The Grand Rapids City Commission met as a Committee of the Whole on April 28, 2026, to address a range of administrative items, recognize public service employees, and receive the preliminary fiscal year 2027 budget presentation. The meeting included votes on several resolutions, a discussion of proposed amendments to historic preservation enforcement, and a presentation of the city’s financial plan.
The meeting concluded with the commission moving to closed session.
Gonna try to call committee of the whole to order. You know, at night we have a moment of silence to make that happen. So glad you're all enjoying yourselves. Um thank you for coming. Uh the first item on our agenda, which is probably why we have such a pack room is the um our uh uh resolution on public safety uh recognition week. Pardon me, public service. What did I say? Public safety. Sorry. Uh public service recognition week. And um, I want to hand off to our city manager before I go up and read the proclamation. Um, and we usually have a photo op after this, but I do want to say um, I'm just gonna start with an anecdote. Um, I was at uh a dinner last week and sitting next to an individual who works in HR who told me that she'd been out in the private sector making more money and um looked at her life and decided that she wanted to work to make the city better. And so she came and worked in HR for the city, and that's awesome. So uh I can't say often enough how how uh grateful we all are for the vocational work that you all do, uh those of you who work for the city. Um, lots of us work in civic engagement in volunteer work and things like that, but people who show up every day and uh do the work of making our city work uh really deserve our gratitude. So I'm gonna hand it off to the city manager. Thank thank you, Mayor and Commissioners. Good morning, everyone. I too want to express my appreciation and gratitude to the over 1,700 uh regular full-time employees and the over a thousand members of our contingent part-time seasonal workforce for the work that you do day in, day out, not often celebrated and are often very often quick critiqued and criticized, but you do it very faithfully. So I really want to thank those that are here. Those that are here today are representing some of our employees who have been on it over the past year, so I look forward to hearing more about it uh after your proclamation, and we hear from our HR director, and I think we have a member of our workforce that's also going to address us this morning. Thank you, Mayor. Awesome. Thank you. So why don't I go up and read the proclamation? All right. So I'm gonna read the proclamation, then I'm gonna present it to Ovelle. Uh whereas our citizens residing in the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan are served every single day by public servants at the local government level, these are our unsung heroes. And whereas day in and day out, they provide excellent city services as expected by our residents with efficiency and integrity. The excellent level of services are pro that are provided are of vital importance to a growing, sustainable and resilient community and the well-being of citizens and visitors to Grand Rapids. And whereas without these public servants at every level of government, continuity would be impossible in a democracy that regularly changes its leaders and elected officials. Now, therefore, I, David Le Grand, mayor of the city of Grand Rapids, proclaim the week of May 3 to 9, 2026 as public service recognition week in honor of the thousands of public servants that work for Grand Rapids City as employees appointed to elected officials or on a board or a commission and call on all residents to recognize the accomplishments and contributions of government employees at all levels: federal, state, county, and city. Thank you, Mayor. In recognition of public service recognition week, we're here today to celebrate members of our city team who consistently go above and beyond in service to our community. Since May of last year, more than a hundred and fifty employees have been recognized as ACE award recipients, demonstrating what it means to deliver above customer expectations. These individuals bring to life the values of the City of Grand Rapids accountability, collaboration, customer service, equity, innovation, and sustainability. At this time, I'd like to ask all ACE award recipients who are present to please stand and be recognized. Please join me in giving them a well-deserved round of applause. Thank you and congratulations again. At this time, I'd like to invite Mr. Ken Godwin, President of the APA union to offer remarks on behalf of labor. Good morning, Mayor, City Manager, Commissioners, and members of the community. On behalf of the Association of Public Administrators of Grand Rapids, I proudly stand before you representing all of the collective bargaining units. I acknowledge in acknowledgement of public service recognition week. Union leadership would like to extend our sincere thanks to each and every employee for your continued commitment to serving our community. Your dedication, professionalism, and daily contributions do not go unnoticed. We thank you for the vital work you do every day. Thank you. Thank you, Ken.