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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Fire Commissioners Minutes 06.10.26Please contact Lansing Fire Department if you cannot attend the meeting or need accommodations at 517-483-4200 or lfd.admin@lansingmi.gov Pa g e 1 CITY OF LANSING | FIRE DEPARTMENT BOARD OF FIRE COMMISSIONERS 120 E. SHIAWASSEE ST. | LANSING MI 48933 517-483-4200 LANSINGMI.GOV/FIRE 1.Called to Order at 5:30 p.m. Present: Barbara Lawrence, Jerrod LaRue, Michael Lynn, Gina Nelson, and Charles Willis. Absent: Steve Purchase, Jon Scott, and Krishna Singh. Office of the City Attorney Elizabeth Krochmalny Guests Administration Assistant Chief David Odom Jr. Battalion Chief Michael Clevenger Human Resources Director Elizabeth O’Leary 2.Additions to Agenda: None. 3.Approval of Minutes: City Attorney Elizabeth Krochmalny indicated that she was not present at the May meeting, but rather, Sunny Miller attended with Brandon Waddell. Thus, the meeting minutes from May 13th will be updated to reflect this change. Motion to approve by Commissioner Nelson and seconded by Commissioner LaRue. All voted in favor to approve May 13th, 2026’s amended minutes with the one change requested being made. 4.Public Comment – Agenda Items (time limit: 3 minutes): None. 5.Review Communications: Chair Lawrence noted that no communication was received. A letter was prepared by Chair Lawrence for Fire Marshal Jared Nisch congratulating him for being selected as the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Fire Marshal of the Year. Fire Marshal Nisch will be receiving this award on Sunday, June 21st, 2026. 6.Comments from Chair Traditionally, the report prepared by the fire board is provided to Mayor Schor at the end of the calendar year. Please note that this report is based on the fiscal year (July 1st through June 30th). For this reason, when the report is being provided to the mayor it is six months old. The format for the report has been modified with the help of Commissioner Purchase. REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10TH, 2026| 5:30 PM | STATION #1|120 E SHIAWASSEE STREET | LANSING MI Fire Commissioners 1st Ward Barbara Lawrence, Chair 2nd Ward Jerrod LaRue 3rd Ward Michael Lynn 4th Ward Gina Nelson At Large Steve Purchase At Large Jon Scott At Large Charles Willis At Large Krishna Singh, Vice Chair Please contact Lansing Fire Department if you cannot attend the meeting or need accommodations at 517-483-4200 or lfd.admin@lansingmi.gov Pa g e 2 o Both Commissioner Purchase and Administration Assistant Chief Odom worked together to make the report data heavy previously. Once the data is provided, Commissioner Purchase works to generate the report. The report is estimated to take only four to six weeks to generate after the close of the fiscal year on June 30th. Therefore, Chair Lawrence recommended that the reporting period be moved up, and that Commissioner Purchase works with another one other commissioner so that at least two people on the board know how to create the report going forward. o The goal to get this report to the mayor is the first of September. This will also give the board adequate time to get a meeting with Mayor Schor, as scheduling can be difficult with his limited availability. o With the new City Hall building projected to be completed soon, there will be a lot going on in the fall with moving, among other things. Getting this report out of the way would be beneficial for both the board and the Mayor’s Office. o This report will be part of the focus at the next couple of meetings. Commissioners can anticipate reviewing the data, as well as evaluating drafts of the report. Everybody will have an opportunity to give their input on what the recommendations to the mayor should be.  Starting July 1st the term for chair expires. The position of chair is exclusively a one-year term. Chair Lawrence informed the attendees that she is not going to run for the position of chair again. The commissioners were urged to think of their roles in leadership with direct regards to the Board of Fire Commissioners. o Chair Lawerence has not spoken to Vice Chair Krishna Singh about whether he plans to continue as vice chair or if he wants to run for chair. The commissioners were advised to be prepared for the discussion as selection of chair and vice chair will be transpiring next month. 7. Presentations  At the May meeting, Commissioner Lynn inquired about the diversity statistics of the fire department. Commissioner Lynn noted that he found a report in the shared Dropbox from 2022 that was very detailed, and he was curious as to what the diversity was like for the department in 2026. It is believed that Lead Human Resources (HR) Hiring Manager/Recruiter Regina Wilson generated the report from 2022. City of Lansing HR Director Elizabeth O’Leary indicated that she was not familiar with the report that Regina provided, however, she would investigate. Commissioner Lynn will send the report to HR Director O’Leary once located in the Dropbox. HR Director O’Leary presented the following statistics with direct regards to diversity in the department, please note that if someone chose not to report, they would be unknown, o 16.32% African American o .0526% Hispanic Latino o .0210% Two or more races o 66.32% Caucasian Please contact Lansing Fire Department if you cannot attend the meeting or need accommodations at 517-483-4200 or lfd.admin@lansingmi.gov Pa g e 3 o 10% Unknown  If further information is wanted regarding the diversity statistics, or if any of the commissioners would like the information to be drilled down, please feel free to email HR Director O’Leary. Please be aware that these statistics are soley for employees listed as fire in the system and is not encompassing of all City of Lansing personnel. 8. Administration Division Update – Chief Carrie Edwards-Clemons  The Lansing Fire Department (LFD) will be focusing on community outreach over the summer months. o Saturday, July 11th will be the LFD Young Heroes Community in the Park event located at Adado Riverfront Park. All of LFD’s special teams will be highlighted. In addition, information will be provided regarding the Hill Academy and what educational opportunities (Firefighter I and II, EMT) are offered to the students of this academy. The target audience is young children all the way up to young adults, and the goal is to get the public interacting with LFD, so that they can see that they can go into this profession as well. Ideally, Lansing residents will be future employees at LFD.  Commissioner Willis inquired what the age range is for the children for LFD Young Heros Community in the Park, and where are these children coming from (schools, exclusively the community, etc.). Chief Edwards-Clemons referenced that since this event is open to the public, all ages are welcome. Commissioner Willis informed the group that the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) has a camp all summer long, and this event would be a perfect activity for them to attend during the day. Commissioner Lynn indicated that he would be happy to reach out to the YMCA to inform them of this event. Administration Assistant Chief Odom noted that this event will be posted everywhere. The entire City of Lansing will be invited, and the flyer will be posted on all the social media platforms.  Chair Lawrence posed the question of whether the flyer could be distributed to all the commissioners and could be distributed at community meetings. Chief Edwards-Clemons informed the group that the flyer could be provided, and that it can be distributed to anyone. Specifically, if the commissioner is in their individual ward, please distribute the flyer or inform them of this event. The reach is to get community members that do not always come downtown. Lansing Community College (LCC) will also be attending this event and will be able to display the courses that they offer that will provide a candidate with an upper hand in the hiring process. Please contact Lansing Fire Department if you cannot attend the meeting or need accommodations at 517-483-4200 or lfd.admin@lansingmi.gov Pa g e 4 o Sunday, June 21st will be the Homerun for Heroes softball game between LFD and the Lansing Police Department (LPD). This game will be taking place at Jackson Field (505 E Michigan Ave., Lansing, MI 48912). LFD and LPD have competed in basketball and hockey in the past, which has gone well. Chair Lawrence raised the question of whether these teams will be actual employees of LFD and LPD, and who the coaches are. Administration Assistant Chief Odom distinguished that both teams are full-time employees of the two departments. The two coaches for LFD are Firefighters Mike Staudinger and LaQuann Sinclair. Chief Edwards-Clemons expressed how much fun the basketball game was, and how frequently the two departments work together. There is rarely a call where LFD and LPD are not both on it. For this reason, it is critical that the two departments participate in activities outside of work to ensure cohesiveness.  The City of Lansing has an Equity Core Team that meets once a month. There are currently three employees of LFD that participate in this group. An email was sent out on Thursday, June 4th to all members to inform them what the group does, as well as inquiring if anyone is interested in joining the group. The issues that exist in the stations regarding equity and cultural issues may not be getting addressed as they could be unknown. If members of suppression are part of this team any unknown issues can be brought to light and ultimately resolved by administration before it causes issues. o As of the time of this meeting, Administration Assistant Chief Odom informed the board that there have been no responses to the email sent regarding this group. When commissioners are going into the stations, Chief Edwards-Clemons advised if there are individuals that want to make a change, please encourage them to sign up for this team. Commissioner Lynn inquired who can be on this team, and who is already currently on team. Administration Assistant Chief Odom referenced that anyone that works for the fire department can be a part of this team. Currently, there are only 40-hour employees on this team. Chief Edwards-Clemons stressed that she would like a Battalion Chief, Captain, and firefighters on this team as there is no one on the team from the stations currently. Commissioner Lynn noted that there are a couple of members in the stations that are interested in joining the team, across various positions (Battalion Chief, Captains, etc.). He referenced that directly asking these members may be the best approach and questioned what kind of wording he should be using when asking the members. Chief Edwards-Clemons noted that she would send the wording to use, information on what the group does, as well as their goals, in addition to a study from 2021. Commissioner Willis posed the question of why there has been no response from personnel regarding participation in this group. He inquired if it may be a union matter, or if there is pressure not to join the team. When the group was created it was just Administration Assistant Chief Odom, and former Administrative Specialist Jules Overfelt. Since then, another 40-hour employee has joined the Please contact Lansing Fire Department if you cannot attend the meeting or need accommodations at 517-483-4200 or lfd.admin@lansingmi.gov Pa g e 5 team. The team accepts anyone who wants to participate. Chief Edwards- Clemons in addition to Administration Assistant Chief do not know why there is no interest in joining the team. Chief Edwards-Clemons emphasized that LFD has participated in this team for three years. This is a volunteer team, and Chief Edwards-Clemons wants equal representation from every level at LFD.  Commissioner Lynn agreed with Commissioner Willis as there is likely a reason that individuals are not joining the team. He noted that there is not a wide range of individuals that would be interested, but there are some that appear likely to join the group if directly asked. o HR Director Elizabeth O’Leary informed the board that every department in the city participates in this team and stressed that it is very important that there is representation from the fire department. The discussions that take place at this meeting have an impact citywide. The team is run by the Human Relations and Community Services (HRCS) Department.  The interviews have taken place for the administrative specialist 30 position, and once the testing results have been provided, a decision will be made. There are some great candidates for this position.  Interviews have been scheduled for the vacant operations assistant chief position.  Chief Edwards-Clemons expressed how great the Hill Academy graduation was that she recently attended. She was able to talk to a couple of the graduates about potentially doing an internship with LFD. Chief Edwards-Clemons is currently trying to secure the funding for these internships.  LFD will be participating in the Juneteenth Parade on Saturday, June 20th, in addition to the July 4th parade.  The public safety complex is scheduled to open on January 4th, 2027. o Commissioner Willis inquired about people moving in. Chief Edwards-Clemons noted that the city is getting ready to move into the new City Hall. At station nine, the construction crew put their office into the building as opposed to staying in trailers. Commissioner Willis noted people have been asking him, as they have seen people moving in. Chief Edwards-Clemons reiterated that there will be people going in and out of the public safety complex area, however, no one is moving in. o Chair Lawrence inquired about the training department’s new building. Chief Edwards- Clemons informed the board that the training tower’s ribbon cutting is Wednesday, June 17th at 2 pm. The department’s public information officer (PIO), and Mayor Schor will be attending the ribbon cutting next week. Everyone is invited to come to this event. This does not include the classrooms, and the station. Station nine is expected to open at the same time as the public safety complex on January 4th.  The response summary from May 2026 was provided to the commissioners. Please contact Lansing Fire Department if you cannot attend the meeting or need accommodations at 517-483-4200 or lfd.admin@lansingmi.gov Pa g e 6 o Chair Lawrence inquired if the response summary could be available electronically. Administration Assistant Chief Odom noted that he will get an electronic copy to the board.  Currently waiting on the Lexipol policies, so that final process can be completed with direct regards to filing with the city clerk.  Chief Edwards-Clemons expressed appreciation to Fire Prevention Administrative Specialist Alyssa Hagle for standing in and doing a great job during the transitions that the department has had. Chair Lawrence echoed Chief Edwards-Clemons’ statement. 9. Old Business:  Chair Lawrence indicated that she wanted to keep the administrative policy review on the radar, and inquired if they are still in process. o Chief Edwards-Clemons noted that the Office of the City Attorney (OCA) was provided with the policies and has reviewed them. The reviewed policies were provided to the Board of Fire Commissioners so that they could vote on them, prior to filing with the city clerk. o At the last meeting Administrative Assistant Chief Odom recalled giving the group policies, and Commissioner Purchase was going to go through and see which policies have been reviewed by the board previously. If any policy is missing, Administrative Assistant Chief Odom can provide it. As there were different people providing the policies, for example, Chief Sturdivant, it caused some confusion about what has been reviewed and what has not been. Commissioner Purchase is still working on seeing what policies have been reviewed. o Chair Lawrence and Commissioner Willis believe that all the policies have been likely reviewed. 10. New Business: None. 11. Requests for Commissioners to be Excused: Chair Lawrence received requests from Commissioners Scott, and Purchase, as well as Vice Chair Krishna Singh to be excused. Motion to approve all three absences by Commissioner Nelson and seconded by Commissioner LaRue. All voted in favor. 12. Commissioner Comments  Commissioner Willis expressed gratitude to Chief Edwards-Clemons for providing the update on the new public safety complex, as he frequently receives questions. He also noted that he will provide information regarding the upcoming summer events at future neighborhood meetings. o Chief Edwards-Clemons reported that they are still offering tours of the new public safety complex and station nine. Please feel free to reach out regarding a tour, Dan is showing what he can every Wednesday. If you would like to tour station two, please just stop by, and LFD personnel would be happy to give you a tour if available.  Commissioner Lynn informed the group of Lansing 360, which focuses on gun violence prevention. Gun violence is something that this department deals with daily. Lansing 360 meets every Please contact Lansing Fire Department if you cannot attend the meeting or need accommodations at 517-483-4200 or lfd.admin@lansingmi.gov Pa g e 7 Wednesday at 12 pm for one hour. The mayor and LPD’s Police Chief Backus regularly attend this meeting as well. There is a Zoom capability, and they also meet in-person. Commissioner Lynn would sincerely appreciate having members from the Board of Fire Commissioners attend this meeting and having a larger fire department presence. It is a great opportunity to make connections with other members of the community.  Commissioner LaRue noted that the fire summary is extremely helpful, as many of his neighbors question the run volume of the department. He inquired if it would be possible to get the number of mutual aid responses as well. Commissioner LaRue reiterated that this information is helpful to be able to provide to the public, but also council as well. Chief Edwards-Clemons, and Administrative Assistant Chief Odom will add this information for future meetings.  Chair Lawrence informed the board that the closing of station eight has made the neighborhood more aware of Lansing Charter Township Fire Department’s response. She reported noticing that Lansing Charter Township Department has been invited to some of the community events as opposed to LFD. Administration Assistant Chief Odom inquired if Chair Lawrence lives in the Groesbeck area, which she reported that she does. This area is interesting when it comes to jurisdiction as one side of the same street can be Lansing Charter Township and the other side is the City of Lansing. o Chair Lawrence also noted that station eight is missing at events. Administration Assistant Chief Odom referenced that if they are invited, they will come. Currently, station eight is being dispatched out of station one, and station eight is still responding to calls in their area. 13. Public Comment (on any matter – speakers must state their name and address; time limit 3 minutes)  Administration Assistant Chief Odom expressed appreciation to HR Director Elizabeth O’Leary and Assistant City Attorney Elizabeth Krochmalny for attending the meeting. Their attendance provides more unity in the city. 14. General Order  Chair Lawrence noted that the fire board meeting agenda on the city’s website is incorrect, and she has been having difficulty trying to get in contact with Chief Deputy Clerk Brian Jackson. The meetings in June and July were scheduled for the training tower. HR Director Elizabeth O’Leary advised that she would follow up with Chief Deputy Clerk Brian Jackson. Next month’s meeting will be at station one.  Commissioner Lynn inquired about upcoming training. It was determined that this was a training soley for Commissioner Lynn as he is a new commissioner. 15. Meeting adjournment at 6:20 pm. Minutes formatted and submitted Monday, June 15th, 2026, by Alyssa Hagle. Alyssa Hagle | Fire Prevention Administrative Specialist, Fire Marshal’s Office 517-483-5087 | E: alyssa.hagle@lansingmi.gov