Michael M. Grant - Legislator - District 2

Michael Grant is a community activist who was born and raised in Rockland County and is now serving his second year in the Rockland County Legislature. Michael was named Majority Leader in January 2006 and Chairman of the Government Operations Committee. He currently serves on the Legislature's Budget and Finance, Multi-Services, Rules, Transportation and Election Modernization committees. He is also a member of the Rockland County Solid Waste Authority and serves as Chairman of the Board of Electrical Examiners. Michael attended local schools and graduated from North Rockland High School in 1975. He attended the State University of New York College at Cortland and received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science with a concentration in Public Administration. In addition, Michael minored in American History and completed a certificate program in Business Management. Michael Grant got his start in government in 1986, when Mayor Edward P. Zugibe appointed him as West Haverstraw's Village Treasurer. Michael also served as the Village's representative to the Rockland County Community Development Consortium. During his fourteen-year tenure with the Village, Michael was responsible for authoring several important grants and obtaining funding for a variety of projects, most notably the West Haverstraw Community Center. Michael is a former Haverstraw Town Councilman. He first took office in January 2001 when he was appointed to fill a vacancy. Michael was subsequently elected in November 2001 to fill a two-year unexpired term and again in 2003 for a full four-year term. During his tenure on the Haverstraw Town Board, Michael and his colleagues tackled many issues including the Letchworth Village re-development project, the police force consolidation plan, the closure of the town's landfill, and the impact of major property assessment issues. In addition, Michael and the Board oversaw the expansion of recreation facilities at Bowline Park, as well as, the multi-million dollar renovation of the Philip J. Rotella Memorial Golf Course in Thiells, N.Y. As a Town Councilman, Michael also served as Police Commissioner and on a variety of town commissions and committees. Committee assignments included: Parks and Recreation, Urban Renewal, Diversity, Sanitation and Emergency Services. For nearly twenty years, Michael Grant has played an active role in the community. In addition to his elected position as a Town Councilman, Michael has served as a Trustee of the Haverstraw King's Daughters Public Library since 1991, as Vice-President of the Arts Alliance of Haverstraw and as a Member of the Board of Directors of the United Way of Rockland County. He is also a member of the North Rockland Rotary and Greater Haverstraw Chamber of Commerce. Michael is a former board member of the Rockland County Girl Scout Council, a graduate of both Leadership Rockland and the Rockland County Citizens Police Academy. In 1991, Michael helped found the North Rockland Youth Recreation Program, Inc. where he served for eleven years, three as Co-President. Michael is employed by Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. Since 1982, he has worked in positions of increasing responsibility and currently is Manager - Community Relations for the company's Central Division. During his career at O&R, Michael served two terms on the Company's Community Investment Committee and has been active in Orange and Rockland's United Way campaign. A lifelong Haverstraw resident, Michael is the son the late Mary Zippilli Grant and John T. Grant of Thiells. Michael's father was Rockland's first County Executive and served five times as Chairman of the Rockland County Legislature. Michael and his wife, Cathy, have been married for twenty-four years and reside in Garnerville with their twins, Caitlin, a Junior at the New Jersey Institute of Technology School of Architecture and Adam in his third year at Dominican College of Blauvelt. You can e-mail Councilman Michael Grant anytime at Grant.MMG@verizon.net.