East Lansing, Michigan (home to the second rate Michigan State Spartans) has a brand new mayor. 34-year-old Samir “Sam” Singh was elected mayor by the city council two weeks ago. The Lansing State Journal reports:

For the first time in eight years, East Lansing has a new mayor.

Sam Singh, 34, who has been mayor pro tem for eight of his 10 years on the council, was unanimously elected to a two-year term as mayor by his fellow City Council members Tuesday…

The mayor has all of the responsibilities of a council member, chairs council meetings and serves as the city’s representative on ceremonial occasions.

He is the city’s chief executive, although the city manager is responsible for day-to-day operation of the city. [Link]

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p>Well good. Despite the fact that he graduated from the second best university in the state, I think he’ll do a fine job. He has actually been on the city council since 1995 so he has definitely paid his dues (as you can tell by the hints of silver in his hair and beard).

“I was hopeful my colleagues would vote for me,” he said. “I was very honored when they voted to support me.”

Singh said the issues facing the community are “very complex and complicated” and that taking care of them is his priority.

I hate that issues are always complex. I am not sure if that particular community can handle complexity (okay no more Spartan jokes). Maybe we can look for Samir to make the jump to national politics a few years down the road. Michigan would be a good state to run in.