Jacob Gilstrap, 35, has lived in Bainbridge all his life. After many years of standing by and watching decisions being made for his city, he’s ready to jump in and help make those decisions.

Gilstrap is one of the two men who qualified for the deceased Joe Sweet’s city council seat.

“It’s something I’ve always thought about and the position opened up and I thought what better time,” Gilstrap said. “I’m always sitting around complaining about stuff, and I decided to get up and do something about it.”

Gilstrap wants to focus on creating not just more jobs, but better jobs. In addition to that, he said he feels like Bainbridge is a family town, but there’s not enough activities offered for families. He wants to create an environment that all ages can enjoy. Gilstrap has a 7-year-old daughter, who he said is into everything.

“She loves horses and superheroes, but I would like to have an activity center for her.”

When asked if there was one specific place he would bring here, he said there’s so much out there it would all just depend on what the community wanted.

Gilstrap would also like to improve on taxes. He said he has been a homeowner for the past three years and every year his taxes go up.

“I’m about to pull my hair out,” Gilstrap said. “But, from the outside looking in there’s always stuff you want to fix; you have to get in there (city council) to understand.”

Lastly, Gilstrap wants everyone to know he wants to be a voice for people here in Bainbridge. He has an interest vested here and his child goes to school here.

“I want to meet people and be a voice for them,” Gilstrap said. “I want them to