By Donna Thornton/News Editor
Bob Collins recently announced his candidacy for the mayor’s office in Rainbow City.
Collins has lived in Rainbow City for 10 years and is self-employed. He is the founder of the annual Willie’s Woods fundraiser to benefit St. Jude’s Childrens Hospital.
Collins describes himself as a person who pushes to get things done, and he wants to do that as mayor. He has previous political experience, he said, on the school board in Racine, Ohio. He said he was elected on a write-in ballot and served six years as president of the school board. During his time as president, he said, he oversaw the construction of a K-8 school and negotiated agreements with unions. As mayor, he said, that experience will help him serve Rainbow City.
“I would like to bring morale to a whole new positive and energetic level in city hall,” Collins said in a statement. “When it comes to managing and working with people, my 32 years’ experience has taught me that employees are the lifeblood of any organization.”
Collins said if you master taking care of that most valuable asset you will have a happy and professionally run operation.
Collins outlined some of his goals for Rainbow City.
“We need to work with the local utilities board on building a modern waste water treatment facility that will allow us to increase capacity, and grow our infrastructure,” Collins said, which will bring more businesses and jobs to the area. “This is vital for our city to grow.”
Collins said he wants to create more user-friendly avenues for small business owners interested in locating in Rainbow City. There are many positive things in the city, he said, but city leadership needs to be more proactive to the city’s needs.
As mayor, he said, he would be visible – out in the community to meet business owners and education staff.
Collins said he’s a people-person and he likes to listen.
Keeping city finances in the black is important, Collins said, but so is providing needed protection by properly staffing, training and equipping the city’s fire department and police force.
“As a home owner myself in the city,” he said, “it’s important to keep the cost of our home insurance at a minimum.”