Avondale Estates Mayor Pro Tem Terry Giager has decided not to run for reelection in November. By the end of this year he will have spent eight years on the city commission, the last six as mayor pro tem. After Ed Rieker’s resignation in October 2014, he was also acting mayor for five months.
Giager, who turns 70 in June, moved to Avondale Estates in 1999. Before his 2009 election as commissioner he was on the city’s board of appeals and, in the mid-2000s, very active in the anti-Wal-mart campaign.
In recent years, especially with three commissioners having close ties to The Museum School (just outside city limits) he’s often provided a dissenting voice. He was, for instance, fiercely opposed to commissioners receiving compensation, saying that, “all our other committees are all-volunteer, why should we be any different?”
The stipend, nevertheless, was approved and takes effect in January after Giager leaves office.
Giager said recently that in his last seven months he hopes to present a definitive development plan on the four downtown acres the city owns just west of the Tudor Village. He added that he might have a first draft architectural plan as early as next week’s special called meeting.
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