Statement from Mayor Pro Tem Chuck Grigsby:

Public safety, accountability, racial justice, transparency, and trust in local government are values I have long championed in East Lansing, and they guide every decision I make. Residents have raised these issues in different ways over time, and I have always believed that elected leadership has a responsibility to listen carefully, respect the facts, and be part of meaningful solutions. I take pride in having been part of that work before I held elected office, and I remain committed to being part of that work now.

There are legal and procedural limits on what I can responsibly say about matters that are currently connected to pending litigation, independent review, or formal city processes. I will respect those limits. I will not make statements that interfere with the legal process, create confusion about the City’s position, or speak before the full facts and appropriate records are in front of me.

Before I served on City Council, before I became Mayor Pro Tem, and before I held any elected title, I was already doing this work in East Lansing. I chaired the Human Rights Commission and chaired the Study Committee on an Independent Police Oversight Commission, which helped lead to the oversight structure East Lansing has today. I worked with residents, commissioners, staff, and community members on difficult issues involving racial disparity, public safety, transparency, and accountability. That work was not symbolic for me. It was one part of what shaped my decision to step deeper into public service. I saw the issues, I saw the work, and I understood that these matters required more than public statements from leaders expected to stand up for them. Public concern has to be organized, sustained, and moved toward process, policy, follow through, and outcomes.

My record is not built on reaction alone. It is built on process, facts, persistence, and execution. I have helped move concerns from public frustration into formal review, policy discussion, ordinance work, commission action, and public accountability structures. I have always believed that government has a responsibility to listen to residents, examine systems honestly, protect due process, and take meaningful action when the facts and the process call for it.

I know there are people who want immediate declarations. I understand that. But my responsibility is not only to say what people may want to hear in the moment. My responsibility is to protect the integrity of the work, respect the process, and be prepared to act when the time comes. When issues involving racism, disparity, injustice, public safety, or accountability are properly before me, I will address them with the same seriousness, passion, and commitment that I have brought to this work from the beginning.

I also want residents to know that I do not view public safety and racial justice as competing values. A safe community must also be a just community. A trusted public safety system must be accountable, transparent, fair, and responsive to the people it serves. Those principles have guided my work for years, and they will continue to guide me now.

I am not issuing this statement to debate a pending case, assign fault, or speak for anyone else. I am speaking for myself. I am reminding residents where I stand, how I work, and what I have consistently stood for in this community.

Chuck Grigsby

Mayor Pro Tem, City of East Lansing