By Shy’Ana Thomas
The Democrats at Grand Rapids Community College hosted a club kick off and discussed changes they’d like to see happen in Michigan, such as the system of the police, mass incarceration, environmental issues, and what things can be done to the city of Grand Rapids. This conversation was held with mayoral candidate David LaGrand on Wednesday, Oct. 4.
A representative from the 75th district who’s been in office for eight years, is now a candidate for Grand Rapids mayor. LaGrand has done work here in Grand Rapids and some in Lansing.
LaGrand has been involved in politics since graduating from University of Chicago Law School. He came back to Grand Rapids and started working for Warner Norcross & Judd. He later served as an Assistant County Prosecutor for eight years and then started his campaign to become the next Grand Rapids mayor in 2022. LaGrand has been endorsed by the current mayor, Rosalynn Bliss.
“I also really, really understand the importance of being on a team,” LaGrand said. “… the fact that I’m running for mayor with the Democratic Party’s endorsement, it’s a big deal for me.”
Since being in the political scene one of the things that LaGrand has worked on is the justice issue within the community. At the meeting he discussed what that means to him, specifically the issue with mass incarceration in America.
“I spent most of my life trying to work on justice issues,” said LaGrand. “And my adult life has really been working on trying to fix the problem of mass incarceration in America. And I worked a long time on that in a lot of different spaces and I’m not gonna stop working on that…That’s what I care about the most.”
LaGrand also mentioned his plans to address environmental issues in Grand Rapids, housing challenges and neighborhood development.
“So renewable energy there’s some real possibilities to make everyone’s life better in the city of Grand Rapids,” said LaGrand. “But I think we probably make people’s lives better in the cycling and pedestrian space. Now, that then feeds into talks to the question of housing. And I can tell you where the big obstacles are gonna be.”
LaGrand, who said he biked to his meeting with GRCC students, stressed the point of wanting to make places more accessible with biking and walking.
During the meeting, LaGrand invited all Democrats at GRCC to work with him on this campaign. He also discussed how door knocking is very important in a movement.
“Here’s why we would like (you) to come work with us, all of you, I’m actually asking all of you. So this is a recruitment event, like I’m happy to talk to you about whatever you wanna talk about. But we pay, because we know if you gotta go work if you can,” LaGrand said. “We knock on doors better than anybody else in this community. So, door knocking is the number one way to build community, to break down the hyper partisan hate that is literally threatening to rip our country in half. It is a way to restore trust in government by making it tangible. You’re actually having a conversation with people about stuff.”
LaGrand said his purpose is to help make Grand Rapids a better community.
“To answer any granular questions on it, I am eating, sleeping, breathing and living this right now because I am not using a car,” LaGrand said. “So that’s the first cool thing we can do.”
Democrats at GRCC meet once a month with their next meeting scheduled for Nov. 6 with the current state representative Rachel Hood. For more information about how to get involved and where these meetings are held, visit RaiderConnect.
