Greig Smith was elected to Los Angeles City Council in 2003 and was re-elected in 2007. As Councilman for the 12th District, Greig represents the neighborhoods of Northridge, Granada Hills, Chatsworth, Canoga Park, Porter Ranch, parts of West Van Nuys and Encino, West Hills, North Hills, Lake Balboa, Reseda and Winnetka.

Safeguarding the quality of life in the Northwest San Fernando Valley is a strong platform Greig has established. His areas of focus continue to be improving public safety, protecting the environment, improving traffic, transportation and infrastructure, boosting the economy and maintaining the beauty of our neighborhoods and natural areas. His continuing effort to make government more accessible, efficient and accountable reflects his belief in the importance of community involvement.

For more than 20 years, Greig has been a leader in the effort to end the use of landfills in urban areas, and has been at the forefront of the movement to shut down the Sunshine Canyon landfill in Granada Hills. In 2005, Greig spearheaded a successful campaign to deny a County permit to Browning Ferris Industries, the operator of the Sunshine Canyon Landfill. The permit would have allowed the landfill to operate as a joint City/County landfill growing to nearly twice its size.

Before Greig was elected, former Mayor James K. Hahn recognized his unique experience by appointing him to the City's Landfill Oversight Committee, where he chaired the Future Alternatives Technology subcommittee. He is dedicated to closing all neighborhood landfills in order to preserve the health and safety of our families and communities.

Greig authored and introduced his RENEW LA plan in 2005. RENEW LA stands for Recovering Energy, Natural Resources and Economic Benefit from Waste for Los Angeles. This 20-year blueprint will end the City's use of landfills by maximizing recycling and reuse, and converting much of the trash after recycling that currently goes to landfills into clean electricity and valuable raw materials using several conversion technology facilities. It would create a new, clean, high-technology sector with high-value jobs in Los Angeles. The RENEW LA plan exceeds the State-mandated goal of a 50 percent reduction of trash going into landfills and aims for "Zero Waste" and will contribute to achieving the City's goal of using 20 percent renewable energy by 2017.

RENEW LA was unanimously approved by the City Council in 2006 as City policy, and construction on the first conversion technology plant in L.A. is expected in 2010.

Greig's work on waste management issues led to his appointment to the Los Angeles County Solid Waste Task Force.

Outside City Hall, he is an active member of the Board of University of Southern California School of Public Policy Planning and Development. Greig currently serves on the Board of the North Valley YMCA and is an LAPD Reserve Police Officer.

Greig has been working on behalf of the Northwest San Fernando Valley for more than 25 years. His commitment to a life of service has made him a community leader. He became President of the North Hills Jaycees, a community service and leadership training organization, where he led community service projects, including the Jaycee-sponsored Factory of Nightmares. Few Valley residents will forget the good times they had at the annual Halloween haunted-house, or the hundreds of thousands of dollars it raised for local charities. Greig was named Outstanding Jaycee for the state of California and one of the 10 best Jaycees in the United States.

He recently cut the ribbon on the new Northridge Pool after spearheading an effort to secure the $6 million necessary to replace the old Northridge Pool, which was damaged in the 1994 Northridge Earthquake.

In 1973 Greig and his wife Christine started a formal-wear business in Northridge. During this time, Greig became an active member in the Chambers of Commerce of Northridge and Granada Hills. In 1976, he was named the Granada Hills Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year.

Greig has also served many other civic groups, including serving on the board of the Committee Investigating Valley Independent City/County, whose Phase II report he wrote. He was also Vice Chairman of the San Fernando Valley Breakfast Forum; member of the 1984 Olympic Organizing Committee; board member of the Granada Hills Chamber of Commerce; Legislative Chairman of the Northridge Chamber of Commerce; Chairman of the Capital Campaign advisory panel for New Horizons; and a co-founder of SOLID (Supporters of Law Enforcement In Devonshire).

Greig has served for years as a member of the board of the North Valley YMCA and was elected chairman in 1988 and 1991. He helped lead the fundraising drive to build a world-class YMCA facility in the San Fernando Valley, for which the North Valley YMCA named him Volunteer of the Year. He was honored in 2002 with the North Valley YMCA Lifetime Achievement award, and the Metro Association of YMCA's Golden Book for Lifetime Service to the YMCA's in the Los Angeles Area.

Deeply moved by witnessing a murder on the streets of the San Fernando Valley, Greig enrolled in the Los Angeles Police Academy in 1992 and became a Reserve Police Officer. He wanted to contribute first-hand to public safety by going on regular patrols, and to better understand and improve public safety by working with the police department and the community.

Greig patrolled in the Valley's Devonshire Division, and was named Reserve Officer of the Year in 1996. Currently, he serves as a Reserve Officer at LAPD Detective Headquarters in the Robbery Homicide Division, Cold Case Unit, working on unsolved crimes.

Greig maintains his strong commitment to public safety and in 2005 authored a plan to hire 278 new Los Angeles police officers without raising taxes, and made sure that new police and fire stations were built and older ones refurbished in the 12th District.

He has helped secure over $1 million to build the new “Councilman Greig Smith LAPD Devonshire Area Youth Center” which broke ground in 2008 in Northridge. The center will be the headquarters of the LAPD Devonshire PALS (Police Activity League Supporters) and will provide much-needed alternatives to gangs and crime for local at-risk youth, including mentoring, education and training, and sports and recreation activities.

A native son of Southern California, Greig grew up in Whittier where he met and later married his high school sweetheart Christine. Soon after marrying, Greig and Christine moved to the San Fernando Valley, settling in Granada Hills, where they raised their two children.

A believer in lifelong learning, Greig continued his education to deepen and update his knowledge on some key policy issues of the San Fernando Valley. Greig studied smart growth and waste management alternatives at the University of Dortmund, Germany. He also studied at UCLA before earning a BA and Masters Degree at the University of Southern California.