Adrian, MI – A 24-year old local activist and former candidate for state representative has announced their candidacy for Adrian Mayor.
Will Garcia is no stranger to Adrian’s local government, having coordinated protest efforts against… what he calls… the City of Adrian’s controversial ‘camping ban’ in September of last year.
“One out of every four people in Adrian lives in poverty. The cost of housing has continued to skyrocket, but the average family in Adrian still makes $20,000 less than the average family in our state. Environmental advocates in our community have made it abundantly clear — the science shows that we have problems with our water. Frankly, I am running for mayor because I am outraged to see that instead of coming to the table to meet the demands and needs that our community has articulated time and time again, our local leaders are more concerned with harassing Japanese restaurants, building over-budget “dog parks” that can fit inside of a living room, preventing people in our community from owning chickens, and giving civil infractions to homeless people who don’t have anywhere to sleep. The struggles that our community is facing are big, and we need leadership that has the vision and courage to advocate for solutions to those problems.” Garcia said as his primary reason for running.
He supports establishing a municipal housing authority to address problems with housing unaffordability, aggressively pursuing funding opportunities for improving water quality, and building a volunteer corps for the city to rebuild/repair blighted properties, an approach popularized by the Detroit Blight Busters organization.
Garcia grew up in Adrian, having attended St. Joseph Academy and Adrian Public Schools. He works for Washtenaw County’s Solid Waste Division, managing a program that collects hazardous waste from area residents for reuse, recycling, or safe disposal.
In order to appear on the ballot, Garcia will need to receive at least fifty but no more than one hundred petition signatures from voters registered in the City of Adrian. He can be contacted at his Facebook page (search Will Garcia) or emailed directly at will@willgarcia.vote.
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*Media submitted to WLEN News by Will Garcia*