Trenton City Council Member Won't Run for Reelection in November

Councilman Terrence Teifer, 63, won't run for reelection in November after 24 years on Trenton City Council.

To better understand his decision to not run for reelection, Trenton-Grosse Ile spoke with Teifer in a recent interview.

Here are the questions asked by editor Nate Stemen followed by Teifer's answers:

Why not run for reelection in November 2013?

I just felt it’s time. I'm going to be 64 this October, and I'm starting to think about retiring (as chief financial officer for the Airport Authority at Detroit Metro Airport). I'm not sure when I'm retiring, but it's going to be in the middle of the next term. My wife is retired and she has plans for me.

If I were planning on traveling after retirement, we (city council) meet almost every Monday night, so it wouldn’t be possible to be there as often as I would need to be.

Do you have anyone in mind you would want to fill your council seat?

No one in mind. I'd just like to see quality people step up. The future is in the hands of those younger than me.

It's time for new leadership. New people to step up and take the place. You’ve got young blood on the school board.

I'm proud of all the things I've accomplished in my 20 plus years on council.

What is your greatest accomplishment as a Trenton City Council member?

The financial stability of our community. Being able to maintain most of our services. We're in a better place (financially) than many of our surrounding communities, not to discredit any of the other communities.

Back 20 years ago, I saw what was coming. I knew Trenton relied heavily on industry. If you look at the old days, industry paid most of our taxes and we had money coming out of our ears.

We are sustainable because Trenton made moves over the past 20 some years to be able to avoid a fiscal cliff, if you will. Trenton has a sustainable model.

After all these years, do you have any regrets?

I would have love to have seen a positive result of McLouth Steel. My disappointment was we couldn’t re-energize that as a job creator, but there was nothing more I could have done.

What's next?

I do play golf and I have a boat. I have grandchildren that play baseball and golf. I have four grandchildren living in Trenton. My schedule has not allowed me to pay as much attention to them.

I’m not gone yet, I still have a budget to balance. Election-wise, I've been elected and reelected since 1977--since the first time I ran. I won my first election and haven’t lost since.

I've enjoyed great support from the community and, with humility, I appreciate that. I feel that I did my part. I feel that Trenton is the greatest place to live Downriver.

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