Mayoral Monday: Meet Candidate Jeffery Bowen

Jeffery Bowen is on the City Cast Austin podcast today making his pitch to be Austin’s next mayor. Here’s a snippet of our interview:

Who are you? Why are you running?

“We have been residents of Austin for 35 years. I was in the United States Air Force and was able to be transferred to Bergstrom when it was an Air Force base to come down and teach leadership and management.

I'm active in (the) Austin Neighborhoods Council. I'm currently a vice president with Austin Neighborhoods Council. I was also a sector rep for five years. I own my own small business. I do a lot of construction management services or small projects.

I got into this race because I just kind of got fed up. Being involved in the local city council and different issues – whether it be HOME 1, whether it be CodeNEXT, whether it just be speaking at council – I just got fed up of not being listened to and tired of just dealing with it.

So I said, ‘You're either part of the solution or part of the problem.’”

What makes you qualified?

“I’ve got 68 years of life experiences having managed different people. I worked for one of the largest nonprofit organizations in the world.

You're looking for somebody that's going to stand up and ask the questions, ‘Wait a minute, why are we doing this?’ I don't see a lot of that going on. So my qualifications are probably just as good as everybody else’s.”

What should be the new mayor’s top priority?

“Getting this city to start running like a city again and listening to the people they serve. Our roads are shot, our infrastructure is having severe issues. We're really not running this city like it should in accordance with the City Charter, in accordance with what the wishes of the people are in many cases.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.