For more than 16 years, Gary Nelund has started his week the same way: showing up at City Hall.
Not because he has to. The mayor of Norton Shores is a part-time position, and Nelund runs his own business on top of it. But three days a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, he keeps open office hours so that any resident who wants to talk to their mayor can walk in and do exactly that.
“Local government is the closest you get to your government,” he says. “I thought it was very important to just listen to everybody.”
That accessibility is not a policy. It is who Gary Nelund is. And after five terms in office, with his final four-year term underway, it may be the thing that defines his tenure as much as any project or accomplishment.
A Lifelong Resident, From the Start
Gary Nelund did not arrive in Norton Shores. He grew up here.
He attended Mona Shores schools, met his wife in the hallways there, and after earning his degree in political science at Kalamazoo College, came back home. He later earned his master’s in public administration from Western Michigan University. He raised his family here. He built a business here. When people ask why he ran for mayor, the answer is almost too simple to explain.
“I just love the city,” he says.
What pushed him from resident to candidate was a belief he has held his whole life that sitting on the sidelines and complaining is not good enough. “It’s easy to stay on the sidelines and whine,” he says. “Throw stones, so to speak. So I decided I’d run for mayor.”
In 2009, he did. He bypassed the conventional path of serving on the city council first and ran directly for the top job, winning the seat that November. He has held it ever since, re-elected in 2013, 2017, 2021, and again in 2025.
A Different Kind of Mayor
From the beginning, Nelund set out to be something specific: the mayor for everyone.
“I’m not a Republican. I’m not a Democrat. I’m an American,” he says. “Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, I’m your mayor.”
More than a talking point, he has made it a governing practice. Early in his tenure, he heard residents on the east side of the city express a sense that their neighborhoods were not getting the same attention as the lakefront. He took that seriously. Investments in places like Avondale Park, including new basketball courts along the East Broadway corridor, were part of a deliberate effort to make sure every corner of the city felt represented.
“It was very important to me when I ran for mayor that I established office hours, with the idea that anybody could just stop in and talk to the mayor,” he says. “I don’t have all the best ideas. I’ve learned from lots of residents. Have you thought of this? Have you thought of that?”
What Everything Flows From
Ask Nelund about his biggest accomplishments across five terms, and he will redirect the conversation almost immediately.
“I like to say the city was very well run before I was elected mayor,” he says with a smile. He is quick to credit the staff, the city charter, and the foundation laid by those who served before him.
But if you push him on what has guided his years in office, he lands on the same answer every time.
“I think everything falls back to economic development,” he says. “Whether it’s good schools, good neighborhoods, good companies, good retail, good restaurants. Those sorts of things all feed back to economic development.”
During his tenure, Norton Shores has seen steady, consistent business growth, particularly in its industrial park. Companies have relocated from neighboring Ottawa County to set up operations here. Nelund describes it as a quiet kind of success, not made of big, headline-grabbing announcements, but a reliable stream of employers adding 20 to 30 jobs at a time.
“Jobs create homes,” he says. “Everything flows from economic development.”
That growth has shown up in the city’s finances. Norton Shores currently holds the highest taxable value in Muskegon County and carries one of the lowest millage rates for a city of its size in the state. The city operates with roughly 120 full-time employees, lean by any measure, which Nelund credits to a city charter built around efficiency.
“We’ve always run lean. We’ve been forced to run lean,” he says. “That’s helped us through the ups and downs.”
Nature as a City Asset
Nelund is proud of the numbers, but the work he seems to light up about most is the stuff that makes Norton Shores feel like home.
Seven miles of Lake Michigan shoreline. Parks laced through neighborhoods. A growing network of bike trails. The “It’s in Our Nature” marketing campaign, which puts the city’s natural character front and center.
“West Michigan in the summertime, there is no better place to be,” he says. “We’ve really focused on parks, keeping it natural, and access to the shoreline. How do we make this the place where you want to come home? Your sanctuary. Where do you want to spend your weekends?”
Norton Shores functions as a suburb in many ways, with residents commuting in and out for work. Nelund’s philosophy has been that the city does not need to win on commute times or office parks alone. It needs to win on quality of life, on the feeling people get when they pull into their driveway at the end of the day.
A Team Effort
Nelund is careful to share the credit. When he talks about the state of the city, he returns again and again to the people around him: the police and fire departments, public works crews, and the administrative staff who keep City Hall running.
“I work day in and day out with staff that is dedicated to this city,” he says. “Police, fire, public works, administration. For the most part, everybody I’ve interacted with loves this community. They may have a different way of showing they love this community, but they do.”
He also thinks beyond the city limits. Norton Shores is part of a broader Muskegon County and West Michigan ecosystem, and Nelund has been an advocate for regional collaboration throughout his time in office.
“Norton Shores isn’t a silo unto itself,” he says. “We’re part of bigger communities. Our neighbors are our partners. We’re only as strong as our weakest link.”
What He Hopes to Leave Behind
When Nelund walks out of City Hall for the last time, he does not envision a long list of ribbon-cut projects bearing his name. What he hopes residents remember is something quieter.
“I hope my legacy is that I was the mayor for everybody,” he says.
He describes the role the way others might describe leading a nonprofit, watching the finances, keeping services strong, making decisions that serve the whole community rather than any one faction or neighborhood.
“My hope is that I’ve left it in a better spot than when I got there,” he says. “And it was in a really good spot when I got here.”
For the next person who takes the oath of office, Nelund has a simple charge: come with a heart of service, keep an open mind, and remember that the best ideas often come from the residents sitting across the desk.
“You don’t know it all. You couldn’t possibly know it all,” he says. “Some folks might have a better idea than you.”
Gary Nelund has lived in Norton Shores his entire life. He plans to stay long after his final term ends.
“We have the best place in the world,” he says. “I’m proud to be the mayor of 25,000 people.”
That kind of pride is hard to manufacture. In Nelund’s case, it comes from something simpler. Showing up, listening, and never quite being able to imagine calling anywhere else home.
