Editor’s note: Seven candidates are standing for election Nov. 7 to three at-large seat on the Woodward City Council. In order to provide our readers with first-hand knowledge of the candidates, their characters and their ideas, ThePerryNews.com presented them with this short series of questions:
1. Kindly outline for us in brief your educational and professional experience. Where did you attend high school and/or college? What sort of work do you do? In other words, what is your background, generally speaking?
2. What particular qualifications do you feel that you would bring to the job of a city councilor? What qualifications do you believe are generally desirable in a city councilor?
3. What has led you to seek elected office? Have you run for or held elected office before?
4. Are there any particular issues of interest to you or of importance to Woodward that have led you to run for office? More generally, what issues do you feel Woodward faces today that are of greatest importance? What direction would you like to see the council take? What direction, if any, do you feel the council should not have taken that it has taken?
5. What are you most passionate about when it comes to the public life of Woodward? the commercial life of Woodward? the social and cultural life of Woodward? What is your vision for the town? Where would you like to see Woodward be in five years? 10 years?
Candidates were encouraged to answer in their own manners. They were under no constraint to answer all the questions or to follow the order given. ThePerryNews.com did not wish to program their answers in advance but encouraged them to feel free. Five candidates replied to the questions.
ThePerryNews.com offers the candidates’ answers to readers directly and unfiltered.
Ashvin J. Patel, 605 E. 2nd St. in Woodward, 515-491-5801, ajpatel8386@hotmail.com
I grew up in India and earned a degree in pharmacy before moving to the U.S. I spent a few years living in Chicago, Ill., before moving to Woodward in 1986. Since 1986 I’ve been the owner of AJ’s Grocery, serving the Woodward community.
I have a passion to see my community succeed. I’ve served four terms as a city councilmember for Woodward, before taking a few years off.
I would like to see positive changes in our community. Here are my priorities:
Operate the city’s budget responsibly:
Monitoring our city’s budget to ensure our taxpayers’ hard earned money is properly being used for the betterment of our community is extremely important. I plan to take a fiscally responsible position in ensuring our community funds are used properly.
Improve the relationship between our community and its elected officials:
It is our job as elected officials to check our egos at the door and partner with our citizens to make Woodward a better place to live, work and play. Through this partnership, I can see Woodward being an even greater place to live.
Revitalize the local economy by embracing local business:
It is imperative for our community to embrace local business. As a business owner, I know firsthand of the importance that the community plays in our local economy. Woodward is a wonderful place to live and raise a family. That was shown when the community and local businesses banded together to assist my family to rebuild our store from a devastating electrical fire in 1998.
