Desire To Serve Motivates Bishop

Brad Bishop, who is running for a full term on the Town Council, served on the Planning Board for eight years, the last four as chair, before deciding to run for Council in June.

After the death of Councilman Henry Boezi, Bishop was named to fill out Boezi's term on the council in July. So, while Bishop is now on the Town Council, this is his first run for elected office.

A Republican, Bishop works in marketing for SmartPak Equine in Plymouth, Mass.

He is running, he wrote in response to an emailed questionnaire, "to continue to serve the town, having been on the Planning Board for as many terms as were allowed. To me it’s an honor to be selected by my fellow citizens to act on their behalf and to volunteer my time to ensure the town continues to be well managed."

Bishop said "strong fiscal discipline is issue number one."

In particular, he said, "we need to look for areas where we can spend more efficiently and that includes consolidating efforts across departments in the town, with the schools and fire district and even with other nearby municipalities." 

Bishop also wants to support local businesses, by "making it easy for businesses and organizations to do business with East Greenwich."

Managing town growth is a third area of concern for Bishop: "We need to be proactive in directing where and how the town grows, and the most recent update of the Comprehensive Plan is an excellent long-term strategic view of where we should put our priorities."

Bishop said he supports merging the EG Fire District with the town. "Cities and towns across the country run this way and there is simply no need for all these separate governmental entities," he said.

Bishop said town spending is not "out of control," but he argues for "smart, efficient spending." While he said no aspect of town spending should be "off limits from scrutiny," he believes that a well-run town like East Greenwich costs money.

Police and infrastructure are areas Bishop said could benefit from additional dollars – police to make sure they have resources to combat drugs in town, and building and road maintenance to avoid sticker shock in the future.

Bishop said New England Tech could additionally benefit the town through staff and resident training opportunities, use of sports fields (when they are built), and encouraging NEIT students to patronize area businesses.

He believes the Financial Town Meeting should be abolished and instead resources should be spent on broadcasting town meetings year-round on t.v. or the internet. And, he said, the sound system in Council Chambers at Town Hall needs improvement.

When asked why residents should vote for him, Bishop said:

"I’ve dedicated myself to serving the town since we first moved to East Greenwich, most recently as Chairman of the Planning Board.  I would be honored to know that by voting for me residents think I have done and will continue to do a good job representing them.

"A key responsibility of the Council is to set a strategic vision for how the town should evolve and the Comprehensive Plan which the Planning Board and the town’s staff have created is an important piece of that.

"East Greenwich is blessed with fantastic natural, cultural and economic resources and I want to protect and preserve them by ensuring we are making smart choices and investing in the areas most important to the town.  If elected I will continue to dedicate my time and experience to working towards that goal!"

Brad Bishop is one of six people seeking a term on the five-person Town Council. East Greenwich Patch is publishing Council candidate questionnaire responses this week. To read Brad Bishop's full questionnaire responses, click here.

To read about Jeff Cianciolo, click here. To read about Michael Isaacs, click here. To read about Jean Ann Guliano, click here. To read about Mike Kiernan, click here. To read about Mark Gee, click here.