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She came to the podium last week as an impassioned, concerned citizen and called out the Niagara Falls City Council.
“I don’t know what y’all doin’ with this money,” she said, “but we are findin’ it.”
It’s was one thing for Michia Lee to attend a council meeting for the first time but the next thing is a different one. She decided to run for city council.
Lee has had people circulating petitions and collection signatures for the last week in a mad dash to gather 1,000 signatures and get on the ballot for the Democratic primary.
Lee, 35, uses the online persona Kilo Monroe, is a musician and social media influencer who creates travel content as well.
She said she has lived in North Carolina and Atlanta but moved home so her daughter could attend Niagara Falls High School for her senior year.
She has deep roots in the community as the daughter of Rhonda Bivins Talley, and granddaughter of Ron Cunningham.
“It’s a new generation, it’s a new time,” she said Tuesday in a phone interview. “The system is not changing so we are changing it.”
She said she called the board of elections and was told by Democratic Commissioner Lora Allen she needs 500 signatures to make it to the ballot. As of Tuesday, she had about 300.
She is collecting signatures from registered Democrats between 10 a.m and 10 p.m. at 2013 10th St
“I’ve been talking to people who want to bring jobs,” she said. “Things like data centers and artificial intelligence. Chat GPT is my best friend.”
She wants to work on youth financial literacy as well.
“I would like to teach about financial freedom and money management,” she said, “credits scores and how to live a life correctly.”
She said the current council is disconnected from many people who live in the Falls.
“They don’t understand waiting on a check at the first of the month or food stamps,” she said. “We need to rehab buildings rather than buying a fleet of police cars. We need a homeless shelter, not a dog shelter.”
She has different visions for things.
“If they (the government) cared about economic growth and having a thriving community they would be up to date with today’s times. Sal Maglie would be used for a ‘Rolling Loud’ event. They don’t know how to make more money they just know how to take money.”
