FLORENCE — Josh Bowling said he would work for small businesses and be an advocate for tourism as a city councilman.
He is running for the District 4 Florence City Council seat in the Aug. 25 city elections.
Bowling is a sales estimator and conducts inspections for Henderson Roofing. He said that has helped him appreciate the value and hard work of a small business.
“I’m pro-small business,” Bowling said. “Working for a small business, I know the importance of having the local support.”
He said he has ideas on promoting small businesses in the city, such as the city doing a biography on Facebook of a different small business each day.
He also envisions an online guide for tourists coming into the city so they’ll know about restaurants and other small businesses.
“In the end they’re the heartbeat of the city and they do so much,” Bowling said. “A family owned business is a big sacrifice for each family that opens a business, and we need to take care of each business.”
Bowling said he is a strong supporter of the police and fire departments. His brother is a former deputy who is permanently disabled due to an injury on the job.
“I want to make sure we take care of our men and women first responders in every way possible,” he said. “And that carries on to all the city employees as well. All of our departments are fantastic. Without them we would not be able to run this city.”
Bowling said street safety is part of his platform, and he wants the city to continue the paving program it has going.
“The city engineers rated all of those streets 1-10. They got the tens done and are doing the nines now. I want to make sure that continues. Don’t pull money now. Let’s make sure to get the streets paved. Finish the project.”
He wants to work with the city Parks and Recreation Department to promote additional outside tournaments.
“As a city as a whole we’ve got awesome facilities. There’s so many great opportunities to just come and have fun, but also a lot of opportunities where we can bring some big-time tournaments in. That Sportsplex is incredible. You can put it against any other sportsplex around.
“What that does is bring in more money for our small businesses, and that in turn provides more money for the city,” Bowling said. “We don’t have to tax the citizens to be able to do the things we need to do within the city.”
