Alva Review-Courier -

My name is Greg Bowman, and I am a Ward 4 candidate for city council. In 1958, I was born at the Alva General Hospital. I attended and graduated from Alva Public Schools in 1977, and I received a degree in economics with a minor in history and business administration from Northwestern Oklahoma State University in 1982.

After college, my career took me from Alva. I served as a service manager for Ryder Systems for 20 years. After retiring from Ryder, I served as a senior service manager for First Student bus fleet in Wichita, Kansas. In 2010, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to return to Alva and have resided here since. I am currently a self-employed handyman. This is by far my favorite job.

Once I returned to Alva, I quickly became involved with the NWOSU Alumni Association, serving as president from 2014 to 2017. In addition to my involvement with the Northwestern Alumni Association, I also serve on the board of trustees for both the United Methodist Church and the Wesley House. Lastly, I am a proud member of the Rowdy Rangers.

My wife Sara, who is an elementary teacher at Freedom Public Schools, and I share three children: Chreese and her husband JJ Lane of Alva, Taylor Zinn of Tonkawa, and Kristen Kirtle, also of Tonkawa.

I believe that there are many needs of the city of Alva, but the most urgent need is addressing the city's aging infrastructure. This is going to require everyone being on the same page to obtain positive resolutions with forward thinking with all city issues.

I want to continue to see Alva working toward being a better community. We need to strive to provide for the needs of all of our constituents. On that note, I believe that is exactly what Alva does best. We see a need, and we work together to meet the need. I have a friend who is known for saying, "Lucky me, I live in Alva, Oklahoma!" I couldn't agree with her more.