Galvin Brings Business Perspective to Farmington Council Race

As a financial planner and insurance agent, Bill Galvin has spent the past five or six years helping his clients deal with a tough economy. Now, he'd like to help his community.

"I've been predominantly focused on working with small businesses and employee benefit programs," said Galvin, 44, who is one of eight candidates on the Nov. 8 City Council ballot in Farmington. Because insurance premiums and benefit costs have risen so much over the past several years, he has been helping clients who are "aggressively cutting expenses."

He said the city of Farmington is experiencing needs and challenges similar to those of his clients—a reduction in revenues and a sharp increase in expenses.

Galvin decided to seek a council seat because his children are now at an age where he feels he can spend more time focused on the job. He previously served as a member of the Commission on Aging.

"I love the city of Farmington, and I think we need someone with experience like I have in the finance and small business world to guide it in the coming years."

Having grown up just a mile or two from his current home in Chatham Hills, Galvin said he has always identified with downtown Farmington. His main concern as a council member would be on the business front, and he'd like to take a look at revitalizing all of the city's business districts.

Galvin was in favor of the streetscape project that revitalized downtown Farmington two years ago. He'd like to see more done to encourage investors to consider all of the city's business districts.

"The downtown is the foundation of Farmington ... To redevelop from the core made sense," he said. "Over the next four to six years, I'd like to see the creation of an economic redevelopment commission that would form symbiotic relationships between the various business districts, so the entire community benefits."

Redevelopment, Galvin believes, will provide the push Farmington needs to recover from the economic downturn that has had city officials scrambling to cut expenses, due to the loss of property tax revenues.

He'd like to see the city get out of the "retail mentality" and pursue multiuse developments, particularly with larger spaces like the empty Kmart at Grand River and Halsted.

Galvin also supports efforts such as the 8 Mile Boulevard Association and the newly developed Grand River Corridor Authority, both of which involve partnerships with other cities. "We're a small city, so leveraging our resources with other communities can only benefit us," he said.

That also holds true for sharing services with other cities. Pointing to a variety of existing partnerships, such as the Southwest Oakland Cable Commission with Farmington Hills and Novi, he said, "If (sharing services) makes sense, we should consider it."

Galvin has done his homework when it comes to running for City Council—and he stores it in a thick, three-ring binder that contains everything from campaign to-do lists to the city's financial statements. That level of thoroughness, he said, "is how I would handle myself on City Council, should I be elected."

As with any big research project, Galvin said he has seen a bigger picture through compiling all that data.

"I think Farmington's—and any other municipality's—recovery will be dependent on property taxes, and our revenue recovery will probably take longer than we anticipated," he said. "At the end of the day, we need more property tax payers. We need to fill vacancies, and that strengthens the community."

A resident of Farmington for 13 years, Galvin is married to Shari; they have two children, Brittany, 17, and Brian, 13.

In addition to Galvin, the other candidates running Nov. 8 are:

• Greg Cowley
• Kevin Giannini
• Kristin Kuiken
• JoAnne McShane
• Sean Murphy
• Greg Sako
• Jeffrey Taylor

Council member David Wright has withdrawn his name from the ballot.