Brian Reinarz Runs for Grand Terrace City Council

GRAND TERRACE>> Brian Reinarz, Grand Terrace resident of 16 years, community volunteer and military veteran, is running for Grand Terrace City Council. “Earning your trust and your votes would be among the most humbling experiences of my life,” Reinarz said, in a message to voters. Reinarz was born as the youngest of 14 children in a small town in Northern Minnesota. After graduating from high school in 1982, Reinarz entered the United States Air Force, in which he proudly served for 22 years. He served as an active duty security policeman for 9 years, a reserve aerospace medic for 13 years and retired honorably in 2005. Reinarz has a bachelor of science degree in Biology from the University of California, Riverside and a master of science degree in Criminalistics from California State University, Los Angeles. He began his employment with the California Department of Justice/Bureau of Forensic Services as a criminalist in 2001, where he has worked in a few different sections of the department and currently works in the Firearms Examination section. Reinarz also responds to homicide crime scenes and is a primary trainer for new firearms examiners and crime scene responders where he has also testified in court approximately 200 times. Reinarz said he learned a lot throughout his time in the Department of Justice including how to have thick skin. “A lot of it has to do with patience, professionalism, persistence, compassion and understanding there are different points of view and listening to those points of view.” Reinarz said he will provide calm and steady leadership in conjunction with the council and said years of crime lab work, crime scene response and court testimony has taught him to deal in facts rather than emotion. Reinarz said he is not attempting to unseat anybody but intends to continue and expand upon the work that has been done and is currently being done in Grand Terrace. “Any decision that I make and any vote that I cast as a council member will be thoroughly researched; all sides of every issue will be heard and considered before any decision is reached,” Reinarz said. “My primary consideration will always be what is best for the community as a whole.” Reinarz said he feels the city is a well-run city and that it is fiscally on the right track. However, he said there are issues that need to be addressed including the maintenance of the streets, sidewalks and parks. “I'd like to see more sidewalks and street lights in areas of town that currently don't have them or that have too few of them,” he said. “I'd like to see plans and works continue on the Michigan Street corridor. Increased traffic that came with the opening of the high school demands that the street is improved. Of course, many of these ‘like to see’ ideas depend on the city having the money on hand to pay for them.” Another high priority Reinarz said he has is the safety of the community as he said people are starting to notice a spike in quality of life crimes. Reinarz said neighborhood watches are important and said the city should have its own specific citizen patrol aside from the county-wide citizen patrol. “Put a couple citizens in there driving around at 2 or 3 in the morning with the radio and maybe we could detect some things,” he said. “A deputy can’t be on every corner of every street but 12,000 people can so people can take that on themselves until we can afford more help." Reinarz has been a longtime coach, referee and board member for the Grand Terrace Community Soccer Club. He said he has conducted a 2015 feasibility study for the Foundation of Grand Terrace on the potential for a food bank to be located in Grand Terrace and volunteered with the same foundation on the 2015 Grand Terrace Community Days Subcommittee. Reinarz is married to his wife, Laura, and together, they have a 19-year-old daughter Hayley, who attends California Baptist University in Riverside. “My family and my spirituality are the centerpieces of my life and dictate everything that I am and everything that I do.” Paid for by Brian Reinarz.