“I was always interested in the public policy part, in buses and in health care, things like that,” Grebner said. “All these boring things. … It almost seemed counterrevolutionary.”

Although he took a few years off to attend law school, Grebner has served on the board for 30 years. He was re-elected in the Nov. 2 general election to another two-year term, but has announced he will not seek another term in the 2012 elections.

Grebner said although there is more he wants to do for the county, he can no longer afford to work for such little pay. Board members are paid about $14,000 per year, plus $60 per meeting for about 83 meetings per year, he said. The board chairman, a position Grebner said he hopes to hold in the upcoming term, is paid about $20,000 per year.

“It’s because the Board of Commissioners’ compensation is so bad and getting worse,” he said. “I’ve finally reached the point after 32 years that I just can’t.”

Grebner is able to offer solid insights into policy because of his long history on the board, current board vice chairman Victor Celentino said.

“He’s going to be missed because of his tenure on the board and his longevity,” Celentino said. “He’s always the one to have brought up the historical perspective (and) the issues. His depth of knowledge has always been counted on by the commissioners.”

Grebner’s contributions to the city helped shape it to what students and residents enjoy today, East Lansing Mayor Vic Loomis said.

“He’s been instrumental in seeing that a lot of programs that benefit the community at large and the city of East Lansing have been affected,” Loomis said. “He’s done so with a pretty close eye to the financial standing of the county as well.”

One of Grebner’s crowning achievements, he said, was combining the former MSU bus service into the Capital Area Transporation Authority, or CATA’s, service to better serve students. CATA is funded in large part by a county millage, and Grebner threatened to cut off its funding if it could not work with the university.

“MSU just fought with CATA constantly, and CATA fought with MSU,” Grebner said. “You can just imagine how this would work for riders. CATA couldn’t come onto campus really, and MSU wouldn’t go off campus, and so you had two bus systems.”

The consolidation went into effect in September 1999.

He only has two years left on the board, but Grebner said he intends to continue working to improve the county. One of his remaining goals is to fix the controlling board of the Lansing Capital Region International Airport. Currently, the board includes six members, three from Lansing and three from Ingham County, and no one is in charge, he said.

“I’ve proposed either the county should give the airport to the city or the city should give the airport to the county, so somebody is in control,” Grebner said.