Exit Interview: Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss reflects on her nine years in office

This is the last in a three-part series of exit interviews with people leaving prominent jobs in Michigan at the end of 2024.

After nine years in office, Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss will step down on December 31.

She spoke with Michigan Public Morning Edition host Doug Tribou about her accomplishments and one project she was never able to complete.

Doug Tribou: You’ve been part of a lot of changes and initiatives in the city during your years as mayor. But as you’re coming to the end of your final term. Could you pick one or two things that are real points of pride for you, things you think of as signature accomplishments?

Rosalynn Bliss: Yeah, that's a great question. It's so hard to nail down just a few, probably because I've been in office so long, but one that has been near to my heart since I was a commissioner — and even while I've been mayor — is to reinvest in our parks and green spaces. We were able to pass two different parks millages and if you go into our neighborhoods today, you'll see beautiful parks and playgrounds and swimming pools. Those did not exist about 20 years ago.

And then, downtown has really transformed, especially since I've been mayor. You know, we're moving forward on the river restoration. We're building millions of dollars' worth of trails along our river. We broke ground on the amphitheater. Hopefully next year we'll break ground on the soccer stadium. So, some exciting things happening in Grand Rapids.

DT: You’ve said that one of your hopes for the future of the city of Grand Rapids is that its population will grow. The city did see steady growth for about a decade, including your first term. But in the past few years, some reports based on Census data showed the city has lost population — about 2000 residents since 2020. What do you think is behind that change and how big of a concern is it for you?

RB: It is interesting and I appreciate data and I'm often looking at that data. The plateau could be for a whole host of reasons, but the reality is that it's really hard to find a place to live right now. So, housing availability and affordability is a significant issue in our city. We haven't kept up with building the number of units that we need to meet the demand.

If you look at our city, we're densely populated. We're about a 44-square-mile city and we're 95% built out. So, you either have to build up, you have to do a lot of redevelopment, or you've got to do some significant infill.

DT: As we’re recording this, a three-tower, $800-million development downtown has been getting a lot of attention and pushback in Grand Rapids. Some of that pushback is about the lack of affordable housing in the proposal. The plan has been described as “skyline defining.”

Cities that want to grow and stay attractive to business and residents often end up in a push-pull about a community’s small-city roots and bigger ambitions. How do you see that debate in Grand Rapids and what’s the right balance in your view?

RB: I think that's the key word: balance. You know, my philosophy has always been it's a 'yes and.' It's a 'both.' We need affordable housing. We need low-income housing. And we do have some housing needs assessment data that shows there's a significant need for market-rate housing in our city as well. And when you don't have enough market rate, it pushes up the other costs for both affordable and low-income housing.

A project of this magnitude, it should be built downtown in our core, and that will relieve some of the demand that we're seeing. The brownfield incentive was set up to encourage people to build in urban cores where we know it's more expensive. There's a lot of environmental remediation that they have to do. To me, when I look at specifically the 'Three Towers' project, the benefit to our community is more than just what the proposal is — to put 6.25% of the funds or roughly $8.5 million into our affordable housing fund. But there's also, you know, a commitment to redevelop the riverfront. And then there will be some commercial space that we're hoping to attract local-owned businesses to move their business there.

DT: One of the most controversial issues in the city while you've been mayor has been the issue of police reform. The Grand Rapids Police Department has been sued for civil rights violations. One officer is currently facing murder charges for the killing of Patrick Lyoya. You've worked on police reform, even back before you were mayor. But many people say the city and the department haven't done enough. Why hasn't Grand Rapids succeeded in building trust in its police department?

RB: We have had some significant tragedies. And Patrick Lyoya's death is one of them. And you're right, it's been a really tough issue in our community. And I am grateful for our police chief, Chief [Eric] Winstrom, who has worked really hard to build relationships with community. But the reality is that it takes time.

You know, we've done a number of things, as you said, on the policy side. We were early adopters of body cameras. We created an Office of Public Oversight and Accountability. That was even before the death of Patrick Lyoya. You know, we've added mental health, behavioral health specialists. We're working with the Urban League to do violence prevention efforts in our neighborhoods. There's still more to do, obviously. But I tell people all the time, I wish things changed overnight, but especially when it comes to building relationships between the police department and community, it'll be an ongoing priority and an ongoing effort.

DT: No politician ever accomplishes everything they set out to do. With the caveat that you’re not quite done yet, are there things you would have liked to accomplish that just remained out of reach during your two terms in office?

RB: The big one that comes to mind — that I have been working on my entire time as mayor and even while I was a city commissioner, I worked on this with Mayor [George] Hartwell — is to get a large solar array on our Butterworth landfill.

If you're familiar with the City of Grand Rapids, we used to have a large landfill, unfortunately along the river. And we have worked hard. We've tried to figure out how to make the numbers work. And in our heavily regulated energy system here in the state of Michigan and the fact that we don't have a municipal utility like Lansing — in fact, I saw [Lansing] Mayor [Andy] Schor yesterday, I told him how jealous I was that he has so much autonomy and authority around municipal utilities — it's been a very challenging project. I still am hopeful that we'll be able to get there. And it's one of those issues that I'm going to hand over to Mayor-elect [David] LaGrand. And hopefully, hopefully, he'll be able to make it happen.

DT: I know you’ve said that you’re going to take the month of January off to give yourself a break. What’s next for you after that?

RB: I am going to take the month of January off. Hopefully just shut off my phone and social media and just take a brain break. I'll still listen to NPR, though [laughs].

DT: [Laughs] Well, thank you.

RB: And then I intend to start my next chapter in February.

Editor's note: Quotes in this article have been edited for length and clarity. You can hear the full interview near the top of this page.