Longtime Visalia council member Greg Collins dead

Former Visalia mayor Greg Collins, right, is pictured in 2005 after being elected to the City Council after a 14-year absence. Collins who served on the council for about 30 years, died Thursday in Visalia. He was 76.

Fresno Bee Staff Photo

VISALIA

Greg Collins, a former Visalia mayor who served on the City Council for about 30 years, died Thursday in Visalia. He was 76.

“He was our longest-serving council member,” Visalia City Manager Leslie Caviglia said. “He served three different periods of time.”

Collins‘ tenure on the City Council started with his first appointment on March 4, 1975. He served from 1975 to 1991, then from 2005 to 2009 and again from 2011 to 2022 before retiring, according to the city of Visalia.

When Collins first was elected and for most of his tenure, Visalia didn’t have districts. The city didn’t adopt district boundaries until 2015, and those were implemented in the 2016 election, Caviglia said.

Then Visalia City Council candidate Greg Collins celebrates with supporters during an election party at Tazzaria Coffee and Tea in downtown Visalia on Nov. 8, 2005. Collins, who served on the council for about 30 years, died Thursday in Visalia. He was 76. CRAIG KOHLRUSS Fresno Bee Staff Photo

“Greg was very much an advocate for good planning,” Caviglia said. “In the city of Visalia, he was part of several general plans and he really pushed for concentric growth in the city, and that has just been a pillar of our general plan, of our planning. It has been an important aspect of why our community has developed in the way it has. Concentric growth commitment to good planning was just a pillar of his belief.“

Tulare County Board of Supervisors Chair Amy Shuklian, who served with Collins on the Visalia council during two different times, said he was a good man who “really loved Visalia.“

“I believe Visalia is the city it is today because of Greg,” Shuklian said. She served with Collins from 2007 to 2009 and from 2011 to 2016.

Shuklian said Collins‘ vision of concentric growth helped maintain Visalia’s downtown, which is very vibrant and “the envy” of a lot of other cities.

“He was not a politician. He was there because of his love for Visalia. He spoke his mind. He wasn’t afraid to say how he felt,” she said, adding that Collins always had Visalia’s best interest at heart.

Shuklian said she remembers a time when a shopping center was coming to the city and how Collins advocated for a design that was more in tune with the history and culture of Visalia.

“He’d get a lot of flak from a lot of people, developers, folks like that, but he didn’t really care because he believed in his heart what was good for Visalia,” Shuklian said.

Caviglia said Collins was a strong advocate for parks, oak trees and all trees in Visalia, and believed in being “good stewards of the city’s finances.“

“I’m very proud of the fact that we were Tree City USA and have been for close to half a century. That was important to him,” Caviglia said.

In 2025, Collins was named Visalia Chamber of Commerce‘s Man of the year.

“Greg has spent decades shaping Visalia — not just through his professional work in planning and land use, but through a lifetime of civic leadership and volunteerism,” the Visalia Chamber wrote in a social media post in 2025. “From serving on the City Council to mentoring future leaders, Greg’s passion for preserving Visalia’s unique character and empowering its people has made a lasting impact.“

Collins is survived by his wife, Dorothy, and their two adult children.

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