Candidate Profile: Rebecca Chamberlain-Creanga, Troy City Council

TROY, MI — There are three open seats for Troy 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.

Rebecca Chamberlain-Creanga is running for Troy City Council Member. Here's how she filled her profile:

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Age (as of Election Day)

44

Position Sought

Troy City Council Member

Party Affiliation

Nonpartisan office

Family

I’ve been married for 20 years to Dr. Ovidiu Creanga, a historian with the Claims Conference, the global organization which negotiates for compensation and restitution for victims of the Holocaust. Ovidiu’s research has helped to secure millions of dollars in compensation for Holocaust survivors and has been featured on NBC Nightly News. My husband and I chose to make Troy our home for its award-winning schools, rich diversity and strong neighborhoods. Our six-year-old son attends Troy Public Schools.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

I hold a Ph.D. in economic anthropology from the London School of Economics. As a Marshall Scholar, I earned a Master of Science from the London School of Economics and a Master of Arts from University College London. I received a Bachelor of Arts in international relations from Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts. I was a visiting scholar at Columbia University.

Occupation

I currently work for The Kresge Foundation, a top private foundation in America and leader in economic revitalization. Based out of the foundation’s Troy headquarters, I have worked at Kresge for over 7 years. Previously, I worked at the world’s leading development and financial institution, the World Bank, as a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow and was a U.S. Department of State Title VIII Research Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

I was elected to Troy City Council in August 2020 in a special election for a partial term – after having been unanimously appointed to City Council in February 2020. I am now running for my full 4-year term on Council.

Campaign website

https://www.rebecca4troy.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I'm running for re-election to Troy City Council, because I want to work with residents to create tomorrow together. Last year, Troy residents overwhelmingly elected me to City Council in a competitive special election. Since then, I've worked hard to listen to neighbors and to collaborate with fellow council members, so that together we could lead our city through these unprecedented times. Troy has given me so much: my career and a beautiful community in which to raise our son. As we continue to make our way out of the pandemic, Troy remains extraordinary – and I firmly believe Troy is on the cusp of something even more extraordinary. With a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and a career that spans international development and philanthropy, I have the strategic vision and economic development experience to steer Troy into a bright future. As a former adjunct professor of performance metrics at Oakland University, I’ll also make certain every tax dollar spent is used wisely. I’ll work hard to ensure Troy seizes this moment and residents continue to have a voice in shaping the future.

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

The single most pressing issue facing Troy right now is updating the City’s master plan in a way that addresses residents’ concerns about development and green space, especially around the city’s neighborhood nodes. What I hear most from residents when knocking on doors and talking over the phone is concern about the new developments being squeezed into already busy commercial street corners and next to well-established neighborhoods of single-family homes. I intend to address this issue by making sure the update of our master plan respects our residents and the character of our neighborhoods; it will involve rethinking and improving the neighborhood node zoning designation. The best way to go about this is to involve our residents in our decision-making. Along with survey input already received, I am inviting residents – including everyone I have spoken to about this issue – to join our upcoming “Neighborhood Node Walk & Talks” with either the Planning Commission or City Council to provide input. I also believe we need to revisit the recommendations of the City’s Green Space Subcommittee, which involve finding ways to incentivize and incorporate publicly-accessible green space into developments around the city. I also would like to look into the possibility of using American Rescue Plan Act dollars to improve our existing parks.

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

I am uniquely qualified to serve on Troy City Council, because the most pressing issues in Troy right now are the very economic development and strategy issues that I’ve spent a lifetime working on through philanthropy and international development.

Another unique qualification is my decades of experience with policy, having briefed U.S. government officials as a recognized expert with a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics.

As a lifelong educator, I've also taught performance metrics and evaluation at Oakland University. Evaluation is an important skill to help ensure we get the most out of every tax dollar spent.

As a council member, I was recently elected to the Board of Trustees of the Michigan Municipal League (MML) — the second person in Troy’s history — which will give Troy and cities like ours a voice in Lansing. I am also a long-standing member of the Urban Land Institute, which, like MML, exposes me to resources and best practices to bring back to Troy.

With my expertise and experience, Troy is well positioned not just for a comeback, but a real resurgence. Let's create tomorrow together!

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

I am an incumbent. I am proud of how our current City Council has committed itself to a high standard of ethics, transparency and community engagement.

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

I am proud of how the City of Troy has responded to the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 has threatened our health and given rise to uncertainty. It has put everyone at risk, especially our seniors and first responders. As soon as I joined City Council, I went to work using my experience on a workplace pandemic task force to help ensure the City of Troy closed and opened safely during the pandemic. I made certain our police, fire and frontline workers had the PPE and support they needed to keep City services going. I will continue to confront COVID head-on, coordinating with county, state and federal government to help local businesses and to keep residents safe.

While the City of Troy has weathered COVID well—paying off debt and receiving federal stimulus funding—we must still shore up our finances. The full economic ramifications of COVID-19 remain uncertain. That’s why I believe it’s important for Council to continue to pass fiscally conservative budgets—as I have for the past two fiscal years—to protect our AAA bond rating and to prepare for a bright future.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

Troy is at a pivotal point in time. We are updating our master plan to guide development for the next decade and embarking on a new Council strategic planning process to determine City funding priorities. In all of this, I believe we must prioritize:

(1) USING OUR TAX DOLLARS WISELY: I believe in preserving our low millage rate and getting the most out of every dollar we spend. I’ll always support the bedrock of our community—our police, fire and first responders—and the other city services, spaces and infrastructure that make Troy a great place to live.

(2) STRENGTHENING OUR LOCAL ECONOMY: COVID hit our local businesses hard. I will continue to use every resource available to support Troy’s business community and to ensure Troy is well positioned to be a regional and national leader in business attraction and retention, evolving to meet the demands of a changing world.

(3) PROTECTING WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT TROY: From safeguarding our parks and green spaces to investing in our library, trails and recreation, I’ll fight for an updated master plan that respects residents and preserves the character of our neighborhoods.

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

As a current Council Member, I've had to dive into two budgets over $178 million and lead a city through a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. Thanks to the skillful stewardship of myself and fellow Council colleagues, Troy is well positioned for a real resurgence.

You can count on me to do the hard work and to rise to the challenges ahead as we come out of the pandemic and work to create a bright future. I have spent my professional life working at organizations dedicated to revitalizing local economies and to ensuring residents have a say in the decisions that impact them. During my time at the World Bank, I am proud of a project where I helped bring warring groups in a conflict zone together through economic development initiatives. I have brought that tenacity, collaboration and economic development experience to City Council to help Troy through this crisis. I now bring it to help us create tomorrow together. The way forward is together.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Work hard and stay humble.

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

I'm passionate about giving back to a community that has given me and my family so much. Prior to joining Troy City Council in 2020, I was a member of the City's Global Troy Advisory Committee and Troy Downtown Development Authority, where I oversaw the approval of the Quality Development Initiative to promote a vibrant streetscape and high-quality amenities along the Big Beaver Corridor. In my spare time, I enjoy serving as a block captain in my neighborhood and being active in my church. I am a member of Leadership Oakland Class XXIX, a program for regional leaders that focuses on creating awareness of key issues affecting Oakland County