Grand Rapids Committee on Appointments Interviews First Ward Candidates (April 17, 2026)
Grand Rapids Committee on Appointments Interviews First Ward Candidates (April 17, 2026)
The Grand Rapids City Commission's Committee on Appointments, consisting of Third Ward Commissioner Marshall Kilgore (Chair), First Ward Commissioner Alicia Marie Belchak, and Second Ward Commissioner Miguel Isassi, met on April 17, 2026, to conduct public interviews of nine applicants seeking to fill the vacant First Ward City Commissioner seat. The seat was vacated earlier, and the appointment will run through the end of the year. Each applicant was asked three questions by the commissioners—covering their community service, approach to balancing existing commission priorities with independent judgment, and conflict resolution style—and provided a closing statement. The committee deliberated and selected three finalists to advance to a second round of interviews.
Interviewed Applicants & Their Positions
Francine Zania
- A former teacher and board of education member. She expressed commitment to listening, researching issues, and basing decisions on fairness, safety, and cost-efficiency rather than a personal agenda. Her conflict style involves direct communication to identify and resolve the specific issue.
Zachary Baker
- A railroad safety board member and Eagle Scout involved in community planning and environmental storm drain cleanups. His position emphasized centering marginalized voices and following procedural steps to de-escalate workplace conflict.
Dan Cope
- A Grand Valley State University professor and long-time election worker who formerly worked for Grand Rapids Township. He advocated for a Socratic style of asking questions to find gaps in the commission's work and dedicating full energy to the short-term role. His conflict example dealt with transparently managing a 2024 precinct tabulator malfunction by following procedure and communicating clearly.
Lucas Leverett
- Vice president of the West Grand Neighborhood Organization and former nonprofit builder. He expressed cynicism about the appointment process but respected fellow applicants. He argued for systemic solutions such as shifting power to elected officials from the city manager and resolving conflicts through group goals rather than egos.
Lindsay Perez Pletcher
- A mental health therapist and immigrant rights advocate. She expressed full support for the city’s CAP plan and neighborhood investment plan. Her conflict style focuses on listening first, validating emotions, finding common ground, and recognizing anger as a secondary emotion. She also stressed the need for balanced, well-researched housing development and proactive climate preparations.
Mallory Root
- Owner of Roots Brew Shop and the Cottage on Turner co-working space on the West Side, viewing her businesses as a response to the crisis of loneliness. She described her conflict style as leaning into difficult situations and relying on questions and discernment to understand diverse perspectives.
Steve Tubbe
- A firefighter, small business owner, and director of operations for Fans of Valley Field, who serves on city boards including the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and Economic Development Board. His conflict style is collaborative, aiming for win-win solutions through crucial conversations but willing to compromise for progress.
Kurt Reppart
- A former five-year city commissioner now working on affordable housing at 30% area median income. He expressed willingness to join the commission to support existing work and share the “heaviness” of the role, citing experience with budgets, police chief searches, and master plans. He identifies as an agent of trust and a peacemaker.
Paul Saltesiak
- A union steward and co-founder of Fans of Valley Field. He believes in addressing conflict directly. He acknowledged his qualifications pale in comparison to others but offered to outwork anyone. He expressed mixed feelings about appointing candidates who are currently running for the seat versus letting voters decide.
Key Outcomes
- The committee narrowed the field of nine applicants to three finalists: Dan Cope, Kurt Reppart, and Lindsay Perez Pletcher.
- Final round interviews will take place on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, beginning at 10:00 AM, following a Brownfield Redevelopment Authority meeting. A backup time on Friday, April 24, 2026, has been reserved.
- Each finalist is expected to have approximately 45 minutes for their interview.
- If a candidate is selected on April 22, the committee intends to administer the oath of office immediately.
- A press release will be issued to the public following the final decision.
Meeting Transcript
Applicant, I want to say good morning. Uh and we thank you so much for your willingness to serve all of our applicants. Uh first is Francine Zania. All right, feel free to come forward. Thank you. Good morning. Thank you. So again, we thank you so much for your willingness to serve our community and your neighbors. It's commendable and we deeply appreciate it. You'll get one question uh per each commissioner, so three questions, and you will have three minutes timed by our city clerk to respond. Yep, nice and red in the in the front here. So we will begin with my uh question. Uh stepping up to serve as a public servant is commendable, and we thank you for your willingness to do so. Being a commissioner is just one way of serving our community. Please share how you have served our community through civic or public service. This may include board service, previous or current employment or other forms of engagement. Thank you. Um it's a pleasure being here. I have always been interested in civic, especially government. Closer you can be to people the better. Um as far as serving uh I've primarily uh been uh a mother and a teacher most of my life. I have served on a couple of uh boards of education, uh one on an elementary level and one on a um high school level. Um but I also considered some of my jobs, uh teaching jobs as civic responsibility too, and more like a vocation. Uh and I enjoyed it for that reason. I enjoy people, so that's pretty much. I haven't had a lot of uh visible jobs, let's put it that way. Thank you so much. We'll now shift over to a second board city commissioner, uh, Commissioner Isaac's question. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good morning. Good morning. Um my question is um can you share with me a time when you work through a conflict at work and how you uh approach uh conflicts in that in the workplace setting. Thank you. That's a great question because that's something we deal with all the time everywhere, no matter uh what profession or what uh uh environment that you're in, um whether it's family or whether it's work. Uh first of all, I like to be direct and I like to find out exactly what is the conflict, to kind of name it first of all, and see what it is about. Uh for instance, I did uh have a uh child that had a conflict with one of the teachers that I worked with. I mean, a quite a severe conflict. And uh I had missed when she sent me a note, I had misunderstood it because it came to me by um what email I think it was at that time, and she was being sarcastic, and I didn't know that. And you know, sarcasm does not show up very well on email. Uh and that was you know, maybe it was relatively new to her at that time. I I'm not sure about that. But anyway, uh so I did not uh address it at that point. Then she went to uh a person above me, my principal, and uh uh had complained about how I reacted to it. So after that, uh I asked her, I asked the principal if I could talk to her directly and find out what had happened, what was the incident, what it happened, and exactly, and then I understood, and then I was ready to make a judgment. She was right, and then to follow through on that in some kind of uh uh I hate to say, but it you know, you're dealing with kids lots of times it's punishment, you know, in some way. Thank you. Thank you. We will now shift to uh first Ward Commissioner Alicia Marie Belchak's question. Hi, yes, thank you for being here.
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