Fraser gets new full-time clerk

FRASER — Fraser has a new clerk, but its last one isn’t going anywhere.

August Gitschlag was sworn in as Fraser’s new clerk at the City Council’s June 13 meeting. Cindi Greenia has stepped down to deputy clerk. Gitschlag said this arrangement helped for an easy transition.

“The staff here has been nothing but wonderful and accommodating,” Gitschlag said. “We’re banging through all of our responsibilities with no hiccups so far.”

“We’re excited to have him and we know he’s going to do a great job,” Greenia said.

“I think he’s highly qualified and will do a good job to ensure our elections go off without a hitch,” Fraser Mayor Michael Lesich said.

Greenia is changing roles for personal reasons. She is currently running for Richmond Township’s supervisor seat as a Republican. She’s also the township’s treasurer. If she wins the supervisor election, she said she plans to continue working in the deputy role.

Greenia helped with the hiring process to select the new clerk.

“He’s done this for quite a while and he’s very well versed with everything to do with clerking,” she said. “He wasn’t going to need a lot of training. He was going to be able to hit the ground running.”

The position itself is nothing new to Gitschlag. He was the clerk in Hamtramck for eight years and, most recently, was Clawson’s clerk for three years. He said he applied to the post in Fraser around the same time he took the Clawson gig in 2021.

“It seemed there was a lot of turmoil at the time,” he said about why he didn’t take the position in Fraser then.

As for long-term goals, Gitschlag wants to look at the city’s charter and see if a commission can be set up. He’s also looking at a “total overhaul” of the city’s zoning ordinance.

Gitschlag, a Michigan State University alumnus, started out in politics working for U.S. Rep. David Bonior. When Bonior retired, Gitschlag went on to work in Macomb County’s elections department in 2002. The part he enjoys most about being a clerk is the excitement, spontaneity and the interactions with the public.

“I love working with people,” Gitschlag said. “I love teaching people about the election process. I love it when people call with questions because they see so much stuff on TV and get overwhelmed by the election noise. I love chatting with them with a smile and explaining how things really work. I get a kick out of that.”

The August primary has gone well so far according to Gitschlag and Greenia.

“Smooth as can be, no issues at all,” he said. “After the August election is concluded, I’ll be the only clerk in the state to run an election with all three voting machines in the state: Dominion, Hart and the ES & S.”