Grosse Pointe Park City Council November 2 Election Candidate Guide

Voters head to the polls on November 2 to cast their votes for local leaders, ballot proposals and more. 

Get to know the candidates running for local office in your community with 101.9 FM WDET’s Candidate Guides. Surveys were distributed to candidates to complete and you can see the responses for candidates for Grosse Pointe Park City Council below.

See a full list of races covered here.

Related Race: Grosse Pointe Park Mayor

Jump to a candidate:

Thomas Caulfield
Christine Gallagher
Jeff Greer
Tim Kolar
Darci McConnell
Max Wiener

Thomas Caulfield

Candidate did not respond to survey request. View campaign website.

Christine Gallagher

Candidate did not respond to survey request. View campaign website.

Courtesy of Jeff Greer

Jeff Greer

Age: 54

Current job: Director, Content Strategy, MRM//McCann Detroit

Education: Ph.D. Western Michigan University, 1999. M.F.A., University of Maryland at College Park, 1994. B.A., University of Maryland at College Park, 1989

Why are you running for Grosse Pointe Park City Council? 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.

What is the most important issue facing Grosse Pointe Park? 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 recent storm backup reminded us that our sewer and storm infrastructure is critically broken. Our community is at risk if we ignore this issue. 

How would you address that 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 actions/decisions by the current mayoral administration or city council have you disagreed with? It’s time for a change. My campaign is based on clear communication, transparency, and fiscal acumen. Our resources must go toward projects that benefit a majority of residents.

Tim Kolar

Candidate did not respond to survey request. View campaign website.

Courtesy of Darci McConnell

Darci McConnell

Age: 54

Current job: President, McConnell Communications, Inc. (public relations/marketing firm), 17 years

Education: B.A. English/Communication, University of Michigan, ’90; completion of executive education programs at Dartmouth and Harvard. 

About Darci McConnell: I am a business owner, Park resident of 18 years, former journalist, mentor, Auntie Darci and, now, public servant. For the last 17 years, I’ve owned and operated my own public relations and marketing business. Among the more than 200 clients we’ve assisted are several municipalities – Grand Blanc, Detroit, Ecorse, Allen Park and Flint – as they worked to better involve their communities. As a journalist for 14 years across Michigan as well as in D.C., I was known for fairness and integrity. I am a proud graduate of the University of Michigan (Go Blue!). My community service includes creating and providing mentoring opportunities for dozens of young people; helping to raise more than $600,000 to process untested rape kits; and working with a host of nonprofits, including as a founding member of the Grosse Pointe Harper Woods NAACP branch and on the board of The Family Center. My work with local government goes back as far as my senior year in high school when I interned with the president of the Lansing City Council. I enjoy leading teams, working collaboratively to get things done and helping make complex issues plain.

Why are you running for Grosse Pointe Park City Council? My late grandfather, Leonard R. McConnell, once told me that when you do OK, you need to give back. I took those words to heart and, even when I was not doing OK, giving back remained a constant in my life. That mantra, along with my affinity for good government and giving a voice to the voiceless, is why I made the decision to serve on the Grosse Pointe Park City Council. I was appointed to the Council in November 2020 from a pool of 13 candidates by a unanimous vote of the sitting council members. I want to continue to build on the innovative work that I’ve done, which is prioritizing upgrades to our water and sewer system; be responsive to the citizens and help residents get any concerns addressed; be a good steward of the city’s money as part of my duty during the budget process; continue to help businesses impacted by the pandemic grow and thrive; and keep Grosse Pointe Park a safe place to live, work and play.

What is the most important issue facing Grosse Pointe Park? The biggest issue facing Grosse Pointe Park is overhauling our water and sewer system and mitigating the impact of storms to our homes. We must adequately fund any upgrades to our system, advocate for our city with elected officials at every level of government and educate our residents about ways to offset any damages from storm events. We must do so in a manner that is informed by best practices in other cities, incorporates residents’ voices and is done responsibly within our budget.

How would you address that issue? To date, I have successfully advocated that more than half a million dollars from the American Rescue Fund be used both to initiate upgrades to our system as well as to reimburse residents for remedies such as downspout disconnects. I spoke up for our city at the Great Lakes Water Authority meeting; helped secure a visit by Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence to survey storm damage; delivered information and claim forms to residents and conducted wellness checks; and researched and shared alternative solutions/best practices from other cities. I also successfully advocated for a full survey of our system, to ensure that we have a complete picture of any flaws that need to be repaired.

What actions/decisions by the current mayoral administration or city council have you disagreed with? Or, if you are the incumbent, what actions have you been proud of during your tenure? I’m extremely proud of two initiatives I implemented, Food for the Holidays and #SustainGPP, to assist residents and businesses impacted by the pandemic; the aforementioned assistance tied to the storm event; the role I played in creating a richer search process for a new public safety director; and the continued responsiveness I’m able to provide to help address resident concerns, ranging from remedying damaged sidewalks to creating better awareness of our government and its actions as a whole. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to serve, and I hope that the transparent, innovative work I’ve done allows me to earn the support of Park residents to stay on the council.

Courtesy of Max Wiener

Max Wiener

Age: 39

Current job: Owner Operator of Automotive Manufacturing Companies

Education: Materials and Metallurgical Engineering Degree from University of Toronto

About Max Wiener: I am an engineer and my wife is an emergency physician serving Detroit and we have had the pleasure of raising our young family (my son is 8 my daughter is 5) in Grosse Pointe Park for almost the last 7 years. We love living here and I want to give back to the community we call home. I have been engaged and watching the city council for the last two years and I believe that our residents could be better served by a council that prioritizes the core responsibilities of city government (Infrastructure, Budget, Public Services) and puts partisan politics aside. Furthermore, it isn’t just enough to have a council that shares residents’ concerns, we also need to have people with technical backgrounds and resumes to constructively help in the process.

Why are you running for Grosse Pointe Park City Council? I love raising my family here and I have a resume and background that can help the city address the pressing challenges facing it.

What is the most important issue facing Grosse Pointe Park? Infrastructure challenges, specifically flood mitigation and mandated lead line replacement

How would you address that issue? Prioritize infrastructure on the council and bring technical know-how to the process in order to engage in short, midterm and long-term capital planning.

What actions/decisions by the current mayoral administration or city council have you disagreed with? Our council over the last two years has put less and less emphasis on the core responsibilities of running a city, infrastructure, budget and public services. It shouldn’t take a natural disaster to remind a council what their core responsibilities need to be.