On the Issues

Nathan Triplett is seeking reelection to a second term on the East Lansing City Council this November. Nathan was first elected to the Council in 2007 and has spent the last four years focused on protecting vital community services, promoting sustainable development, and fostering regional cooperation across Mid-Michigan.

Protecting Vital Community Services

In the last four years, East Lansing has weathered the Great Recession better than most. At a time of declining property values and substantial cuts to state revenue sharing, East Lansing has been able to maintain essential city services like police and fire protection, sanitation, and parks and recreation. It hasn’t always been easy, but despite these daunting budgetary challenges, Fitch Ratings actually upgraded East Lansing’s bond rating in 2010 to AAA—the highest rating an organization can receive—in recognition of our sound fiscal management. If Governor Snyder’s recent budget proposal is any indication, financial challenges will continue to take center stage in the years to come. Ensuring that East Lansing residents receive the highest quality public services will continue to be a top priority for Nathan.

Promoting Sustainable Development

Despite the down economy, East Lansing remains an attractive place to live, work, raise a family, and start a business. Promoting sustainable development while attracting and retaining businesses in our community remains critical. East Lansing has made great strides in building a vibrant downtown by approving transformational mixed-use redevelopment projects and investing in the City’s business incubator/accelerator—the Technology Innovation Center. The City Council has worked diligently to maintain neighborhood stability across our community. East Lansing is on a path to greater walkability thanks to the new Non-motorized Transportation Plan. Our community is heading in the right direction, but to remain on the road to prosperity we need leaders who are willing to stay the course.

Leading the Way in Government Reform and Regional Cooperation

East Lansing continues to be on the forefront of government reform and innovation. Every time someone in state government talks about a “best practice” for local government, our community can say: “We’ve been there and done that in East Lansing.” East Lansing has sought out greater efficiency through regional cooperation and sharing services. For example, East Lansing recently began providing assessment and housing inspections for neighboring Meridian Township. Our City’s Healthcare Task Force has held annual increases in healthcare costs to 3.5%—a third of the national rate of healthcare inflation. Unlike many other cities, East Lansing’s current City Council has begun making regular payments towards our unfunded OPEB liabilities. East Lansing should be proud of these accomplishments, but there’s no time to rest on our laurels.

A Leader with a Record of Moving East Lansing Forward…

Nathan spearheaded the adoption of East Lansing’s Green Building Policy, which made our city the first in the State of Michigan to condition economic development incentives on the use of sustainable building practices. He authored a Local Preference Policy to keep East Lansing tax dollars in our local economy by ensuring that contracts paid for with taxpayer dollars are awarded to qualified local businesses and contractors first. Finally, when Proposal 2 and subsequent court decisions banned public domestic partner benefits, Nathan led the effort to extend Other Eligible Individual (OEI) benefits to East Lansing employees and to ensure our community recognized the dignity of every employee with equal compensation for equal work.