LANSING, Mich. — Lansing residents had no problem calling out Mayor Andy Schor for not attending Monday night’s City Council meeting.
“The reason why he’s not able to show up and look us in the eye is because he has substitutions lined up. He’s playing a game,” said resident Farhan Omar.
Schor attended a committee meeting right before the City Council meeting. At the meeting, the council voted to override Schor's veto to the 2024 budget that they approved last week.
Schor’s veto included council's plans to relocate operational funds and cut over $250,000 from his department to pay for roads, sidewalks and warming centers.
There were also talks about $1.9 million that City Council knew nothing about before approving last week’s budget.
“He's the reason why you guys were able to find $1.9 million because this whole process was rushed,” Omar said.
"It was an error, it was a mistake. It was supposed to be allocated in the resolution,” Schor said.
It’s unclear where that $1.9 million will now go towards, but we’re told Schor and City Council will work together to figure it out.
Schor said he’s disappointed about the override but is figuring out how to move forward.
“We will provide some form of carry forward and figure out how to fund things like operations for departments, otherwise we won’t be able to operate numerous departments,” Schor said.
But others say the override is a way for Schor as the mayor to make sacrifices for the city.
“When you look up at this stand, there’s only one person who have not made sacrifices, and that’s why we went after your budget,” said council member Adam Hussain.
