A fifth man has applied for the opening on the Columbus Redevelopment Authority board.
Eric Thomas, owner of Factory Direct Furniture on Gardner Boulevard, applied Tuesday, according to City Hall records.
“I love Columbus, I love our community, and there’s a lot of redevelopment going on,” he said. “I know I can be a voice for the community and what it needs.”
He said he is ready to learn.
“I’m open-minded,” he said. “I will listen. I’ve been in Columbus a long time, and I want to bring in new ideas and help Columbus grow. I want Columbus to be a city our kids and grandkids can be proud of.”
Thomas previously served on the 911 board and currently sits on the Prairie Opportunity board. He also coached for 25 years in the Columbus recreation system.
Thomas has also run for city council and sought appointment to the Columbus Municipal School District Board of Trustees, both unsuccessfully.
In addition to Thomas, the applicant pool includes Dutch Oil Vice President Matt Bogue; financial adviser and former CMSD board member Jason Spears; pharmacist Jerry Fortenberry; and former Columbus-Lowndes Chamber of Commerce director Joseph Bragg.
The CRA was founded in 2015, and in 2017 the city issued $3.2 million in bonds to buy and redevelop about 15 acres in and around the Burns Bottom area, focusing on a five-block area between Third and Fourth Street North and Second and Seventh avenues.
The CRA plans to attract developers into the area, with the intention of creating a mixed residential and commercial district surrounding the soccer complex and connecting it with the Riverwalk and downtown.
It also brokered the sale of the former Lee Middle School property on Military Road for private development in 2018.
Columbus City Council is slated to appoint the position at its Tuesday meeting.
The deadline to apply was noon Wednesday.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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