City Governments, Grand Prairie City Council, Place 8

Job description	The Council is the city’s governing body. Districts 1-6 are elected by district. Districts 7-8 are elected city-wide. Term is three years.
Duties	Enacts city laws and ordinances Determines city policies Adopts city budget Appoints city manager to administer city government
Annual salary	Council members may receive $5 for each meeting attended; no council member can receive more than $25 per month.
Meetings	Council meetings twice monthly; special meetings called as needed.
City contact information	Contact City Secretary, gpcitysecretary@gptx.org or 972-237-8035

Greg Giessner (incumbent)	Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greggiessnerGP	RUNOFF
Steve “Junior” Ezeonu	Website: http://votejuniorezeonu.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VoteJuniorEzeonu Twitter: https://twitter.com/callmejre Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/callmejre/ YouTube: Email: votejuniorezeonu@gmail.com	RUNOFF

Candidate Q&A

1. WHY ARE YOU THE BEST QUALIFIED CANDIDATE?
	Greg Giessner
	Steve “Junior” Ezeonu First and foremost I am very blessed to call myself a resident of Grand Prairie. This city has allowed me to grow into the man that I am today and I am very grateful for all of the investments that have been put into our great city. What makes me the best qualified candidate is my willingness to work with and on the behalf of all of our residents. The duty of a council member is to represent all of the residents of your city. I am an open minded individual that will listen to everyone and encourage each and every resident to voice out their concerns. We are a family here in Grand Prairie and we need leadership that remembers this and tries to include everyone into the political process. Quite simply I am here to look out for the great people of Grand Prairie.
2. WHAT ARE THE CURRENT NEEDS OF YOUR DISTRICT/AREA AND WHAT ARE YOUR PRIORITIES FOR ADDRESSING THEM?
	Greg Giessner
	Steve “Junior” Ezeonu When speaking with residents here in Grand Prairie two major causes of concern amongst them are infrastructure issues dealing with potholes and cracks on roads & streets in some of our neighborhoods and sections of the town, as well as the issue of an influx of apartment complexes throughout the city. To address the issue regarding infrastructure, the moment I am elected I will immediately work to repair our roads and streets that do not meet what we consider Grand here in Grand Prairie. Repairing these roads will maintain our city's beauty while attracting businesses willing to invest into Grand Prairie. Now looking at the issue of an influx of apartments, not everyone in our city agrees on this issue but one thing that most residents agree is that for the apartments that are already here, the rent costs are too high in many of them. Once elected I will try to work with apartment developers/owners to see if they can lower rent costs so we can keep Grand Prairie residents in Grand Prairie. We don't want to lose any of our talented people and our city is blessed with a vast array of talented individuals.
3. THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS AFFECTED THE CITY’S BUDGET AND SERVICES, AS WELL AS THE LIVES OF RESIDENTS. HOW WOULD YOU GRADE YOUR CITY’S RESPONSE AND WHAT WOULD YOU DO DIFFERENTLY?
	Greg Giessner
	Steve “Junior” Ezeonu I believe the city of Grand Prairie did a good job responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. We truly are a family and have worked to take care of each other and keep each other safe during this tough time. The city kept residents informed regarding the virus from the onset and that must be applauded. As a council member I will continue to keep all of our residents informed as to what is going on in our city. I believe that access to information is essential and our residents must stay informed.
4. HOW SHOULD THE CITY ADDRESS THE AVAILABILITY OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING? WHAT ROLE SHOULD CITY GOVERNMENT PLAY IN RESPONDING TO PANDEMIC-RELATED EVICTIONS?
	Greg Giessner
	Steve “Junior” Ezeonu I believe that affordable housing is necessary to retain many of our residents. We don't want people having to choose between eating and paying the rent so we must work with our developers and owners of the apartment complexes to keep costs affordable. When I speak with residents they remind me of their dislike for the high rent costs associated with many of the new luxury apartments sprawling all throughout our city. This is an issue we must tackle together, so we keep Grand Prairie residents in Grand Prairie. We don't want our great and talented people to leave our city.
5. HOW TO BEST ENSURE PUBLIC SAFETY IS AN IMPORTANT TOPIC. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON BALANCING THE FUNDING AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF BOTH POLICE AND COMMUNITY SERVICES?
	Greg Giessner
	Steve “Junior” Ezeonu Our public safety officers do a great job to keep us safe but we must continue to build tighter knit bonds between the communities and our public safety officers to truly ensure public safety. Communities that have tight bonds with their police officers tend to be much safer and there are better relations between the officers and the residents they are protecting.
6. IN THE LAST TERM, WHAT DO YOU THINK WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT VOTE? WHY? HOW DID OR WOULD YOU HAVE VOTED ON THE ISSUE AND WHY?
	Greg Giessner
	Steve “Junior” Ezeonu
7. DO YOU THINK IT IS EVER APPROPRIATE FOR STATE LAWS TO OVERRIDE LOCAL CONTROL OF ISSUES THAT AFFECT THE CITY? IF SO, PLEASE PROVIDE AN EXAMPLE.
	Greg Giessner
	Steve “Junior” Ezeonu Yes, I believe in certain cases, especially when dealing with the civil rights of residents, state laws have the authority to override the local issues of a city. This however should not be used to allow the State government to directly rule and control a municipality.
8. THE RECENT “BIG FREEZE” CAUSED MANY RESIDENTS TO GO WITHOUT POWER OR WATER FOR HOURS OR EVEN DAYS. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE CITY’S RESPONSE? HOW WOULD YOU WORK TO IMPROVE ELECTRIC/GAS/WATER INFRASTRUCTURE SO THIS NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN?
	Greg Giessner
	Steve “Junior” Ezeonu The "big freeze" was a traumatic event for many of our residents and it lead to deaths and injuries to many residents throughout the state of Texas. I believe our city and community as a whole did a good job responding to such an unprecedented event. Our communities came together to support each other during a very tough time and that just shows you the Grand Prairie spirit. We are truly a family. I would work to improve our infrastructure by properly winterizing and preparing for events that are rare. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
9. ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO ADD?
	Greg Giessner
	Steve “Junior” Ezeonu I am very blessed to call myself a Grand Prairie resident and I am grateful for this opportunity to serve my community and the entire city as a whole. It is truly a blessing to be here and be able to continue moving our city in the right direction. If anyone has any questions and would like to contact me please feel free to email me at votejuniorezeonu@gmail.com. Otherwise keep Living Life Grand!