Teresa Emory is a Ward IV Commissioner for the City of Muskegon.
Teresa is a 1974 graduate of Orchard View and holds an Associate of Arts degree from Muskegon Community College. After graduating, she worked for 20 years with troubled youth. Nine of those years were as a Residential Treatment Teacher at Child and Family Services. She also owned and operated Liberty Tax Services of Muskegon for 14 years.
Teresa’s father worked at CWC, and her mother was a stay-at-home mom as well as a master gardener. Teresa is the oldest daughter of six biological siblings. She spent most of her childhood at her grandfather’s bait shop on Getty Street and on his farm on Moreland Road. Teresa still loves being in nature to this day.
Although Teresa is not married and does not have children, she raised her youngest sibling and, therefore, understands the struggles of single parents. Today, she also understands the struggles of senior citizens in our country.
Teresa is a foster parent for Heaven Can Wait Feline Rescue. She also volunteers for the Lakeside Neighborhood Association in many different ways. She is a hobbyist photographer who loves to capture not only beautiful sunsets, but also the good deeds of the people who make the City of Muskegon what it is. She is the neighbor who hears a chainsaw nearby and will head over to help you clean up that tree you’re taking down. She’ll see the snow piling up in your driveway and blow it out for you. If you are hungry, she will not only feed you but teach you to cook. In Teresa’s family, she is known as the voice of reason and logic, but loves with all her heart.
Teresa has lived on Blodgett Street for over 40 years. As she says, she will never live anywhere else. She loves her neighborhood and the beauty of nature. She has pride in the people who live near her. Thus far, she has purchased and remodeled three houses in her neighborhood, making them affordable for friends and family to move into.
Teresa has also been part of the Lakeside Neighborhood Association for many years and is currently the Vice President. She has attended and been involved with City Commission meetings for many years as well and believes the government works for the citizens and should and must reflect the needs, wants, and dreams of those citizens. According to Teresa, over the last few years, residents have been given the opportunity to change the face of the City and take back a lot of the natural resources available (for example, the Sappi property and the Cobb Plant property). For the first time in 100 years, residents are able to clean up and build on the beauty instead of adding to ugliness, destruction, and pollution.
Teresa’s dream for Muskegon and the shoreline is to save its beauty by building wisely with as much open space as possible. At the same time, she believes it’s important to understand the financial needs of the City and to make feasible changes.
City of Muskegon City Commissioner Teresa Emory can be reached at teresa.emory@shorelinecity.com.
