 8 Section 2. All ordinances, resolutions or rules, parts of ordinances, resolutions or rules 9 inconsistent with the provisions hereof are hereby repealed in their entirety and shall be null and 10 void and of no effect. 11 Section 3. Should any section, clause or phrase of this ordinance be declared to be 12 invalid, the same shall not affect the validity of the ordinance as a whole, or any part thereof 13 other than the part so declared to be invalid. 14 Section 4. This ordinance repeal shall take effect on the 30th day after enactment, unless 15 given immediate effect by City Council. 16 17 1 Page 9 of 11 684.04. Use of restrooms intended for opposite sex. No person shall enter into, engage in peeping into, open the door of, or be in, any restroom or locker room which has a sign posted indicating or designating that the restroom or locker room is for the use of the opposite sex. However, this section shall not apply to law enforcement officials, to persons whose job duties include building security or the cleaning, remodeling and/or repairing of restrooms and locker rooms, or to children aged eight years or under, or to persons who are disabled or handicapped, who are in the custody of or being escorted by an adult of the opposite sex. (Ord. No. 739, 12-22-86) Created: 2025-02-10 08:44:52 [EST] (Supp. No. 61) Page 1 of 1 Page 10 of 11 Page 11 of 11