A three-and-a-half hour meeting of the City Commission devolved into fiery infighting Wednesday as the city’s legislative body failed to appoint a replacement to the vacant seat representing the First Ward.
Former Commissioner Drew Robbins vacated his seat representing Grand Rapids’ First Ward earlier this year in favor of a bid for state house. In contention to fill his role were Kurt Reppart, a former commissioner who Robbins most recently beat for the same seat, Grand Valley State University professor Dan Cope, and future commission candidate Lindsey Perez-Plescher.
The commission had gathered on Wednesday with the intention of interviewing the candidates and selecting a replacement.
After interviewing each of the candidates, members of the commission shared closing comments. Commissioner AliciaMarie Belchak took up over 10 minutes of this time before expressing support for Perez-Plescher.
Commissioner Marshall Kilgore condemned the process for selecting the First Ward appointee, claiming that the process benefitted a “specific class” of people who are already established and independently wealthy. He then voiced support for Cope, who he claimed would succeed at navigating the “flawed system.”
Mayor David LaGrand voiced his support for Cope.
Commissioner Lisa Knight sided with Reppart and motioned to appoint him. She was joined by Commissioner Milinda Ysasi, who said that Reppart would be the best from among the candidates because of his experience.
Ysasi also fired shots at her colleagues.
“Honestly, Commissioner Belchak, you talked for 10 minutes; I didn’t really know where you were going,” she said.
“I don’t hide behind people who are telling me to do stuff, like parties and institutions, even if they’ve given me money,” she added. “I will be voting only for Kurt Reppart. No offense to anybody else. This is not a set up, it’s never a set up if you’re talking about it beforehand.”
Commissioner Kelsey Perdue expressed disappointment in the conversation, adding that she supported Reppart.
Mayor LaGrand then called the motion to appoint Reppart to the floor, which failed with Ysasi, Perdue, and Knight in support, and LaGrand, Kilgore, and Belchak opposed.
Commissioner Kilgore subsequently moved to appoint Cope, which also failed.
“I just think there’s a missed opportunity here for folks to advocate for who they want to see in this role,” Commissioner Perdue said following the votes. “We need to work more as a team. We need to communicate both on dias and off dias so that we can gain support.”
She then suggested the commission recess to help ease the “deadlock” blocking a successful vote.
“If we were to reconvene in two weeks, Commissioner Belchak would not have a colleague for two weeks,” Mayor LaGrand said, suggesting that Belchak could use the assistance of another commissioner in the first ward.
A visibly emotional Commissioner Belchak then said she felt the commission was accusing her of “being unclear.” She pushed back against Mayor LaGrand, saying she could continue to handle the responsibility of leading the First Ward in addition to her family and business obligations.
“I’ve taken on a lot of extra appointments as our former colleague left,” she said. “It is not that I can’t run at this rate. I went to Columbia University journalism school, which throws you into the fire and not the pan. You are hit in the road whether you know things or not.”
“I can do this, but there are tradeoffs,” she continued. “I want to be able to put forward the real tensions that are out there. If it takes time to be able to say those things, I believe we should be allowed in our deliberation process to say those things.”
In the midst of this tension, Commissioner Knight also requested a recess so the commission could avoid hashing out “dirty laundry that can be taken care of in the back.”
Mayor LaGrand called for a recess “for bathrooms and so on.”
Following the eight-minute adjournment, Commissioner Belchak said she would support either Perez-Plescher or Cope. Commissioner Kilgore motioned to adjourn, which Commissioner Belchak seconded.
The commission unanimously agreed to adjourn the meeting without selecting a First Ward appointee.
Robbins told The Herald he fully expected the commission to make a decision Wednesday.
“I’m surprised to have seen this appointment process come to an impasse with no results,” he told The Herald.“I’m disappointed at the accusations saying this thoughtful appointment process has been nothing but a smoke and mirrors show to appoint some sort of ‘establishment’ class individual.”
In a later social media post, Robbins also noted that the Commissioners were criticizing the very process they were responsible for by City Charter.
“Why is it being called a ‘flawed process in a lot of ways’ when this very Commission had full jurisdiction (per the City Charter) to determine what the process looks like to fill the last months of my term?” he asked.
All five current commissioners and Mayor LaGrand have received either direct endorsements or indirect support from the Kent County Democrats.