The Faces of the ALLiance: Tyler Avis

Get to know some of the facilitators behind the scenes of the Grinnell ALLiance and learn about what their work entails.

We interviewed Tyler Avis, Building and Planning Director for the City of Grinnell

Q: Which Grinnell ALLiance working group do you primarily work with?

A: The Safety and Systems Work Group.

Q: What types of activities or opportunities does this group provide?

A: We look at relationships between the College and the City and try to break down barriers. It seems bizarre to me that any barriers exist since the College has been here almost as long as the City.

Q: What drew you to the work of the Grinnell ALLiance?

A: It was mentioned to me by City Manager Russ Behrens. It was an opportunity to get involved and help find some creative solutions to some problems in Grinnell. 

Q: Why is the ALLiance work important to your job?

A: In my job I review proposed building plans, issue permits, do inspections, answer questions from citizens about the City code. I deal with Grinnell’s comprehensive city plan, and I think about what Grinnell could look like down the road. 

Q: Why do you continue to stay involved with the ALLiance? 

A: Our group recently completed a planning activity about how organizations and institutions in Grinnell can build greater trust between themselves and citizens. We think building greater trust is important because there are divisions in our community based on socio-economics, politics, etc. Our next step is to develop a plan for implementing some of our ideas about how better to increase trust between citizens and the City, the police, the schools, and so on.

Q: What do you appreciate about Grinnell?

A: It’s big enough for me and my family to do all the things we want to do—sports, community events like Jingle Bell Holiday, everything we enjoy. Also, its location is a huge benefit. You can get to metropolitan areas within an hour and a half.

Q: What’s something that most people don’t know about you?

A: I am a pretty big astronomy nerd…space, the universe, stars, planets. I got a telescope. I took an astronomy class in college, and I found out how much math was involved in calculating just how small we all are in this big thing. With the advancements of the Webb telescope, it’s just pretty remarkable.