James A. Omo
Occupation: Builder
Political background: Two terms on Council, one council-appointed term on the former Bath School Board
Times Record: Why are you running for office?
James Omo: I didn’t run a campaign against Meadow Merrill (to win reelection to the Ward 1 seat in 2011), and only lost by six or 7 votes, which led me to believe I was doing a good job. I enjoyed my time on the council and I would enjoy serving the city of Bath again.
TR: What are the top three issues you’ll have to deal with if elected?
JO: As I started to do before, getting our facilities and infrastructure upgraded, utilizing more green building and sustainability technology in our facilities and buildings around town, which I have experience with having served on the facilities and school board committee for the city.
The other issue is, I think, since our budgets seem to keep growing and we’re not getting matching funds from the state and federal governments, we need to spend more time looking at our budgets and our spending in municipal areas so we can control or slow the rate of tax rate in the city.
TR: What skills or strengths do you bring to office?
JO: I am a good communicator and I work well with others — administration in the city right down to communicating with the citizens and constituents, and getting their words back to the council. I think my experience in the building and trades is another skill advantageous when vetting purchase requests.
TR: Why should voters choose you?
JO: Because of my love of Bath and my experience on the council. I’m wellknown in the area so people feel that they can come find me and communicate with me and that I’m easy to approach — or easy to find. I’m always around the city, usually doing historic restoration projects which I specialize in.
Editor’s Note: Due to an editing error, James Omo’s questionnaire was omitted from Wednesday’s newspaper that featured the questuionnaire responses of his opponent, Sean Paulhus.
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