The Year in Review
Our Recent Accomplishments
Since City Attorney Brig Smith took over, the Office has transitioned into a digitized and modernized "public law firm" for the City, and has accomplished some truly amazing things on behalf of the City. Here are some highlights:
Administration
City Attorney Leads Charge on Enterprise Management Software
- Coming from a leading law firm, one of the City Attorney's highest priorities when taking office was to bring to the Office the same technology, tools, and techniques used in the state's best firms so that it could equal or exceed those firms.
- The City Attorney pushed hard to acquire and implement "Enterprise Management Software" (EMS) for the City. EMS allows an enterprise, like the City, to share information seemlessly across the enterprises and with other enterprises.
- The City Attorney is currently spearheading a pilot program to implement EMS across the Office of the Mayor, the City Council, the Office of the City Clerk, and the Office of the City Attorney.
- He has also established a "Courts, Cops, and Counselors" working group to explore implementing EMS in the District Court, LPD, and Ingham County Prosecutor's Office.
Development
Accident Fund National HQ Revitalizes Old Power Station
- We successfully negotiated one of the most complex development deals in the Country.
- The deal keeps Accident Fund, a Blue Cross/Blue Shield subsidiary, here in Lansing, and adds potentially hundreds of new jobs.
- More importantly, the deal takes the old Ottawa Power Station, which has long been an albatross around the City's neck, and transforms it into a state-of-the-art national campus for Accident Fund.
- The deal was codenamed the Phoenix Project, because it (literally) resulted in the Ottawa Power Station being reborn from the ashes.
City Gets Cutting Edge Cable Deals
- The City netted new cable deals with Comcast, AriaLink, and AT&T.
- In the face of volatile changes in state and federal cable law, we secured a deal that puts Lansing among the leaders in the State.
- The new deals mean millions of dollars in additional revenue to the City.
- The deals also mean better rates and more choices for our citizens.
City Market Gets New State-of-the-Art Home
- We also closed on Pat Gillespie's "Market Place" project.
- The project means a new cutting edge home for the venerable City Market.
- It also means new commercial and residential development along the Grand River.
- The project, along with the Capitol Club Condos, Michigan State Police HQ, and Accident Fund HQ, continues the Mayor's "Grand Vision for the Grand River."
New High-Rise Condos on the Banks of the Grand River
- Sean Elliot's "Capitol Club Condos" project also closed this year, with help from Jack Roberts, Chief Deputy City Attorney.
- The project will be a highrise condominium tower with first floor retail space.
- This is another signature deal that reverses decades of turning the City's back on the Grand River and instead views the river for what it is: a jewel that runs through the City.
Boarshead Theater Stays Downtown
- We also completed a deal that will keep Lansing's financially troubled local theater downtown, where it belongs.
- Under the deal, the City acquired the Lansing Arts Council Building, where the Boarshead resides, while we continue to work on a permanent Center for the Arts in downtown Lansing.
Litigation
City Wins Unanimous Verdict in Boat Club Jury Trial
- City Attorney Brig Smith and Acting Deputy City Attorney Don Kulhanek won a unanimous jury verdict to evict the Lansing Boat Club from Grand River Park.
- The decision returns the Park to its rightful owners-- the citizens of Lansing-- and paves the way for developing a grand vision for the Grand River.
- The Boat Club has filed an appeal, which the City Attorney expects to win. In the meantime, negotiations with the Boat Club remain pending and promising.
Prosecution
Cops on Streets, Not in Seats
- We instituted a policy that allowed our police officers to focus on preventing crime in the field instead of waiting to testify in Court.
- Under the policy, we offer zero-point pleas to traffic defendants prior to their Court date, but seek stiffer penalties if defendants wait until their Court date to plea or actually take the matter to trial.
- The end result is police officers spending less time waiting in Court and more time working the streets.
Housing and Neighborhoods
City Targets Cell Tower Sprawl
- Working with the Mayor and the City Council, the City Attorney successfully beat back a cell tower from entering the middle of a close-knit neighborhood.
- The fight resulted in litigation in federal court, which we were able to have dismissed with prejudice.
- We also drafted and passed a state-of-the-art Cell Tower Ordinance, which will help protect other neighborhoods from unfettered cell tower sprawl.
"Remedy" Remedied
- The City Attorney concluded a complicated three-way deal to help a troubled homeowner out of a tight spot with no cost to the City.
- The owner lived next to the former "Remedy Nightclub," which at one point featured live bull riding.
- A&E Mailers acquired both the bar and the adjacent home, and bought out the homeowner.
- This was a true win-win-win on a complicated housing and neighborhood matter.
Slumlords See Jail Time
- For the first time in nearly 15 years, the Office of the City Attorney secured jail time in housing cases.
- Under our new Court Ordered Compliance Program, rather than continue to accumulate civil fines, we sought court orders that would result in jail time for chronic absentee landlords who failed to comply.
Cracking Down on Crack Houses
- The City Attorney successfully pursued board-up actions against long-time drug houses and the Office vigorously prosecuted defendants in areas that were becoming known drug corridors.
- Rather than invent a new tool, we dusted off an old one, using the City's "padlock ordinance" to great effect in severe cases.
- Under the ordinance, if two investigations in six months result in a finding of drugs, the City Attorney can-and did- seek a board-up.
