LESLIE DIETRICH, a candidate for the District 4 seat on the Shiawassee County Board of Commissioners, walked in the Durand Railroad Days Parade on Saturday, May 19, shaking hands and passing out campaign literature to her longtime neighbors lining the streets of Durand for the parade. Dietrich has been a resident of Shiawassee County for 28 years and the owner of Dietrich’s Flower Shop in Durand for 24 years.
Her husband of 28 years, Rich, owns and operates Dietrich’s Morrice Collision on Lansing Road just east of the village of Morrice. The couple’s children, Maddie and Anna, are both graduates of Durand High School. Maddie is also a graduate of the University of Michigan, while Anna is a third-year student at Grand Valley State University.
Dietrich decided to run for the Board of Commissioners seat for several reasons. She is passionate about helping the county update aging facilities like the jail, she would like to see a more balanced board with more women involved in the county’s decision making process, and she wants the voters of Durand to have more than one candidate to choose from in the upcoming November election.
In addition to being a longtime member of the Durand community, Dietrich will lean on her skills and experience in managing budgets, which is an important role of board members at any level, but especially for county commissioners. Dietrich has managed the budget of her flower shop for 24 years and that of Dietrich’s Morrice Collision, through the challenges of 9/11, the 2008 economic crisis and the recent emergence of online flower distributors.
Additionally, Dietrich has served as the president of the Durand Rotary and the Greater Durand Area Chamber of Commerce, as the chairman of the Durand Downtown Development Authority and as a member of the county’s Red Cross board of directors.
