LANSING, Mich. — The Lansing City Council selected Brian Daniels to fill the vacant Ward 1 seat.
Daniels, 35, went through two rounds of interviews this week, starting on Monday when 11 candidates threw their hats into the ring to fill the seat vacated by Brandon Betz last month.
Three candidates were left standing on Tuesday and went through 30-minute interviews before the Council.
"I've always felt that civic duty is part of who I am," Daniels said. "I saw this opportunity to step up so I didn't step back. I've talked about it for a couple of years now so this isn't out of nowhere, though it was quicker than we all planned."
Daniels owns Empower Lansing on Michigan Avenue and grew up in Lansing. The City Council decided the vote through paper ballots and Daniels won with five votes.
Daniels says he wants to tackle issues of infrastructure and gun violence in Lansing.
"I think that we have to work on the infrastructure in the First Ward," he said. "I think there are a lot of homes that have been pink tagged. I think that we need to make sure people aren't drinking out of pipes that are going to poison them the same way people in Flint were poisoned."
Daniels says he plans to work with different organizations within the city to help curb gun violence through intervention and therapy.
"I just want people to be able to know that they can reach out to me," he said. "If you don't know me, please reach out. And one of the first things I want to do is also have neighborhood meetings as soon as possible in the safest way possible to introduce myself and also find out what the issues are in the community."
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