Lansing City Council overrides Mayor Schor’s budget veto

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - City employees that work for the mayor, or warming centers for the homeless - Lansing’s City Council decided Monday which is the bigger priority.

Just a few days after Lansing Mayor Andy Schor vetoed budget cuts to his staff, city council voted to override his veto.

In a nearly unanimous vote Monday, Lansing City Council decided to override Mayor Andy Schor’s budget veto.

The vote came after seven residents spoke in favor of the override, with most mentioning the mayor’s absence.

“We showed up, where is he? Why does he always hide from his own residents, from his own constituents,” said Farhan Sheikh-Omar, a Lansing Resident.

One speaker choked up while commenting in favor of the override, about what it’s like to work with Lansing’s homeless people in the winter. She talked about what it’s like walking up to a tent, not knowing if the person inside is frozen to death, or not.

“I have been asking for two years, to Mayor Schor, ‘Please get a plan.’ We were finding them frozen in dumpsters we... this is hard.” said Jody Washington, a Lansing Resident and former city council member.

Mayor Schor’s office wasn’t the only department to receive cuts in an effort to fund warming and cooling centers, but it was the most talked about subject at Monday’s meeting.

Although he did not attend, News 10 spoke with Mayor Schor, just ahead of the meeting.

“I’m very disappointed, that these things are all happening, and now we’re going to have to really figure out a way to get these things funded before July 1st otherwise we’re going to be out of compliance with state law and we’re going to have serious operational issues,” said Mayor Schor.

Pending some amendments, Lansing’s budget will stand as first presented by the city council to the mayor, according to the city clerk.

Lansing’s next city council meeting is Monday, June 12th.

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