City commissioners visit SGA, legislation on table
Three of Mount Pleasant's active city commissioners came to the Student Government Association meeting on Nov. 4 to take questions from audience members. The meeting comes one day before election day, where three commissioner seats will be up for grabs and voted on by residents.
The present commissioners were Mayor Amy Perschbacher, Commissioner Boomer Wingard and Commissioner Elizabeth Busch. SGA's city commission liaison, Maggie Bauer, was the one who put the event together and served as the moderator.
The commissioners answered questions about the role of the commission, some accomplishments the commissioners are proud of and traffic safety questions. Wingard explained that the commission is responsible for handling the business side of Mount Pleasant, such as by working with the city manager to attract businesses to the area and enacting policies that benefit businesses in the area.
"We bring new ideas and we are a direct line for residents, for us to bring them back to the city themselves" he said. "We are the legislative arm of the city."
When it came to accomplishments of the commission, Busch said she thinks they've made a lot of progress within the last three years. She said some of their biggest accomplishments include a climate change preparedness plan, a natural landscaping ordinance and the marijuana licensing for businesses, which she said last year brought in almost $30,000.
Some other accomplishments the three commissioners cited include:
- The Gratiot Technological Development Center
- Improving diversity in Mount Pleasant, such as passing an ordinance to recognize Trans Visibility Day
- Building partnerships with the university, Union Township, Mid Michigan Community College and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribe
"We have really reached out our hands to meet these individuals where they are and work together," Perschbacher said. "We really have put a lot of effort working on projects together ... We are not an island on our own.
"We have to have other communities and other spaces to become who we are so that we can help others look good."
Additionally, the commissioners applauded Central Michigan University for reaching out to the commission, especially through the committee that found our new university president, Neil MacKinnon.
"For a long time, CMU felt like a bubble in the middle of the city, and they're not anymore," Perschbacher said.
Green fees election coming
As discussed at the previous SGA meeting, the elections for the Green Fee Committee are officially underway.
Elections Director Praise Oyimi made the handbook for the election public after the meeting, which explains the entire election timeline, the election committee's role in conducting the election and the rules for candidates campaigning.
Oyimi said currently they are in the signature collection phase, and they have so far had 10 candidates fill out a form. He said he expects there to be at least eight people to collect enough signatures and be officially in the running by the end of the week.
On Nov. 11, Oyimi said that the final candidates will be debating on stage during the SGA meeting that night. He said they will be answering predetermined questions and touching on predetermined topics, some of which can be submitted by SGA members.
Kathryn House, the chairperson of the SGA sustainability committee, said she was encouraging her committee to pay attention to this election, especially since two committee members are running.
"As committee members, this should be something that's on your mind," she said. "You want (to elect) people who know what they're doing with money. Please, please, please do research on your candidates and ask them questions."
In other events
- House Speaker Christian Dunn briefly went over the process of writing legislation and how the House and Senate will vote on legislation during his House of Representatives meeting. He said the voting process itself will be finalized in the near future.
- The Senate started discussing some ideas for individual Senate topics at the meeting, as well as how they want to handle future elections for open Senate positions if someone applied. Senate Leader Drea Hammond said she's happy with the current ideas her Senators have come up with, and she said next week they'll be actually planning how to achieve these projects.
- The judicial branch is currently preparing for its first trial. While details have not been disclosed due to confidentiality reasons, Chief Justice Madison Coleman said the trial being held next Monday will be public, and details regarding location and how they will make it public will be released soon.
