Warren Mayor-Elect Lori Stone wants to listen, work with council, protect ARPA money

The day after an election night celebrating her win as Warren's next top leader, state Rep. Lori Stone attended a legislative session in Lansing that lasted until 3 a.m. Thursday.

She was back on the legislative floor again Thursday, the last day this year that lawmakers took action on bills, representing many constituents who next week will be calling her by a new title: mayor.

"I am tremendously honored to earn the trust and support of my community," Stone said during a telephone interview with the Free Press from the legislative floor Thursday. "I recognize that they saw the experience, the qualifications and character I bring to the role."

Stone beat city Human Resources Director George Dimas in Tuesday's contest, garnering 53% of the vote, to succeed term-limited Mayor Jim Fouts, who has been the city's top leader for 16 years and a fixture in city politics for decades.

In Warren politics, 'the whole dynamic is changing'

Stone, 43, a former elementary school teacher in Fitzgerald Public Schools and lifelong Warren resident, said keeping a positive message and running on merit during the campaign "really resonated with my community that is frustrated by negativity and attack ads."

She said campaigns are job interviews, and "I want the community to expect more of their elected officials."

During the last four years, Fouts and the City Council have butted heads and tumbled into court on numerous occasions on everything from budget questions to term limits. The mailers and advertisements in this election included hit pieces from a dark money political action committee comprised of current and former city employees.

Pollster Ed Sarpolus, founder and executive director of Target-Insyght, who was raised in Macomb County, said Stone represents "the new blood," not the old guard, in city politics.

"The bottom line is, the whole dynamics are changing," he said.

A native daughter leads women into Warren offices

Stone, a Democrat, is making history as the first woman to be mayor in the city of more than 137,000, which has grown and become more racially and ethnically diverse since its first mayor, Arthur Miller, took office Jan. 1, 1957.

Warren is Michigan's third most populous city and the most populous community in Macomb County, home to big corporate operations for General Motors and Stellantis, Macomb Community College's main campus and the U.S. Army's Tank Automotive & Armaments Command.

It's also the city where Stone, on her campaign website, said she grew up with her two brothers and sister, attended school and church and participated in parks and recreation activities, such as swim lessons at the city pool.

Stone, a Michigan State University graduate, said she is "thrilled to be elected. I'm cognizant that here we are in 2023 and there are still glass ceilings in place."

She said she bears the honor of "making that breakthrough" in the city; and noted that many women led and paved the path for her.

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"I'm opening the doors to the next set of women who want to be public servants in our community," said Stone, who was first elected as a state representative in 2018.

The city's three full-time officeholders will be women, as will three out of seven members of the City Council. This election marked another first — the first resident of color to be elected to the City Council, Melody Magee, who is vice chair of the city’s housing commission.

Stone said she is seeking clarification on when she will begin serving as mayor, but it could be as early as Monday and she is expected to be in the job next week.

The city charter states the terms of office of all elected officials commences on and dates from the Monday following their election, unless otherwise provided in the charter.

Farewell speech in the Legislature

Stone said it's pending certification of the election, which in the past was three days. She said a recent state law extended the ability of clerks to accept ballots from military and overseas voters for up to six days after the election.

She doesn’t think Warren has 1,000 or more military or overseas ballots that will impact the outcome of the mayoral race (she won by 1,388 more votes, according to unofficial results), but she said she's going to let the process play out.

In the meantime, she's winding down her role as a state legislator and starting to ramp up the next phase of her career.

In a Facebook post Thursday evening, Stone had a smiling selfie on the floor of the Legislature and wrote: "Another marathon session, I gave my farewell speech, 34 pieces of legislation voted out. My office and desk are packed up."

Stone said she's looking for a seamless transition from one role to other. Fouts reached out to her Wednesday and congratulated her, which Stone said she appreciated. Fouts, who endorsed Dimas in the election, told the Free Press on Wednesday: "I want her to be successful."

Stone asked whether he would be available for advice and what he has learned from his experience, and he offered to help her with the transition. Fouts said when he first took office in November 2007, it was the Friday after the election and he said he had until the end of that day to decide what appointees he was going to keep and fire.

Stone said she believes the success of a transition is when the handoff goes relatively unnoticed, and services continue as usual.

Stone said people expect rapid change and things to be settled when she becomes mayor.

"For me, I approach my leadership philosophy with the listen, learn, lead," she said.

Stone said she’ll have conversations with employees, saying she’s respectful of the people who work for the city on a daily basis and their institutional knowledge and finding ways of things that can be done better and more efficiently.

ARPA money and hold music

She said many people are asking what are all the changes to come.

"Those will unfold in due time. It's not gonna happen immediately, necessarily," she said.

Asked whether the Frank Sinatra music that has been the telephone hold music at City Hall — Fouts is a huge fan of Sinatra — will be changed, Stone said she has "not formed a position on this," but said it's an "operational question I will take with me." Stone said she enjoys show tunes and compilations.

Stone said she wants to create spaces for residents to weigh in and center leadership on the needs of the community. She said there are a lot of communities within the city that are marginalized, and she wants them to know they have the ear of their leader. She said, in general, residents believe they have dependable services and will want to see areas to improve.

Stone said she wants to have conversations with City Council and identify projects and priorities they can work on together. She said while she has some long-standing relationships with some of the members, she sees some new faces and wants to learn about their experience and goals.

One item on her mind is American Rescue Plan Act funds, which have a 2024 deadline to be obligated, and she doesn’t want to lose any of the city's $27.3 million allocation, which "can make some big improvements in the community because we didn't have a game plan in place."

"I came to this campaign with the commitment to work with anyone the community selects as their advocate," Stone said, adding she wants to assess and bring people together — "the philosophy of working together for Warren."

"I believe there is a mutual interest in finding common ground. I think people who have experienced the governance over the recent past, they recognize the divisiveness, and it prevented us from accomplishing certain tasks," she said. "I think there is a mutual interest in serving our community, in providing the best services."

Stone said she has "some big shoes to fill" but believes "that the work I have done in the Legislature has prepared me well for that.”

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Warren Mayor-Elect Lori Stone expecting to be on the job next week