OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Grand Rapids City Commission Meeting - June 16, 2026

Meeting Portal — Tuesday, June 16, 2026
BodyGrand Rapids, Michigan
SessionMeeting Portal
DateTuesday, June 16, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:33:28
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Order and ask you all to join us as is our habit with a moment of silence.

0:11

Please stand and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

0:17

Pledge of allegiance to the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God.

0:26

Liberty and Justice for All.

0:34

Mr.

0:34

Clerk, if you call the roll.

0:41

Commissioner Kilgore.

0:43

Commissioner Knight.

0:45

Commissioner Asasi.

0:46

Present.

0:47

Commissioner Perdue.

0:48

Present.

0:48

Commissioner Belchak.

0:50

Present.

0:50

Mayor Le Grand.

0:52

Present.

0:53

First item of businesses approval of our minutes from our last meeting.

0:56

Items.

0:58

So move to have a second.

1:00

Thank you.

1:00

All in favor say aye.

1:02

Motion carries.

1:04

That brings us to petitions and communications, Mr.

1:06

Clerk.

1:07

First one is communication received from Michael D.

1:09

Yoder with a noise complaint against AgriShare Amphitheater.

1:12

Received and filed.

1:18

Communication received from a Vandenberg West Grand Neighborhood Organization regarding first word representation on the Grand Rapids City Commission.

1:26

Stephen Filed.

1:27

Communication received from Shannon Henderson expressing support for using state funding for alternative crisis response measures.

1:42

Comptrollers warrant report for the period of May 19, 2026 through June 1, 2026, in the amount of 39,767,091.70 cents.

1:53

Treasurer's report for the period of May 20, 2026 through June 2, 2026.

2:03

Received and filed.

2:09

In regards to continuing to move our city forward.

2:14

Thank you, Mayor, and good evening, Commissioners and members of the public.

2:18

Thank you for being here this evening.

2:28

And I thought it was appropriate that we highlight this on our last city commission meeting of the fiscal year.

2:36

Because so much has been done, not only in the past fiscal year, but over the years that has really put us in a position to catapult for forward and continue to be a city on the rise.

2:48

We've already been recognized for the outstanding things that we've done as a city by LinkedIn.

2:54

And we continue to be one of the major uh leading uh cities in the country for multiple reasons.

3:07

Much of it relates to engagement by community members, uh public-private uh collaboration, but also good governance uh by uh this and former city commissions.

3:17

So I want to thank you for the work that you did in this uh past budget, uh our fiscal conservancy and as a conservative, as well as uh some of the decisions that you made, hard decisions to allow us to continue some of the basic services.

3:33

But when you look at all the economic indicators of our city, the fact that uh we had a highest year of construction value last year, one billion dollars.

3:43

We continue to see population growth, which is not seen in every community in Michigan, as well as the development uh of new housing, uh specifically in downtown growing another 21 housing units, uh, as well as the uh investments that we've made uh in the likes of the amphitheater, soon to be open soccer stadium.

4:07

Many of you were uh part of the trail uh ribbon cutting uh last uh yesterday and as well as many of the other events along the green way, as well as the river restoration project, and even the construction that we've uh witnessed here on uh the riverfront at the public museum, all because of what we continue to do to uh help our community community be economically sound and vibrant.

4:34

Uh there are other indicators that show record high in room nights sold uh for Kent County of approximately two point three million hotel room nights in 2025.

4:47

Uh, the World of Winter Festival, 2.3 million visitors, uh art prize has generated almost $82 million dollar in economic impact with nearly one million visitors and city's special events permitted drew over 1.4 million attendees.

5:03

I mean, these are all good economic indicators.

5:06

Having said that, I do recognize we still have our challenges.

4:59

We have our challenges around affordability.

5:13

We have our challenges around public safety.

5:16

We have our challenges around economic prosperity for all of our community.

5:21

And we are not shying away from those challenges.

5:24

We never have, but we still are fortunate to be making progress.

5:30

I'm very pleased with the efforts that we've done with housing this past year over with the efforts of 100 and downtown pathways, over 205 individuals have been able to secure permanent housing, which is remarkable.

5:46

And what has distinguished our city is not that we've uh not had challenges like any other community, but we have not been afraid to address and partner through those challenges through civic engagement, and I look forward to our continued effort as we look at fiscal year 27 to continue to meet uh those challenges and work along with all of you in doing so with all the staff and the community members that are here.

6:14

Mayor, would you like to add anything else?

6:17

Um, you know, I I don't want to say that we're the fastest growing city in the state because that might turn out that there's you know, maybe the city of Sand Lake grew faster than us, and I didn't notice, but I did do uh look at significant cities in Michigan, and as far as I could tell by looking at the data, we're not simply growing, we're the fastest growing significant city for uh in the state of Michigan.

6:39

And so um I think a lot of that is a credit to um the work of the people who work for the city.

6:45

Uh a lot of it is uh a credit to the people who invested in the city in the private sector and to the really impressive uh nonprofit work that's being done in the city.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Miscellaneous█████████████████████████████████████████████76%
Economic Development███████12%
Affordable Housing███5%
Fiscal Sustainability██4%
Procedural██3%
Summary of Proceedings

Grand Rapids City Commission Meeting - June 16, 2026

The Grand Rapids City Commission met on June 16, 2026, at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. The meeting included the approval of routine items, several ordinance adoptions, a public hearing on an industrial development district, and extensive public comment on topics such as sanctuary city policies, surveillance cameras, neighborhood representation, and amphitheater noise. Commissioners also reported on community events and policy reviews.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved minutes from the previous meeting.
  • Received and filed petitions and communications, including a noise complaint against AgriShare Amphitheater, a request for first ward representation on the commission, a letter supporting alternative crisis response, the comptroller's warrant report ($39,767,091.70 for May 19–June 1, 2026), and the treasurer's report for May 20–June 2, 2026.
  • Approved the consent agenda (items that passed unanimously out of committee and were not pulled for discussion).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • D. Jones (pastor, entrepreneur): Expressed frustration that the mayor and school district did not support his Stocking Community Hub project, alleging the mayor doubted its feasibility. He stated he has $4.5 million in funding and wants to build an eSports innovation lab, 3D printing curriculum, and affordable housing. Accused the school board of conflicts of interest.
  • Katie Hoffman (first ward resident, Garfield Park Neighborhoods Association): Requested a public statement from the commission on resolving the first ward vacancy, a commitment to prevent future vacancies via policy or charter amendment, and clarification on abstention procedures. Noted that 66,000 first ward residents lack equal representation.
  • Nathan Biller (small infill developer): Requested that the city provide an official estimate of future property taxes at the time of building permit issuance, citing that current uncertainty makes projects financially unviable. Asked the commission to direct the city manager to explore feasibility and place the item on a future agenda.
  • Teresa (resident): Demanded the adoption of six sanctuary policies, including prohibiting GRPD collaboration with ICE. Stated there is video evidence of cooperation despite the mayor's denials. Cited a specific case of an immigrant who was denied medical care and is being deported.
  • Karen (resident): Supported sanctuary policies and called for ending the contract with Flock license plate readers, citing Fourth Amendment violations. Mentioned Peter Thiel's ownership of Flock and the need to stop mass surveillance.
  • Halford (resident, first ward): Complained that the AgriShare Amphitheater concerts run past the 11 p.m. curfew (specifically May 27 concert ran to 11:15 p.m.) and that his noise complaint to GRPD was not accepted. Criticized lack of response from commissioners and city staff. Demanded penalties for late concerts and accountability.
  • Other speakers addressed: supporting tax abatement monitoring and compliance, advocating for emerging developers (Zone GR), opposing abortion and supporting Christian values, and urging voter turnout.

Discussion Items

  • Mayor's Report: Highlighted economic indicators: $1 billion construction value, population growth, 21 new housing units downtown, 2.3 million hotel room nights sold (2025), 2.3 million World of Winter visitors, $82 million Art Prize economic impact, 1.4 million special event attendees. Noted challenges with affordability, public safety, and economic prosperity. Mentioned 205 individuals secured housing through Pathways program. Emphasized fiscal conservancy and civic engagement.
  • Budget Ordinance Amendment (8th amendment for FY2026): Commissioner Asasi outlined 24 items, including transfers for affordable housing, fire department facilities, street resurfacing, parks improvements, police grants, and various departmental appropriations. Approved by roll call vote (all yes). Immediate effect also approved.
  • Zoning Ordinance Amendment for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs): Commissioner Perdue presented four recommendations from an ADU task force (adjust size, modify accessory structure requirements, revise site layout, broaden use). Planning commission unanimously recommended adoption with no public comments. Approved by roll call vote (all yes).
  • Major Amendment to Planned Redevelopment District (2071 East Beltline NE): Commissioner Knight explained the amendment to convert a vacant IHOP to an MSU Federal Credit Union. Planning commission held a public hearing with no comments and expressed support for the design and green space. Approved by roll call vote (all yes).
  • Public Hearing – Industrial Development District and Speculative Building Designation (Honey Crisp Ventures): Patricia Kelly (Director of Operations) requested establishment of a PA 198 district for a 90,000 sq ft speculative industrial building at 2210 Northridge, with $7.5 million hard costs. Noted that speculative development requires the tax abatement to be viable. No public comments. The hearing was closed and referred to committee.

Key Outcomes

  • Unanimous approvals: Minutes, consent agenda, budget amendment (with immediate effect), ADU zoning amendment, and PRD amendment all passed unanimously on roll call votes.
  • Public hearing referred: The industrial development district request was closed and referred to committee for further action.
  • No action taken on public comments: Commissioners acknowledged public concerns but did not take specific votes. Mayor LeGrand addressed sanctuary policy demands, stating that the city already has policies in place that meet the core demands (no civil immigration detention, no 287(g) agreements) and accused the activist group of not engaging in good faith. He also defended the Flock camera policy, noting ICE does not have access and that the system has filters.
  • Commissioner announcements: Commissioner Belchak committed to following up on amphitheater noise issues. Commissioner Knight reported on the Leonard and Ann trail groundbreaking and Juneteenth/Pride events. Commissioner Kilgore defended the LGBTQ+ community and urged action against injustice. City manager mentioned possibility of canceling the July 7 meeting if no significant items arise, and reminded public of the police chief finalist forum on June 17.
  • Next steps: City manager directed to explore property tax estimate feasibility (from public comment). The public safety committee will continue canine policy review. The first ward vacancy remains unresolved.

Meeting Transcript

Order and ask you all to join us as is our habit with a moment of silence. Please stand and join us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge of allegiance to the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God. Liberty and Justice for All. Mr. Clerk, if you call the roll. Commissioner Kilgore. Commissioner Knight. Commissioner Asasi. Present. Commissioner Perdue. Present. Commissioner Belchak. Present. Mayor Le Grand. Present. First item of businesses approval of our minutes from our last meeting. Items. So move to have a second. Thank you. All in favor say aye. Motion carries. That brings us to petitions and communications, Mr. Clerk. First one is communication received from Michael D. Yoder with a noise complaint against AgriShare Amphitheater. Received and filed. Communication received from a Vandenberg West Grand Neighborhood Organization regarding first word representation on the Grand Rapids City Commission. Stephen Filed. Communication received from Shannon Henderson expressing support for using state funding for alternative crisis response measures. Comptrollers warrant report for the period of May 19, 2026 through June 1, 2026, in the amount of 39,767,091.70 cents. Treasurer's report for the period of May 20, 2026 through June 2, 2026. Received and filed. In regards to continuing to move our city forward. Thank you, Mayor, and good evening, Commissioners and members of the public. Thank you for being here this evening. And I thought it was appropriate that we highlight this on our last city commission meeting of the fiscal year. Because so much has been done, not only in the past fiscal year, but over the years that has really put us in a position to catapult for forward and continue to be a city on the rise. We've already been recognized for the outstanding things that we've done as a city by LinkedIn. And we continue to be one of the major uh leading uh cities in the country for multiple reasons. Much of it relates to engagement by community members, uh public-private uh collaboration, but also good governance uh by uh this and former city commissions. So I want to thank you for the work that you did in this uh past budget, uh our fiscal conservancy and as a conservative, as well as uh some of the decisions that you made, hard decisions to allow us to continue some of the basic services. But when you look at all the economic indicators of our city, the fact that uh we had a highest year of construction value last year, one billion dollars. We continue to see population growth, which is not seen in every community in Michigan, as well as the development uh of new housing, uh specifically in downtown growing another 21 housing units, uh, as well as the uh investments that we've made uh in the likes of the amphitheater, soon to be open soccer stadium. Many of you were uh part of the trail uh ribbon cutting uh last uh yesterday and as well as many of the other events along the green way, as well as the river restoration project, and even the construction that we've uh witnessed here on uh the riverfront at the public museum, all because of what we continue to do to uh help our community community be economically sound and vibrant. Uh there are other indicators that show record high in room nights sold uh for Kent County of approximately two point three million hotel room nights in 2025. Uh, the World of Winter Festival, 2.3 million visitors, uh art prize has generated almost $82 million dollar in economic impact with nearly one million visitors and city's special events permitted drew over 1.4 million attendees. I mean, these are all good economic indicators. Having said that, I do recognize we still have our challenges. We have our challenges around affordability.

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