Mayor aims at state position

WILLIAMSBURG — Having served in the military, in law enforcement and in city government, Williamsburg Mayor Adam Grier is ready for the next level.

“I would like to bring my experience from local government to the state level,” said Grier.

Grier grew up in Guernsey, joined the Marine Corp right out of high school, then worked construction for several years, he said. He earned an associate of arts degree from Kirkwood Community College and served as a police officer in Cedar Rapids for a couple of years.

In 2007, Grier moved to Williamsburg and began working for Manatt’s as safety director. He spent seven years in the human resources department as risk management coordinator for Johnson County.

Grier earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids.

Grier became a Williamsburg City Councilman in 2008 and was appointed mayor in 2021. Grier kept the position by winning elections in 2021 and 2023.

“I’ve just always had that call to serve,” Grier said. He knows how actions at the state level impact local communities and local businesses.

“I do applaud their initiatives to lowering taxes,” Grier said. “We shouldn’t ask people for any more money than absolutely necessary,” he said.

But the cuts in property taxes and laws restricting tax levies put pressure on counties and cities to provide the services without the revenue, Grier said. The state should collaborate more with counties and cities before passing legislation. What’s good for large cities is not necessarily going to work in smaller ones.

“I think they’re becoming too prohibitive with their tax rates and it hurts smaller towns,” said Grier. Legislators need to discuss the impact of those decisions on smaller towns and counties, “because none of the costs are going down,” he said.

Grier is also in favor of prohibiting abortion as much as possible, standing up for male-female gender distinctions and promoting women’s sports, he said.

Everything should be scrutinized, said Grier, from education to law enforcement. “Overall I think cuts in education didn’t have the proper [input from] local school boards and how it would impact services.”

Grier looks at his time in the Marine Corp, in law enforcement and in city government with satisfaction. “It’s an honor to serve our communities,” he said.