Candidates for Lansing City Council have felony convictions, unpaid restitution
LANSING — One City Council candidate has been the subject of a personal protection order after a reported violent episode. Another has several felony convictions. Two others are late on payments related to state-required campaign finance filings.
These issues are outlined in public records the State Journal reviewed ahead of the Aug. 8 primary election that will pare 13 candidates to eight seeking four seats on the Lansing City Council. The LSJ reviewed criminal records, civil court records, tax payments, traffic violations and campaign finance paperwork among other research on candidates.
Prior felony convictions
The Rev. DeMarco Taft is running in the First Ward as D. Taft in a race that includes incumbent Ryan Kost and Michael VandeGuchte. Taft was convicted of three felonies as an adult — welfare fraud of $500 or more in 1998 in Muskegon County; and fleeing an officer and obstructing or assaulting an officer in 2003 in Kent County.
He was also convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence in 2003 in Van Buren County, public records show.
Taft told the State Journal in a statement he was under the impression the felonies had been pleaded down to misdemeanors or wiped from his record.
“I didn’t know the over-20-year-old charges were on my record,” he said in a statement. “I thank the LSJ for informing me. I’m vigorously working to get (my) record updated and set aside under Michigan Clean Slate, Public Act 193, MCL 780.622(1).”
The Michigan Clean Slate program was enacted earlier this year and allows for some felonies to be automatically set aside and removed from a person's record. Taft said he believed some of his convictions should’ve been included in the program. He said he has corresponded with Michigan State Police after being made aware of the charges, but that his record would take up to a week to update publicly.
The State Journal confirmed the public records contained in the Michigan State Police’s Internet Criminal History Access Tool with local courts in Muskegon and Van Buren counties.
Taft said the welfare fraud conviction was incurred while he was working a temporary job and he said he paid back the money the week after he was charged. His domestic violence conviction pertained to an incident with an intoxicated sibling that turned physical, he said. Taft said his convictions for fleeing an officer and obstructing or assaulting an officer in Grand Rapids happened when a police officer attempted to pull him over and his daughter was riding with him, and he did not stop, but instead continued driving to his wife’s place of work, where he dropped off his daughter. He added he was attacked by police dogs.
Taft said he sued authorities following the incident and that the charges were dropped to high court misdemeanors upon dropping the suit.
Online records showed Taft sued the Grand Rapids Police Department in civil court in 2002 for $1 million. The case was settled in 2003 out of court, and the terms were not released. Grand Rapids Media Relations Manager Steve Guitar did not immediately have information on the settlement.
Taft ran for City Council in 2021 and 2022. He is suing the city of Lansing, present and former police officers, and their union for false arrest and other issues in what he described as a gang attack that officers watched without taking action.
Restitution and a personal protection order
Ryan Kost, current councilmember for the First Ward, was the subject of a personal protection order in 2013 filed by a former partner.
In court records asking for the protection order, Nathan Janssen wrote that Kost, 25 at the time, stole money from him, bit him multiple times, gave him a black eye and heavily drank over the course of several days while destroying his property. Janssen said Kost recorded 0.22 and 0.30 blood alcohol levels on consecutive days on an at-home breathalyzer.
Janssen, 22 at the time, said in the complaint that Kost willingly entered detox at the Sparrow Hospital in Lansing. Judge Laura Baird granted the personal protection order. It expired in May 2014.
When a State Journal reporter asked Kost about the PPO, he said it was the first time he had heard of it and said he didn’t recall the events described in Janssen’s letter. Kost confirmed he had a relationship with Janssen, but said it ended in the summer of 2013, several months before the PPO was filed in late November.
“I know who Nathan was, but I don't recall any of this, nor was I ever served any kind of PPO or told I had a PPO,” he said. “I can't control what someone else says — I certainly know that relationships don't always end with everyone happy.
“I don't want to go into details with my struggles and what I've overcome, but there have been struggles that I have had to overcome myself in my life that were very painful,” he added. “And I've been able to overcome them and become a much better person and learn from my mistakes.”
Kost also pleaded guilty to a 2010 misdemeanor for failing to stop at the scene of a personal injury accident. Kost was sentenced to one year in jail or directed to pay $8,925 in victim restitution. Total costs including fines and court costs was $9,533. Court records show as of Monday he owed $10,345. Kost said he was unaware of the balance until a State Journal reporter asked him about it.
“I did have a misdemeanor and I paid my debt and that was 13 years ago, there's nothing I can do to change it,” he said. “So I made a mistake, there were consequences and I learned from them.
"I didn't know I owed anything from 13 years ago but I certainly will be paying that immediately," he said. The payment was originally due in May 2012, following Kost's release from jail.
Records showed a writ of garnishment being mailed to Kost's current address in November 2021, a notice that Kost said he never received. The record does not confirm acknowledgement of the service.
After the State Journal informed him of the outstanding restitution, Kost contacted the court and set up a payment plan to be garnished from his paychecks. Ashley McGilvra, a deputy clerk with the court, confirmed a payment plan had been established Monday afternoon.
"It would have been handled in prior years if I had known about it, but it was a miscommunication I think from the entire process of the ticket and the understanding of the ticket — which is no one's fault except for mine for not understanding that," he said. "But I certainly want to make things right, so I am currently doing that."
Unpaid campaign filing fees
Two candidates have campaign filing fees that had not been paid at the time of publication — at-large candidate Keshawn Mitchell-Roland has yet to file his Statement of Organization and owes $300; King L. Robertson owes $230 for filing that form late.
Mitchell-Roland did not respond to a question on the fine. Robertson did not respond to texts or emails and his phone number was not able to receive calls.
Two at-large seats on the council are open because councilwomen Carol Wood and Patricia Spitzley aren't seeking reelection. Other at large candidates include Nicklas Zande, Jody Washington, Farhan Sheikh-Omar, Tamera Carter, Missy Lilje and Trini Lopez Pehlivanoglu.
In the Third Ward, Robertson and incumbent Adam Hussain will both advance to the general election in November.
Olivia Vaden, who will appear on the ballot, attempted to withdraw from the race past the deadline to be removed from the ballot, according to Chief Deputy City Clerk Brian P. Jackson.
Contact Sheldon Krause at skrause@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @sheldonjkrause.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Candidates for Lansing City Council have felony convictions, unpaid restitution
