Meet David

Born and raised in the area and a graduate of Kalamazoo Central ('69) and WMU (BBA '91 in Accountancy), David and his wife, Cori Terry, are the parents of four grown daughters, all Kalamazoo Central grads.

 

Experience

As a Kalamazoo Mayor and City Commissioner, David Anderson has taken the lead in collaborative efforts to address critical and complicated issues. For example, David:

  • Chaired the City Commission subcommittee that invited community members to discuss and shape Kalamazoo's Anti-Discrimination Ordinance.

  • Spent the past 12 years on the City's Environmental Concerns Committee, which presented a Climate Crisis Resolution to the city commission, which was adopted this October.

  • Worked with the City's Environmental Concerns Committee, the County, the City of Portage, WMU, Kalamazoo College, and KVCC to develop a policy around life-cycle costing - a waste-not, want-not approach to conserving energy and saving public resources. As a result, the City of Kalamazoo has a Sustainability Policy in place.

  • Helped craft the City Commission's Ethics Code as part of a three-commissioner policy panel.

  • Took on the Chairmanship of the Freedom of Information Act Subcommittee and worked to craft recommendations for City protocols and practices to make certain citizen-city interactions would be more fair, transparent, and respectful.

  • Worked with downtown retailers to develop the language adopted for the City's park use and panhandling ordinance.

  • Applied his experience on housing issues to tackle local challenges. His leadership during his first term in office resulted in a collaboration between the City and County to create the Local Housing Assistance Fund - an effort that leveraged a half-million dollars of additional, valued-added resources from MSHDA to address local homelessness.

Service

David is actively looking at every committee involvement as an opportunity to increase regional cooperation and solidify partnerships. Maybe his years working on construction sites contributed to his deep commitment to collaboration. He knows no one person (or municipality) can go it alone. It takes the energy, hard work and skills of many to successfully build. David's expertise, credibility, and roll-up-your-sleeves work ethic are producing results as a City Commissioner.

  • Kalamazoo Mayor since 2019

  • Kalamazoo City Commissioner since 2005

  • Member of the Kalamazoo Area Transportation Study, Internal Audit Committee, Environmental Concerns Committee, and Pension Committee

  • Chaired the City Commission's Anti-Discrimination Subcommittee

  • Developed the City Commission's Sustainability Policy as part of the Environmental Concerns Committee

  • Member of the Policy Panel that developed the City Commission's Ethics Code

  • Chaired the City Commission's Freedom of Information Action (FOIA) Subcommittee

  • Director of Housing and Facilities for Kalamazoo Community Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

  • Chair and Founding Member of the Kalamazoo County Public Housing Commission

  • Chair of the LIFT Foundation, a nonprofit focused on affordable housing

  • Former President, West Douglas (Fairmont) Neighborhood Association Board, 15 years

  • Former President, Hillside Middle School Parent-Teacher-Student Organization, 3 years

  • Former President, Kalamazoo Central PTSO, 3 years

  • Treasurer, Kalamazoo Neighborhood Housing Services Board, 6 years

  • Member, Leadership Team, Kalamazoo County Continuum of Care, 10 years

  • Graduate, Leadership Kalamazoo, 2001-02