Candidate Profile: County Commission District 4: Roger Galle

Candidate: Roger C. Galle

Age: 56    

Party Affiliation: Democrat

Occupation: Galle and his wife Laurie have owned a small business for 20 years. Their commercial painting company finishes the inside and outside of new or renovated buildings.

Annual income: $37,000 - $40,000

Biography: Roger Galle has been a resident of Manatee County for 30 years. He lives near Whitfield with his wife and two children. Both of his children have attended Manatee County public schools.

Education: Roger grew up in Virginia and was educated at Mountain Mission School in Grundy. It was a combination church, school and home. He attended Johnson Bible College and University of Tennessee before serving 13 years in the United States Air Force and Air Force Reserves.

Experience: Galle is no novice to committees -- he has served as a familiar and active energy on many boards and projects. He served on the boards for the Rubonia Community Center and United Community Centers for over eight years.

Roger has also served on many industry-related boards such as the American Sub-contractors Association and Painting and Decorating Contractors of America. With both of these groups he collaborated on Workers Comp Reform, Prompt Pay Legislation and helped to achieve industry standards.

He has worked behind the scenes as a supportive spouse on Hope Family Service projects, SPARRC projects, National Association of Women in Construction projects and Manatee County Jr. League projects.

“I am running in order to give a voice back to the people,” he said, “back to the voters and out of the hands of developers. I think Amendment 4 would be good for this county and that is why I support it.”

Galle is running because he felt that the people were not being represented by their elected officials. When he told friends and family about his ambition to run for county commission, not only did they support his decision, they encouraged him to continue on with his aspiration.

“I didn’t think the current commission was listening to the people,” he said. “I just felt we needed a voice.”

Galle feels that in order to keep struggling families in Manatee County, there must be good jobs that pay a living wage. The jobs need to be in a broad spectrum of areas to survive economic ups and downs. He feels this can be accomplished by inviting medium-sized manufacturing companies to set up shops in the area. He hopes to encourage the expansion of green energy companies that could employ skilled workers in the area in order to meet upcoming global changes.

"I think that the only way we are going to survive the current economic struggles is by bringing green companies in our area and exporting them to other areas," he said.

Galle supports the Manatee County Sheriff’s Department to not only keeps families safe, but to also provide a safe environment for residents to raise children.

Quote he lives by: “Politics is not about picking sides; it’s about working together to get things done.”

Monetar y Contributions: So far, Galle has raised a total of $2,055.00 in campaign contributions, which have all come from individuals. See the complete list here.