Longtime resident and realtor Bill Strauss is the fourth candidate to declare his intent to run in the 2025 Columbus mayor’s race.
Strauss announced his campaign, centering on the theme “Better Together,” during an event Saturday at Leadership Plaza in downtown Columbus.
“I truly love this city and know we all share the common goal of the betterment of our community,” he told a crowd of supporters. “We all deserve safer, cleaner neighborhoods (and) schools where our children can get quality educations, enabling them to be productive, well employed adults, to be able to pass that opportunity down to future generations.”
Strauss is the fourth candidate to unofficially enter the race, joining Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones, local pastor Darren Leach and District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks. No candidate can officially enter the race until qualifying for city elections begins Jan. 2.
The winner will replace first-term Mayor Keith Gaskin, who announced in September he will not seek reelection and instead endorsed Leach.
Having grown up in Nashville, Strauss said he moved to Columbus in 1981 after graduating from Tulane University. He ran several retail businesses including Ruth’s and Jean Ann’s department stores and Fashion Barn, he said.
Strauss sees his business experience – making payroll, training staff, and developing properties – as “building blocks” in his education.
“The thing that I remember most about Ruth’s … was we ran a quality store,” he said. “We gave service to people, and that’s where I learned how to provide service to the people of Columbus.”
After Ruth’s Department Store closed, Strauss developed 13 apartments in the building on the southeast corner of Fifth and Main streets, which now houses Cafe On Main and Justin’s Watch and Jewelry. He later joined West Realty Company, where he works today.
While introducing Strauss Friday, Nick Cannady, a close family friend, said his motive behind running for mayor is rooted in his dedication to the community.
“There is really no self interest that Bill has,” he said. “I can tell you that Bill is doing this for the good of the people that live in Columbus, Mississippi. There are no selfish motives, and that is a very rare thing to find in the political culture that we are living in these days.”
‘We’ve got a long way to go to make people feel welcome’
After the announcement, Strauss told The Dispatch he had originally planned to run for councilman. But redistricting changes to his ward prompted him to reconsider, leading him to run for mayor instead, he said.
One of the biggest challenges Strauss sees the city facing is attracting new residents. With economic development booming in the county, Columbus is losing potential residents to Oktibbeha or Clay counties, he said.
“We’ve got to make it where people feel comfortable to come to Columbus and want to live in Columbus,” he said. “We have … a great city, but we’ve got a long way to go to make people feel welcome so that they’ll want to come here and live here.”
Making sure the city is clean and safe is critical to meeting that goal, Strauss said.
“When people come, there’s bags of trash on the side of the road. You go down the streets and there’s mattresses and broken furniture that stays there for weeks,” he said. “It’s really embarrassing that we call ourselves a destination city for tourists, and then they have to come and look at that. We can do better.”
As for what sets him apart from other candidates, Strauss said his background running businesses and working with people have given him “unique qualifications” for the role.
“I’ve worked with people. I don’t just draw a government or a paycheck from the city. I’ve actually drawn paychecks and I’ve signed paychecks for people,” he said. “I know what it is to work a job. I know what it is to train people. I know that’s what sets me apart because our other people that are running have just not done that.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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