As Gainesville's late-January city elections inch closer, one underdog candidate is hoping his military experience and zeal for change will win him a city commission seat.
Armando Grundy, 28, said he chose to run for the District 3 commission seat, which encompasses southwest Gainesville and parts of the UF campus, because he thought it was not being well represented by incumbent Jack Donovan, 63.
"I believe there are growing disparities in our community," Grundy said. "Our community needs someone that cares about District 3 and cares about our future."
Since moving to Gainesville about a year ago, Grundy said he has grown to disagree with Donovan's voting record and doubts his commitment.
"I believe you have to be a servant before you can lead," he said, "and I have a track record of being a servant."
Donovan, who has held the seat since he was elected in 2005, questioned Grundy's own qualifications.
"He hasn't been active in the Gainesville community," Donovan said of his competitor. "He has no track record here and nobody really knows him or what his values are or what he might contribute. That's just a big question mark."
Lowering taxes, lessening regulations and improving government accountability are general issues Grundy said he would focus on if elected.
More specifically, he mentioned improving what he called the city's underemployment problem, funding police and fire departments and halting the spending of tax dollars on private projects like University Corners, a high-rise planned for the corner of West University Avenue and 13th Street.
Grundy said one of his goals, public safety, is vital for Gainesville in light of what he said was a 16 percent increase in violent crime for Gainesville over the past year.
His citation has yet to be verified, though, as preliminary FBI statistics released Monday show the city has only seen an approximate 5 percent increase.
Grundy, a Florida native, worked in the U.S. Army on air traffic control, logistics and combat engineering for eight years before his term of service ended in 2005. He currently works full-time in the sales and marketing department of a local energy company that he did not want to name.
As well as working, Grundy said he will be campaigning full time until the election on Jan. 29.
