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Contributed commentary by Montgomery County Commissioner David Shelton endorsing Josh Wikholm:
I’ve known Josh Wikholm for years, and I count him among my friends. When he told me he was running for Ward 3, I was elated!
Before I get into why I’m endorsing him, let me be transparent on this: I have also helped him with graphic design for his campaign, and his campaign has paid for the design work. I’m proud to do business with him, and I’m even more proud to endorse him.
Josh is a veteran, community activist, and is passionate about bringing good policy to the table at the City Council. I am confident that he will carry the same work ethic in that seat and will represent his entire ward with fairness and compassion.
He supports investing in our kids, and his plan to push for new recreation centers for north Clarksville school complexes is one for the books. I’ve seen how effective our recreation centers are with their after-school programs and how the kids use them. Every child in CMCSS should have easy access to these facilities, not just students at New Providence Middle and Clarksville High School.
These centers are an amazing way to keep youth crime down and provide a resource for parents and teens alike. We must invest in our youth. Josh Wikholm understands this.
Josh also stands with all of our citizens, including marginalized groups like the LGBTQIA community. With vocal hatred for these groups coming from another council member, we can be assured that he will stand up for all of us.
Josh also strongly supports completely overhauling our public bus system, Clarksville Transit System. Its low ridership is largely due to its awkward routes and how difficult it is to plan around one- and two-hour bus rides. We need to do better. Clarksville is a car-dependent city, and with rising rents, affording a car is just not in the cards for many of us. Let’s refresh CTS.
For these issues and more, I wholeheartedly endorse my friend, Josh Wikholm.
David W. Shelton