Lansing City Council At-Large Candidate: Nick Pigeon

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5 hours ago

Here are the responses from Lansing At-Large Candidate 2025 Nick Pigeon to the 6 News Pre-Primary Candidate Questionnaire.
Mr. Pigeon did not provide any social media links or a website, as the questionnaire requested.
I am a lifelong Michigander living on Lansing's Eastside. As the son of a separated autoworker and teacher, my family faced housing and food insecurity during the 2008 financial crisis. That experience led me to get involved in my community, volunteering and organizing campaigns to make government more responsive to working families. Organizing and working for change early in life inspired me to return to Michigan State University to study Public Policy so I could make a bigger difference. Time and time again, I saw the political leaders I worked for leaving people like me behind. That realization drove me to become the Executive Director of the Michigan Campaign Finance Network (MCFN), a 28-year-old nonprofit dedicated to educating the public about the influence of money in politics. During my time at MCFN, I served as a watchdog over Michigan's elected officials, testified before the Michigan Legislature in support of stronger ethics and transparency, and routinely collaborated with Michigan's top journalists to help them craft stories about campaign finance. I worked diligently to shine a light on the corruption created by weak campaign finance laws and the lack of accountability among state elected officials in Lansing.
When my partner and I decided to buy our first home, we chose Lansing because of the tight-nit community and niche groups we became a part of. We believe Lansing is in the perfect position to be a city where someone can grow a family and/or themselves and flourish. From local arts, businesses, to sports and outdoor recreation, Lansing is a medium sized city with a lot to offer. But we began asking ourselves a question I have heard echoed from many others since I have been knocking door-to-door since January: with the amount of taxes/rent we pay without many of the same services cities around us receive, will we want to stay in the city or be forced to move somewhere else when we grow our family and ourselves? Not being able to answer that question without an unequivocal 'yes' made me want to act. I want Lansing to be a place people move to and stay. That starts with making it easier for citizens to interact with city departments, delivery of city services, and giving back to the neighborhoods. A bustling downtown is an important part of the future of the city, but many who live here value their local neighborhood and feel they haven't seen a return on their investment in a long time. I believe I can be a member of the city council with a different perspective and offer leadership that can't be bought.
Unfortunately, the City Council's ability to govern the day-to-day operations of the city is much weaker than I would like it to be. When I, like many others, voted for a City Charter review, we were hoping that there would be a major power shift away from the mayor to council. Even if we didn't move from a strong mayor system to a city manager, I would have hoped for moving some operational roles under the purview of council.
That being said, City Council governance starts with amending and passing the mayor's proposed budget. We set the direction of the city and its priorities for the coming year in the budget. It is up to Council to be as restrictive and conditional as it can within the budget, so the mayor keeps in line with its priorities as they execute the city's operations. The City Council then can vote on ordinances that impact many things in the city, including zoning and regulations. Above all, each City Council member must be an advocate for the constituents that they represent.
As an At-Large Council member, I will ensure the budget is aligned with what the community needs and not what is politically convenient. I'll advocate for transparency in our decision-making process and be a voice for our underserved communities.
City Council has recently expanded what is allowable to be zoned as housing as recent as this month. From co-ops to boarding houses, we are joining other cities who are facing the same shortages in allowing for new and novel ways for people to live in the city. This is a crucial first step, and we need to educate and help residents adopt these new dwellings to help quickly expand the housing stock. I have spoken to many people who would like to build equity in Lansing, especially younger people, but a single-family home is out the question for now.
We also must act much quicker to bring our red-tagged properties up to code so that they can become a part of our housing stock. That includes putting pressure on corporations and landlords to keep their properties up to code and face penalties when they remain red-tagged and they do not make tenants aware. Landlords must bear the burden for when a property becomes unsuitable for a tenant living there. In speaking to people across the community, I have heard much better rental stories from small landlords who own a few properties in the city, usually right on their own street. We need to incentivize residents with a dwelling in Lansing to buy property before large corporations and landlords buy them all up.
That's just it—communicate your perspective to the public. We haven't seen some members At-Large be very communicative to the public, either through constituent relations or through the media. It is healthy to have public discourse in local government, so people understand the different perspectives in an issue. Many issues that City Council faces are not black and white, they are nuanced and hard to understand. When we allow citizens to understand the negotiation before the vote takes place, it gives them a better understanding. It is also important to allow for disagreements to be made without criticizing colleagues' character or then opposing them on other unrelated issues. Much of Lansing's City Council is controlled by a strong power center of campaign donors and power players. We should allow other perspectives to be represented on the council, too, and I will be the transparent advocate for the people of Lansing, not the special interests and politically connected. I have worked to make our state legislature more transparent and helped explain complicated issues to the public during my former role, and I will continue to do that work for the people of Lansing.
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