OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

First Ward Vacancy Interviews and Appointment Impasse - April 22, 2026

Meeting Portal — Wednesday, April 22, 2026
BodyGrand Rapids, Michigan
SessionMeeting Portal
DateWednesday, April 22, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:41:29

Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

This meeting of the um city commission order since this is uh officially a meeting, we have an agenda um, but we do not have public comment as I see the agenda, nor do we have a moment of silence, nor do we have a pledge of allegiance.

0:16

Um so let's roll right into our first item, which is first ward city commissioner uh vacancy interviews.

0:22

So thank you, Mr.

0:23

Repert, for being first on deck, and um just briefly so that you uh uh understand the rules of the road.

0:30

Um our colleagues, uh my colleagues and I have all each come up with a question, and uh six times four is twenty-four.

0:38

Uh we'll have time to do follow up.

0:40

You can uh I think open with a statement.

0:43

Um, but we're gonna be grading you on your ability to follow rules.

0:47

So our clerk is um got a four-minute shot clock for the questions.

0:51

Now I'm not gonna cut you off, um, but you can see the clock.

0:55

So um uh but uh so you'll have four questions, and then if there's anything you want to add, uh or you know anything anything that didn't get covered by our questions, so free feel free to have a uh closing statement.

1:08

But um, yeah, thank you.

1:09

So if you want to introduce yourself, sure.

1:13

We all know who you are.

1:14

We all know who all three are.

1:15

So go ahead.

1:16

Great.

1:16

Um well today was interesting.

1:18

I walked in the building and then walked right out again after a tornado drill.

1:23

But uh, I hope that you all are finding some joy in the sun.

1:26

I've been out this week looking for mushrooms, are they out in the woods, and so it's a beautiful time in our city.

1:32

Uh I'm Kurt.

1:34

Uh I'm familiar with all of you a little bit.

1:36

Uh I live by John Ball Park.

1:38

Uh my neighbors there, I love my neighbors, they're active, they're engaged, they're incredibly vibrant people.

1:44

I live there with my partner, Mattia.

1:46

We've been married for 24 years.

1:49

She's the love of my life, and we're raising our two teenage GRPS scholars.

1:54

Uh, they attend city, city middle and high school.

1:57

Um I serve as an elder at my church, Servants Community Church, which is a uh welcoming and affirming congregation.

2:05

And I've spent 20 years doing community development on the West Side at a place called the Other Way Ministries, where Alicia Marie Belchek is uh is a board member.

2:14

Uh I worked there with families, primarily with men, uh, and served there as the executive director for five years.

2:21

Obviously, my most uh important experience is the five years that I spent sitting on the Dais as a city commissioner, one of the greatest experiences of my life.

2:30

Uh that experience allows me in this this day to be able to step forward, and if you appointed me today, would be able to get started right away.

2:38

Since I left the commission, I've been working for Wellhouse and Family Promise and about 15 other nonprofits as a consultant, raising money and supporting the good work happening around our city, staying close to the city staff that make things happen and staying close to the residents of the first ward.

2:55

Uh I'll leave that for my opening statement.

2:59

We'll leave it as that.

3:00

So I'm eager to talk with you about this appointment.

3:02

Great.

3:03

Um, since you didn't um we didn't start the clock on that.

3:07

Did you get the questions in advance or are these coming at you blind?

3:10

I did.

3:11

Okay.

3:11

Well, the the the bad news then is that your qu is that your and your opening answered my first question.

3:16

So I'm just gonna move to Commissioner Belcher.

3:18

Well, unless you want to add something.

3:19

So my standard question was just tell us your history of civic engagement.

3:22

Yes, you touched on it, but maybe um maybe since you already touched on it and you didn't know what the questions were.

3:27

Um, how about you go into how about you tell us what your most rewarding civic engagement experience is, or tell us you know, maybe something you worked on persistently that you felt was felt had value and outcome?

3:40

Yeah, the thing that I am most proud of since leaving the city commission is the the partnership that I've helped uh agencies form with the Grand Rapids Housing Commission.

3:49

So, as you know, I when I was sitting, I was sitting right where Commissioner Knight was sitting.

3:53

Um Carlos Sanchez stood up and talked to said that there were 200 underutilized vouchers in the housing commission system.

4:01

And I locked that away because that's like low-hanging fruit.

4:04

If we can activate those vouchers, we can get 200 people into housing.

4:08

Uh I've now since helped Wellhouse, AYA Youth Collective, and Family Promise get project-based vouchers, which in the uncertainty of our federal funding environment gives a little bit of certainty to those nonprofit developers so that they can move forward, and those vouchers are guaranteed for 20 years.

4:27

So they can relax, they have sustainable funding.

4:30

And so out of those vouchers, those are those vouchers are worth you know, millions of dollars over the course of 20 years.

4:36

And so those three agencies can breathe a little deeper, and it those of those units will be permanently affordable.

4:43

So that's that's something that I've worked on.

4:44

That's the thing I'm most proud of since I left the commission.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural████████████████████████████████████36%
Community Engagement███████████████████████████████31%
Personnel Matters███████████11%
Public Safety██████6%
Affordable Housing████4%
Racial Equity████4%
Public Transit██2%
Disability Rights██2%
Parks and Recreation█1%
Summary of Proceedings

First Ward Vacancy Interviews and Appointment Impasse - April 22, 2026

The Grand Rapids City Commission convened on April 22, 2026, to interview three candidates for the vacant First Ward city commissioner seat and to attempt to fill the position through December 31, 2026. The meeting featured extensive deliberation, but the commission deadlocked 3–3 after two rounds of voting, with no candidate receiving the required four votes. The meeting adjourned without an appointment, leaving the seat vacant for at least two more weeks, with the possibility of reconsideration after the August 4 primary.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comment period was held.

Candidate Interviews

The commission interviewed three finalists: former commissioner Kurt Reppart, Lindsay Perez Pletcher, and Dan Cope. Each candidate was asked the same six questions by the six commissioners (Mayor LeGrand, Commissioners Belchak, Ysasi, Knight, Purdue, and Kilgore). The questions covered civic engagement history, prioritization under competing demands, balancing multiple constituencies, working with the community during safety crises, top priority issues, and experience with frontline communities.

  • Kurt Reppart emphasized his deep experience in affordable housing, including helping three nonprofit agencies obtain project-based vouchers from the Grand Rapids Housing Commission. He advocated for using his prior institutional knowledge to hit the ground running, citing his work on the affordable housing fund, zoning changes, and public safety. He listed his top priorities as affordable housing (especially for households at/below 30% AMI), public safety (including the police chief search), and climate action. He stated he would prioritize being a team player for Commissioner Belchak and providing stability.
  • Lindsay Perez Pletcher highlighted her 20 years as a community-based mental health therapist, her work with immigrant communities (including founding a support group for families of deported members), and her experience on the GR Mobile Commission and community engagement around the Stocking School park. She identified housing (homeownership via the land bank, support for 30% AMI), public safety (expanding the co-response team and youth summer programming), and climate implementation as top priorities. She stated her moral compass and commitment to staying focused on service, not seeking higher office.
  • Dan Cope focused on her career as a professor at Grand Valley State University, where she teaches interdisciplinary studies and civic leadership. She highlighted her work on voter engagement (including a student voter turnout of over 76%), a Sustainable Democracy course, and a special needs inclusion project. Her top priorities included public transportation (as a holistic way to support multiple constituencies), public safety (supporting preventative programs like Cure Violence and co-response, and recruiting college-educated officers), and housing (including a potential tenants’ rights ordinance). She offered her four months of summer availability as a unique asset for the caretaker role.

Deliberation and Voting

Commissioners then deliberated, each stating their preferred candidate:

  • Commissioner Ysasi supported Kurt Reppart, citing his deep knowledge and ability to hit the ground running. He noted that Reppart is not running for election.
  • Commissioner Knight supported Kurt Reppart for similar reasons—immediate readiness and seamless continuity.
  • Commissioner Purdue also supported Kurt Reppart, emphasizing his experience, maturity, and ability to immediately engage on pressing First Ward issues like the zoo expansion.
  • Commissioner Belchak supported Lindsay Perez Pletcher, stating she wanted a people-first, future-oriented partner rather than someone who would assume hierarchy or represent past expectations. She acknowledged the flawed nature of the appointment process and the pressure she felt.
  • Commissioner Kilgore supported Dan Cope, arguing that appointing a former commissioner who was not currently running would perpetuate an “established class” and circumvent the voters. She emphasized the value of someone who teaches democracy and would not have an electoral mandate.
  • Mayor LeGrand also supported Dan Cope, emphasizing that an appointed caretaker without a mandate would allow the three declared candidates in the August primary to compete without the advantage of incumbency.

First Vote (Motion for Kurt Reppart):

  • Yes: Ysasi, Purdue, Knight
  • No: Belchak, Kilgore, Mayor LeGrand
  • Result: 3–3, motion failed.

Second Vote (Motion for Dan Cope):

  • Yes: Kilgore, Mayor LeGrand
  • No: Knight, Ysasi, Purdue, Belchak
  • Result: 2–4, motion failed.

Third Vote (New motion for Kurt Reppart):

  • Yes: Ysasi, Purdue, Knight
  • No: Kilgore, Mayor LeGrand
  • Abstain: Belchak
  • Result: 3–2–1, motion failed.

Key Outcomes

  • The commission did not fill the First Ward vacancy. The seat remains empty as of the meeting’s end.
  • The mayor indicated he would be open to reconsidering his position after the August 4 primary if voters provide a clear mandate.
  • The meeting adjourned without a resolution, with the intention of continuing the process at a future meeting.

Meeting Transcript

This meeting of the um city commission order since this is uh officially a meeting, we have an agenda um, but we do not have public comment as I see the agenda, nor do we have a moment of silence, nor do we have a pledge of allegiance. Um so let's roll right into our first item, which is first ward city commissioner uh vacancy interviews. So thank you, Mr. Repert, for being first on deck, and um just briefly so that you uh uh understand the rules of the road. Um our colleagues, uh my colleagues and I have all each come up with a question, and uh six times four is twenty-four. Uh we'll have time to do follow up. You can uh I think open with a statement. Um, but we're gonna be grading you on your ability to follow rules. So our clerk is um got a four-minute shot clock for the questions. Now I'm not gonna cut you off, um, but you can see the clock. So um uh but uh so you'll have four questions, and then if there's anything you want to add, uh or you know anything anything that didn't get covered by our questions, so free feel free to have a uh closing statement. But um, yeah, thank you. So if you want to introduce yourself, sure. We all know who you are. We all know who all three are. So go ahead. Great. Um well today was interesting. I walked in the building and then walked right out again after a tornado drill. But uh, I hope that you all are finding some joy in the sun. I've been out this week looking for mushrooms, are they out in the woods, and so it's a beautiful time in our city. Uh I'm Kurt. Uh I'm familiar with all of you a little bit. Uh I live by John Ball Park. Uh my neighbors there, I love my neighbors, they're active, they're engaged, they're incredibly vibrant people. I live there with my partner, Mattia. We've been married for 24 years. She's the love of my life, and we're raising our two teenage GRPS scholars. Uh, they attend city, city middle and high school. Um I serve as an elder at my church, Servants Community Church, which is a uh welcoming and affirming congregation. And I've spent 20 years doing community development on the West Side at a place called the Other Way Ministries, where Alicia Marie Belchek is uh is a board member. Uh I worked there with families, primarily with men, uh, and served there as the executive director for five years. Obviously, my most uh important experience is the five years that I spent sitting on the Dais as a city commissioner, one of the greatest experiences of my life. Uh that experience allows me in this this day to be able to step forward, and if you appointed me today, would be able to get started right away. Since I left the commission, I've been working for Wellhouse and Family Promise and about 15 other nonprofits as a consultant, raising money and supporting the good work happening around our city, staying close to the city staff that make things happen and staying close to the residents of the first ward. Uh I'll leave that for my opening statement. We'll leave it as that. So I'm eager to talk with you about this appointment. Great. Um, since you didn't um we didn't start the clock on that. Did you get the questions in advance or are these coming at you blind? I did. Okay. Well, the the the bad news then is that your qu is that your and your opening answered my first question. So I'm just gonna move to Commissioner Belcher. Well, unless you want to add something. So my standard question was just tell us your history of civic engagement. Yes, you touched on it, but maybe um maybe since you already touched on it and you didn't know what the questions were. Um, how about you go into how about you tell us what your most rewarding civic engagement experience is, or tell us you know, maybe something you worked on persistently that you felt was felt had value and outcome? Yeah, the thing that I am most proud of since leaving the city commission is the the partnership that I've helped uh agencies form with the Grand Rapids Housing Commission.

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