Paul Thomas Wants to Focus on Infrastructure, Preventing Urban Decay

BRADENTON – ”Do you want to come walk with me?“ asks Paul Thomas during a phone interview, who says he’s been out carrying a wagon while he campaigns door to door. ”I’m retired, I’ve got all day.“

The first-time candidate for the Bradenton City Council, who is running against incumbent Patrick Roff, spent 20 years as an electrician in the city’s Public Works Department, as well as 20 years in the National Guard, and believes he would make the best representative of the people of Ward 3.

When asked how his experience in the department would translate into being an effective councilman, Thomas says, ”Of course it will - I already know how everything works. There’s not going to be any, ÔI attended a 12-hour workshop last week, and I can’t tell you how much I learned about area lighting.’ It’s stuff I already know about."

Thomas says he knows about city infrastructure, and that much still needs to be done to restore it. ”I’ve got potholes in front of my house and water and sewer lines are breaking É if we can borrow money for these things, we can get money to restore our infrastructure,“ he says.

He states he is wary of development expansion. ”We can’t spend all our time saying, Ôlet’s get bigger here and let’s get bigger there’ - that just [delays restoring current infrastructure] and supports urban decay.“

The candidate says he has nothing to win by getting elected to the council, and has nothing to lose. ”I’m not a politician, I’m a tradesman É and I have no personal agenda,“ he says. The candidate will win or lose on November 6.