Candidate Profile: Alyse Leidich, Rochester City Council Member

ROCHESTER, MI — There are four open seats for Rochester City Council Member 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.

Alyse Leidich is running for Rochester City Council Member. Here's how she filled out her profile:

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Age (as of Election Day)

34

Position Sought

Rochester City Council Member

Family

Married to Chris Leidich (38) for 9.5 years.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

Graduated from Sterling Heights high school in 2005.
Graduated from Oakland Community College in 2011 with a degree in applied health science and certificate in massage therapy.

Occupation

Licensed massage therapist 10 years. Business owner 3 years

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

None

Campaign website

N/A

Why are you seeking elective office?

Because I love my city.

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

Transparency with our city council and our citizens. I plan to be a voice for the people who live here and the business owners who may not live here but spend 90% of their time in town running their business.

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

I am not a career politician nor am I looking to pad my resume in any way. I genuinely care about the future of the city that I not only live in but I also own and operate my business in.

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

They don’t communicate with the people who live here and are very hard to reach. Most people don’t know who our mayor is let alone who is on city council. I would like to change that, people know who I am and how to reach me. I am always in town talking to residents and business owners and they have a lot to say and have no idea who to reach.

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

I think they did the best the could given the situation. We didn’t lose many business and our DDA did a lot to help the restaurants.

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

I have been on the DDA’s promotion committee for 4 years helping plan, set up and tear down every event that happens in our city. I was also asked to be the Secretary of Treasury for my Business group of 40+ small business owners a year after starting my business, I also helped lead that group and navigate our weekly meetings on zoom when the pandemic hit.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

To do a servants job, one must have a servants heart.

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

In my early 20’s I was a park ranger at bloomer park and learned a lot about our parks and working hand in hand with the DNR. I was also a custodian for several years at Woodside bible church where my family has been active members since the early 90’s when we were still Troy Baptist Church. I have also spent the last 4 years walking EVERYWHERE. I decided to give up my wheels and use my legs. I’m doing so I was able to get to know all the people who work in our beautiful park and on our streets team. I also befriend many business owners as well as citizens. By walking everyday, everywhere I went, I was able to take a leap of faith and open my business with out fear of failure because I learned how loyal the people of my city really are. It’s always been my dream to get on city council and to be able to give back even more to the city that has given me so much.