Candidate Profile: Jeff Greer, Grosse Pointe Park City Council

GROSSE POINTE PARK, MI — There are three open seats for Grosse Pointe Park City Council in November's general elections.

To help readers make informed choices, Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as election day draws near.

Jeff Greer is running for Grosse Pointe Park City Council. Here's how he filled his candidate profile:

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Age (as of Election Day)

54

Position Sought

Grosse Pointe Park City Council

Party Affiliation

Democratic

Family

My wife Kathryn and I met at University of Maryland at College Park. Our son Henry is a freshman at Michigan State and our daughter Zosia is a junior at Grosse Pointe South High School.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

Ph.D. English, Western Michigan University; M.F.A. Creative Writing, University of Maryland; B.A. English, University of Maryland

Occupation

I'm a Digital Content Strategist and lead a team of content strategists at MRM//McCann Detroit. I've been in this field for more than 20 years.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Democratic Precinct Delegate, Precinct 2, Grosse Pointe Park

Campaign website

https://greergpp.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I’m running for council to bring positive change to Grosse Pointe Park. We have a great community with wonderful amenities, but there is much we need to do to modernize our city government, operate with transparency, and develop smarter fiscal acumen.

We’ve paid little attention to infrastructure and city services, and now face the challenge of simultaneously repairing water infrastructure, replacing decaying facilities, and modernizing our city administration.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The June storm backup reminded us that our sewer and storm infrastructure is critically broken. Our community is at risk if we ignore this issue. I will urge the City Manager to accelerate plans to improve the safety and reliability of our water systems. This requires focus. We must be laser focused on short- and long-term solutions to prevent another storm backup. We must do this while also rebuilding our water delivery infrastructure. Annually, we have more than 17 water main breaks per year. Repairing these breaks is the largest maintenance expense in our municipal water budget.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

My campaign is based on clear communication, transparency, and fiscal acumen. I believe that our resources must go toward projects that benefit a majority of residents. City government is here to work for all of us, not just a well-connected few.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

There has been a culture around real estate transactions in GPP that has been secret while not following establish processes and protocols. For instance, the City recently purchased a commercial property in Detroit using funds from the Water and Sewer budget. This transaction was hidden from citizens and only recently exposed. I will fight to end these secret transactions and assure our City Administration is focused on the work of rebuilding our infrastructure.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

Our officials in City Hall did not respond to the crisis quickly enough, and it left much of the business community to struggle on their own. I participated in Sustain GPP, which helped local businesses market and advertise themselves during the darkest days of the pandemic.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

I believe we can become a more welcoming community. We need to work to put aside the social and cultural divisions that have been a stain on our otherwise wonderful community.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

We need someone who can bring us together. In both my professional and volunteer work, I've done over the years, I have worked to bring people together to find common solutions to difficult problems. In addition to doing a variety of community organizing and advocacy, I was formerly on the board of the Center for Plain Language, an organization focused on making governments and companies better communicators.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

My father, who passed away more than 10 years ago, taught me the value of going out and speaking to people about what I believe. Talking to people in the community has been my favorite part of this campaign.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

We have plenty of evidence that the old way of doing things – back-room deals, focusing on vanity projects, ignoring critical infrastructure – is not working for the majority of people who live here.

I’m ready to lead Grosse Pointe Park into the future. We can continue to enjoy our wonderful city and also have transparency, improved communications, and a government that’s run with fiscal acumen.