Campaign phone
313-801-1850
Education
BS - Management
Occupation/current position
VP - Lockton Companies
I am a lifelong resident of GPP. Attended Trombly, Pierce, and GP South. After College, I returned to GPP to buy a home and raise our family here. My wife Becky and I have 3 children, all attended GP Public schools. I had the pleasure of serving as your Mayor Pro-Tem for the last 4 years. I care deeply for our community and residents, and I am committed to ensuring GPP continues to be one of the best cities to live in!
After serving as Mayor Pro-Tem for four years and tackling many pressing issues our city faced at that time; we still have work to do. One of the most important issues I see facing the city, is better accountability across the administration, employes and City government. Including communication, resident response, provided services, vendor management, planning, and overall collaboration with residents and city leadership. Our biggest asset is our residents. And most would be more than willing to participate. Informed residents will make informed decisions. In addition, some dedicated attention to our parks system is needed overall.
I would give the city's finances a grade of B+. Far better off than four years ago, but again with more work to do in this area. With the hiring of a new Director of Finance two years ago, we have spent the past 24 months organizing, allocating, and "fixing" the department. Now the Administration has much better and trusted financial data. The work that needs to be done is diving deep into the reports and analyze every department, fund, etc. The good news is we have a balanced budget; the bad news is we have a balance budget - Meaning the administration has cut some services in order to balance. Hence the need to dig into the finance reports, identify costs, needs, and allocations of each and every department. The residents deserve this.
Campaign phone
(313)405-0400
Education
B.S in Business Administration (Finance), Wayne State University
Occupation/current position
Consultant at CanAm Strategies
I have called Grosse Pointe Park home for 18 years and am proud to be a graduate of both Grosse Pointe South and Wayne State University. I serve as Secretary of the Recreation Commission and Treasurer of Friends of Patterson Playscape, where I’ve worked to strengthen our parks and community spaces. I am running for City Council to continue supporting transparency, responsible leadership, and long-term planning that keeps our city vibrant, resilient, and inviting for generations to come.
The most important issue facing Grosse Pointe Park is ensuring that, as an aging community, our infrastructure and public spaces keep pace with the needs of today while preparing for tomorrow. Roads, water systems, and public facilities require steady reinvestment, and residents expect strong parks, safe neighborhoods, and reliable services. I will support and continue the city’s ongoing efforts to address these priorities through careful financial planning, pursuit of grants, and collaboration with regional partners. At the same time, I believe in maintaining the unique character, history, and traditions that make the Park special while planning responsibly for future generations so that our city remains vibrant, resilient, and inviting.
Grosse Pointe Park’s finances are stable, and I believe our current council and leadership are transparent and responsible. I will support and continue these efforts while planning for rising costs, lifecycle maintenance, and long-term infrastructure. My priorities are strengthening budget stability, maintaining balance, avoiding unnecessary debt, and ensuring every dollar delivers value to residents. That includes careful contract review, multi-year capital planning, healthy reserves, pursuing grants, regional partnerships, and prioritizing roads, sewers, facilities, parks, public safety, and core neighborhood services, with clear reporting residents can trust. I’ll keep the budget process open with regular online updates and public input.
Campaign phone
5868225295
Education
Hospitality Management and Certified Firefighter
Occupation/current position
Volunteer and Chef
My husband and I have been residents since 2016. I possess a degree in Hospitality Management and am a Certified Firefighter. Currently, I spend much of my time volunteering on the Michael B's Café project on Mack Avenue in Grosse Pointe Park. To me, there is no greater joy than to serve. This is one of the reasons I chose to run for city council.
The continued increase in taxes and utility rates, with the reduction of services. I will encourage other sitting members to spend more time assessing the necessity of costly city projects as well as considerable research for alternative solutions with resident input and timely notification. Specifically, before a decision is made. City amenities and services are part of the GPP way of life. I will ask questions to get the answers as to why there is a reduction in the services that we residents expect and pay for through our taxes.
Grosse Pointe Park's finances have seen better days. The cut in our Public Safety Department, the loss of our EMT service which was a revenue generator, and our city ice rink are a few of the services that come to mind when I consider the state of our City's finances. I am an advocate of proper and priority planning to avoid substantial cost increases. It is often said that luck favors the prepared.
Education
Engineer
Occupation/current position
Owner/President Manufacturing Company
I'm Max Andrew Wiener.
My wife Dr. Michelle Wiener, an ER physician in the community, and I have been raising our children Julius and Marion in Grosse Pointe Park for over a decade.
I am an engineer and own and operate manufacturing companies that supply automotive OEMs.
I love living in Grosse Pointe Park, raising a family here and have been active in trying to give back to the community.
I currently serve on the Grosse Pointe Park city council where I chair the infrastructure committee.
The most important issue for the city is replacing aging infrastructure as well as addressing legacy pension and healthcare costs while still delivering on the very high standard of services residents have come to expect.
The city has already begun to address these issues as this has been one of my core focuses on council.
On infrastructure we now engage in proactive preventative maintenance and systematic upgrade and replacement through our adopted capital improvement plan.
Financially, we have been professionalizing budgeting and adopting many industry best practices. We have moved labor contracts towards defined contributions from defined benefits, so that we can over time lesson the proportion of legacy costs to the active budget.
City Finances are steadily improving.
When I joined council GPP was facing over a million dollar deficit and now is consistently realizing surpluses.
However, there is a lot of work yet to be done.
As with all municipalities, every year a larger proportion of the budget is dedicated to legacy costs. Pensions and benefits to not only active employees but an ever growing retired community. We have obligations to our employees and retirees that will be met.
As a built out mature city, there are limited areas for growth, so we need more efficiency with what we have. More professionalizing of processes and procedures and tackling legacy costs is the key. Infrastructure demonstrated, consistent preventative maintenance reduces costs.
