This week, the League is touching base with the beautiful Lake Michigan community of Frankfort, where we spoke with City Superintendent Joshua Mills about Frankfort’s unique housing situation, the successes of its recently implemented housing commission and land trust, and its new Attainable Housing District. From there, we heard a Lansing legislative update on the MI Home Program proposal, as well as the zoning reforms communities are now implementing. Learn what our members should be watching for in terms of housing and development bills—and make your voice heard! Pattern Book Homes For 21st Century Michigan https://mml.org/resources-research/books-and-briefs/pattern-book-homes-for-21st-century-michigan/ MI Home Program https://mml.org/advocacy/mi-home-program/ Online Learning with the League https://learn.mml.org/login/index.php Webinar, "Michigan Women in Municipal Government Presents A.I. & Local Government: Tools and Guidance for Responsible Use" https://mml.org/event/michigan-women-in-municipal-government-presents-a-i-local-government-tools-and-guidance-for-responsible-use/ Newly Elected Officials Training https://mml.org/education-events/elected-officials-academy/newly-elected-officials-training/ Join the next show live on Zoom here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_F8NZLHYzTA2S2w1gk8z5gQ#/registration  

This week’s chat begins with a check-in with Taylor Pine, the League’s Digital Media Developer, on our Marketing & Communications team’s recent visit to the Upper Peninsula in search of stories, successes, and sightseeing.   We then turned to our regularly scheduled legislative news, including a hot-off-the presses update on revenue projections for road funding and revenue sharing, the postmark property tax bill, oath of office deadlines, and some thoughts on how to make your voice heard in Lansing. 

This week’s chat is a whirlwind tour, guided by our State and Federal Affairs team, of all that's gone down in Lansing in recent days. We do a deep dive into the “interesting” place we’re at in the budget process, eight days out from a government shutdown. We also have a conversation about election legislation bills, the status on tipping fees to curb out-of-state waste, and the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund. Finally, thoughts on last week’s Convention in Grand Rapids.

On this very special edition of Live with the League, we talk all things related to the $76 billion state budget that finally passed on Friday. John LaMacchia breaks down its effect on road funding, revenue sharing, the MI Home Program, and more. 

Testing new ideas—especially an entire framework of thinking—isn’t without risk and discomfort. But that’s just what the League has been working on over the past year. We’ve designed and refined tools to help Michigan’s local officials break out of silos and move their conversations and communities forward toward a shared vision. Herasanna Richards shares what two pilot facilitations of the thriving communities framework revealed to local leaders. 

No one wants to live in a place without stories. One source of stories? Architecture. Beautiful, historic buildings provide communities with important connection points, both physical and emotional. These are the places that make your town or city more than just a point on a map—they make it your home. Jack Brady explores some recent examples of Michigan communities preserving, revitalizing, and honoring their historic architecture.

The League’s own Murph, Policy Research Labs program manager, reflects on the lovely treescape of Grand Rapids’ Monroe Center Street.

In the final entry in our series about the 2025 Community Excellence Award submissions, we take a look at three Michigan cities in the process of tackling one of the biggest projects of all: reviving and reimagining their downtowns. 

In our series on the 2025 Community Excellence Award applicants, we visit two Michigan communities brightening their neighborhoods—and their spirits—with creativity. The City of Hart’s resident-let “community spirit initiative” is growing its regional reputation as a destination for public art, and the City of Portage is bringing competitive holiday cheer with its annual Tricked Out and Decked Out holiday home decoration contests.

In our series on the 2025 Community Excellence Award applicants, we take a look at three Michigan communities making the world just a little bit more sustainable and environmentally friendly. The Village of Roscommon and the City of Southfield created beautiful, educational spaces celebrating important wildlife, and the City of Birmingham developed an all-encompassing sustainability and public health plan for the years ahead.

We begin this week’s show with a wide-ranging conversation with Clare City Manager Jeremy Howard and Mayor Patrick Humphrey about the city’s downtown revitalization efforts, creative placemaking projects, municipal partnerships, and more. We then turn to our legislative update to discuss our new MI Home Program proposal—a set of tools to address the state’s housing crisis.

In our series on the 2025 Community Excellence Award applicants, we visit three Michigan municipalities that strengthened community bonds through revitalized third spaces. Big Rapids and Milford breathed new life into aging downtown parks, and Mt. Pleasant turned an unpopular parking lot into a thriving new town square. 

Welcome to August with Live with the League! This week’s show begins with a conversation with Luke Forrest of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity,  discussing the new Community Growth Academy and how it can help communities navigate economic transitions.  Moving into what's happening (or not happening) in Lansing, we discussed the current state of the ever-ongoing budget process. We finished with some updates from the road (MME, BLAC, MAM, and more), and how these face-to-face, on-the-ground, mano-a-mano conversations with members shape the League’s advocacy priorities going forward. 

In our series on the 2025 Community Excellence Award applicants, we profile two Michigan communities that linked up with private entities to the immense benefit of their residents. Through public–private partnerships, the Village of Sparta doubled its childcare capacity, and the City of Ypsilanti is unveiling its first new housing development in over half a century.

In our series on the 2025 Community Excellence Award applicants, learn more about a Michigan community’s innovative example of adaptive reuse. With City employees crammed into closets and sharing rooms, the City of Douglas repurposed a disused hospital building as spacious and accessible municipal offices, all while freeing up valuable space downtown.  

Host: Herasanna Richards, Legislative Associate, Michigan Municipal League A new statewide group, called The Coalition for a Strong and Prosperous Michigan, recently unveiled a bold and comprehensive vision to invest nearly $6 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding to build our state’s future. A news conference took place on Oct. 14 to release the plan, called “From Rescue to Prosperity: A Roadmap to Michigan’s Future.”

he Michigan Municipal League invites you to another installment of an ongoing webinar series with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). Get the latest updates on: • Staffing/Covid Updates• NEPA/SHPO Updates• 2020 MDOT Standard Specifications for Construction• New LAP Certification (Coming Soon)• Construction Manual Update/Project Closeouts• Upcoming Training• And much more! You'll also have an opportunity to ask questions or share concerns about issues affecting your community. Speakers:Kelly Crannell, Michigan Department of TransportationRyan Doyle, Michigan Department of Transportation

Safe & Just Michigan has been working in partnership with several organizations and municipalities to advocate for legislation that passes and implements automatic expungement in Michigan. Safe & Just Michigan's Executive Director John S. Cooper will be joined by Amanda O'Boyle, Assistant City Attorney of Lansing, and Frances Walters, Director of the Conviction Integrity and Expungement Unit of Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office (WCPO). They will discuss how municipalities can support and benefit from expanded access to expungement and how they are implementing these programs throughout the state. Presenters:John S. Cooper, Executive Director, Safe & Just MichiganFrances Walters, Director of the Conviction Integrity and Expungement Unit, Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office (WCPO)Amanda O'Boyle, Assistant City Attorney, City of Lansing

Join us for a Facebook Live chat where we talk with communities about their experience filling out the application. 11:30 am, July 22, 2021

New possibility is coming to town and you are one of the first to greet it. Maximizing the benefits of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding requires more than a little planning. Greeting these new dollars with good government practices, some strategic blue-sky thinking, and broad community engagement can help you grow possibility into real, long lasting benefits for your community and its people. Join us for an information-packed webinar where you’ll hear from experts on:-Strategies for coordination activities between different units of government-Leveraging state, private and philanthropic dollars to maximize your ARP funding-Navigating the Michigan Department of Treasury ARP application portal-Reporting and auditing requirements -How to access assistance in seeking, planning for, and utilizing your ARP dollars Presenters: Plante Moran, Michigan Municipal League, and the Michigan Association of Counties