John Pollard has been called a lot of names: Gadfly, advocate, rabble rouser, questioner, pot stirrer, citizen. He prefers the moniker community activist.

"I'm fighting for truth, justice and the American way," said the 56 year-old activist, who will celebrate his next birthday on Nov. 1st.

Despite the whirlwind of controversy that seems to surround Pollard, he is not swayed by the crowd or the opinions of others. Talking in his signature rapid fire - machine gun - manner, the Washington, D.C. native explained, "When I'm on their side, people love me, but if I'm on the other side, they hate me. But, I really don't care what people say. I just want to be effective."

Pollard's drive to speak at the public lectern grows from within. "I do what I do because I have to face the man in the mirror and I hold him to a high standard." And Pollard considers himself to be effective.

Pollard has been a resident of mid-Michigan most of the time since graduating from MSU in 1972 with a Bachelors of Science degree. He is married and has a son, who attended Lansing public schools.

Currently, the community activist is a self employed Motivational Consultant and President of the Fair Share Coalition, a local organization that seeks to gain for minority and female owned companies a fair share of government contracts. He is concerned with national issues, but is focused primarily on local politics. "I'm impacted everyday by City Hall and the school district," he said.

Therefore, Pollard pours his energy into community issues. "People are learning you can take on city hall and you can win."

He says ". . . stopping the bike lane on Pleasant Grove and down Mt. Hope was a people's victory. The City Council never asked the neighborhood if they wanted a bike lane. All it did was disrupt traffic. The people were against this one, and now the bike lanes are history."

Pollard advocates citizens challenging elected officials. "The city charter is the Holy Grail that gives the citizens power, but they (the mayor and city council) are constantly violating the city charter. Especially in this age of zero tolerance - one strike and you are out - the law makers are the law breakers," Pollard said.

He pointed out that the city council did not submit its budget priorities by Oct. 1. Council submitted and passed its budget measure on Oct. 18. "That's a violation of the City Charter which is subject to 90 days in jail and up to a $500 in fines,"

Pollard is mulling plans to take the mayor and city council to federal court for violating the 14th amendment - equal protection under the law. Pollard said, "I don't choose the issues, they choose me. I react to what's coming down the pike."

Case in point is the proposed downtown townhouse units. According to Pollard, some developer is proposing building 809 units with one-bedroom units renting for $850 per month and up. Two and three bedrooms may rent for $1200 to $1500 per month. However, half the households in Lansing make less than $35,000 per year. Pollard says, "So this upscale living is for who? Don't poor people have the right to live downtown too? I'm for liberty and justice for all"

Economic Justice is a subject that gets the 5' 8" advocate fired up and ready to rumble. "We, Black folks, pay all of these taxes we don't get our fair share of purchasing spending from the city of Lansing or Lansing School District." He explained in fiscal year 2003 the city spent $55.7 million on goods and services. But, only $657,000 went to minorities - 1.18 percent of the money spent was split up among minorities - (women, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, Blacks). "I'm not against these people getting some of the money. But I don't want people to think that Black people are raking in the money. We all deserve to get our fair share of the pie. We deserve more than less than 2 percent of a 55 million dollar budget. This is close to taxation without representation," he said. "The founders of America would be up in arms behind this mess. They threw tea into Boston Harbor for less.

"You don't see any minorities working on city projects. Most of the companies come from outside the city. You don't see African Americans working on school district projects. These companies won't put our kids, who attended Lansing schools, to work. We pay the money in taxes and bonds, but we don't get any of the work, and we don't get any contracts."

According to Pollard, African Americans get less than one percent of the Lansing School District spending. "I'm fighting for Black folks to get their fair share of the Lansing School District budget."

Despite a presence at the microphone at public meetings and in front of the TV camera at City Hall, the community activist has no plans to run for public office. "I do what I do best and that is run my mouth," Pollard said. "The power is with the people, but the people have to take their power. It starts with someone saying, 'No, I will not continue to be your slave. I'm willing to say no."