| 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. |