Jamestown resident David George stands in front of a sign located on his front lawn on Highland Ave., announcing his intention to run for mayor in the 2015 election.
JAMESTOWN – The man who wants to be the next mayor of Jamestown has been busy circulating a special petition this week in order to get his name on the ballet for November.
Jamestown resident and retired Jamestown Community College political science professor David George announced in July he will be running for mayor against Democratic incumbent Sam Teresi. However, George did not receive endorsement from any of the political parties in the city. As a result, he told WRFA during a recent interview that he’s decided to start his own independent political party.
“I had to create my own political party and we came up with the name ‘Patriots Party,'” George said. “I’ve got to come up with an emblem and there are so many forms that have to be filled out… I’ve got until the 19th of August to make my submissions. I’ve got to come up with 300 signatures.”
George said he’s running for mayor because he wants to see more economic development in downtown Jamestown by making the area more friendly to businesses and customers. He also said he feels the mayor’s salary is too high, and he would be in favor of reducing the salary, not increasing it (The annual salary for the mayor is $72,000/year, ranking it 100 on the list of salaries for Jamestown employees).
And George said if elected, he’d impose term limits to ensure there would be new elected officials, and subsequently new ideas, on a regular basis. “What I want to see is term limitations. No more than two terms, just like the president of the United States, no more than two terms,” George said. “The members of the council, the mayor, all these people should be two terms. That will give new people a chance to get in and express their points of view.”
George taught political science at JCC for 20 years, from the mid 1960s to the mid 1980s.
Teresi, has served as mayor of Jamestown for three consecutive terms, first being elected in 1999 and winning each subsequent election. During the most recent election in 2011 he ran unopposed. No other candidate has come forward to challenge Teresi, other than George.
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