Dean Girbach Reflects on More Than Two Decades on Saline Council

Dean Girbach remembers when he was one of the youngest people sitting at the Saline City Council table.

Now, as he prepares to leave after more than two decades, he finds himself on the other end of that timeline.

“I went from youngest to oldest,” Girbach said with a laugh.

Girbach announced this summer that he will not seek reelection in November, marking the final months of a tenure that has included major infrastructure projects, policy changes and debate over Saline’s future.

“What I’m proud of is really seeing our community continue to thrive,” he said.

A City Built Over Time

Girbach estimates he has supported more than $250 million in infrastructure improvements during his time on the council.

He pointed to Saline City Hall, improvements to the city’s water and wastewater systems, the 2016 reconstruction of Michigan Avenue and years of work replacing aging water and sewer lines.

Girbach said Saline had undertaken little infrastructure work when he joined the council in the late 1990s. Since then, the city has replaced aging lines on streets throughout the community.

Some of the work that mattered most to him, however, was not measured in construction costs.

Girbach pointed to Saline’s nondiscrimination ordinance as especially meaningful. He later served on the working group that reviewed and modernized it before the council unanimously approved updates in 2023.

“The NDO was a big thing for us,” he said. “It just showed that Saline was a community that would welcome people.”

Support and Scrutiny

Girbach’s support for city projects has often come with questions about cost, responsibility and long-term planning.

He backed efforts to preserve the Davenport-Curtiss House while asking who would be responsible if fundraising fell short. That same approach shaped his position on the Saline Recreation Center.

Girbach has consistently questioned how much of the center’s operating and repair costs should fall on the city. He said those concerns have sometimes been interpreted as opposition.

“My issue isn’t to kill the rec center,” Girbach said during a recent council discussion. “My goal is to make sure that our city isn’t the one funding the whole operation for the community.”

He believes partnerships and regional funding could ease the burden on Saline’s general fund.

Girbach also believes growth is necessary to keep city services affordable.

“Saline needs to grow,” he said. “If we don’t grow, our city becomes less affordable.”

Why He Is Stepping Away

Girbach hopes to see the wastewater treatment plant rehabilitation completed before leaving office. He served on the city’s risk management and asset management committees as the multiyear project moved through construction.

The work has faced delays, but he said its completion could allow future council members to turn to other priorities.

“It’s like closing a book,” Girbach said.

His decision not to seek another term was shaped by several factors.

Girbach said one was an unresolved disagreement between the city and his family involving a property right known as a reverter. He said the dispute placed him in a difficult position as both a council member and someone responsible for protecting his family’s interests.

He also cited disagreements over city priorities and concerns about staffing stability, project management and implementation of the city’s strategic goals.

“It’s never completed,” Girbach said. “The one thing I would have liked to have seen is more stabilization in the staffing, the overall operations of the city.”

Looking Ahead

Girbach’s departure will also mean the loss of decades of institutional knowledge.

He said he is often asked who was involved in an earlier decision, why a project was handled a certain way or where records can be found. Leadership transitions have sometimes made that history difficult to trace.

“For me, it’s the continuity,” he said.

His advice to those who follow him is to come prepared, read the documentation and not be afraid to ask questions publicly.

“It’s not a problem to say, ‘I don’t know the answer. I need to look for it,’” Girbach said. “The goal is to have a real discussion.”

Council members are elected to make decisions, he said, even when those decisions do not have unanimous support.

He hopes residents remember him as someone who could be trusted and who held the city accountable to the community’s needs.

Stepping away from the council, he said, does not mean stepping away from Saline.

“I never lost that passion,” Girbach said. “I’m not done with the city.”

Featured image: Saline City Council member Dean Girbach will not seek reelection in November. Photo by Heather Finch