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Longtime resident urges council to prioritize police, fire and basic services over ‘feel‑good’ programs
Summary
Loretta Stanaway, a Lansing resident since 1985, used her three minutes of public comment to urge the council to prioritize funding for police, fire, public works and parks over discretionary programs such as sister city programs, façade grants, festival permits and pilots.
Loretta Stanaway, a Lansing resident since 1985, used the public‑comment period at the May 12 Committee of the Whole to urge the council to prioritize core public safety and infrastructure spending over discretionary programs.
“I think the purpose of a city government is to protect and provide for its citizens, and that is done through police and fire, public service, quality of life goes into parks and rec,” Stanaway said. She asked the council to “eliminate things that are superfluous, feel goods, nice to have” — she named sister‑city programs, façade improvement grants, neighborhood engagement grants, pilots and tax abatements as examples — and redirect that funding to police, fire and public works.
Nut graf: Public comment matters because residents’ spending priorities inform councilmembers and feed into budget conversations; Stanaway asked council to focus on core services for public safety and maintenance instead of discretionary grants or events.
Stanaway acknowledged that the idea would be unpopular and that change would be difficult, but urged deeper budget cuts to free resources for essential services.
Ending: Council proceeded to departmental budget presentations after public comment; staff and council members later discussed operational and hiring details across departments during the meeting.
