'Junior' tapped by GOP for run at Legislature
by NICHOLAS J. PRIMERANO Ken-Ton Editor

This election season, front lawns and street corners will be sporting campaign signs that read "Rowles for Legislature."

But it is not the Rowles with whom most Tonawanda residents are familiar. The candidate is not Brad Rowles, the highway superintendent. It is his son, Brad Jr., who is making his first run at political office.

Friday afternoon, the younger Rowles announced exclusively to The Ken-Ton Bee that he has received the nomination from the Erie County Republican Committee and the Ken-Ton GOP to run for the 14th District seat in the Erie County Legislature - a seat now held by restaurateur Thomas Loughran, D-Amherst-Tonawanda Cheektowaga.

"Serving the community is something that has been instilled by my father," said Rowles. "He has 30-plus years serving the community in various positions, and he instilled a sense of duty and honor in serving your community. I've done that as a municipal worker since 2000, and I've been very proud of that."

According to Rowles, Erie County has a lack of leadership - people who will put their personal ambitions aside for the betterment of the community.

"I don't look at this run as a personal advancement - I look at this opportunity as a means to help the community," he said.

Rowles is employed by the Town of Tonawanda and also is a substitute teacher. He works the second shift for the town at the Waste Water Treatment Facility and subs when called upon in the Ken-Ton and Sweet Home school districts.

"We need to be fiscally responsible in government and be cost-effective - something that I don't think the county has ever been," he said. "The residents need to hold elected officials accountable for their actions and their votes. The residents are the employers, not the employees, and I think we've lost that goal."

Over the next several months, Rowles said he is going to put forth a platform and an agenda in an effort to win the support of residents of the three towns in the 14th district - Tonawanda, Amherst and Cheektowaga.

"The rising cost of governing in this community is outrageous," he said. "The county has a tax and spend policy that is out of control, and I think the budget each year proves that. I'm looking at a tax and save policy."

He noted that as property taxes go up, families have less money to spend on their children and on home improvements.

"We need to put policies together that make it profitable and wise for businesses to come to this area," he said. "You look at Western New York, and we have a brain drain in this area. What is Western New York's loss is the Carolinas' gain. They take our best and our brightest, and we are losing out."

Rowles believes that his word is his bond.

"I can go before the town residents of all three towns and confidently say that my word is my bond to them," he said. "What I promise to them is something that I am going to work hard to achieve, and I don't think you can ask anything more of anyone. I think my father has proved that his word is his bond, and he has been a great role model for me, and I model a lot of what I do after him."

Rowles is a Sweet Home High School graduate and earned his undergraduate and master's degrees at Buffalo State College.

e-mail: nprimerano@beenews.com