It’s time for longtime City Council members Andrew Fox and Dennis Gillette to move along, says council candidate Geoff Bride.

“They should step aside. We should impose term limits to two terms.”

It’s time to give other people an opportunity, he said. Fox has been on City Council since 1994, Gillette since 1998.

“I’m running to give people—residents and businesses— a voice. Right now their voices are not being heard. The City Council exercises deaf ears,” Bride said.

He said the council’s pushing of a new and bigger Auto Mall freeway sign is one example of Fox and Gillette spending money in a way the people don’t want.

He also said the voices of people at a recent council meeting were ignored when residents asked for a fence to separate an equestrian trail from a new bicycle path. They weren’t heard when they expressed concerns about safety because the new path will bring bicyclists, skateboarders and children on the trail with horses, he said.

Geoff Bride “The City Council, like those in Washington, D.C., are implementing policies against the will of the people,” Bride said.

He said he’s running to bring a new perspective to City Council and to promote the private sector through lower taxes and smaller government. He said he wants to stop out-of-control spending, protect the city’s open land from overdevelopment and provide policies to ensure the safety of all U.S. citizens and businesses.

“We need to stop spending money we don’t have. We should be fiscally responsible,” he said.

According to Bride, the biggest challenges facing the city are wasteful spending and unnecessary programs, lack of common sense, pandering to special interest, bloated government, the “nanny state” of Sacramento and Washington. He also is opposed to crony capitalism.

“We don’t need to throw a lot of money at green initiatives. I’m all for energy efficiency, but it’s not always a good decision. If it costs more to go green, why do it?” he said.

He wants to lower taxes, reduce the size and scope of government, promote quality of life, restore more personal freedoms and free citizens from the big hand of government, he said.

“We need more checks and balances,” he said.

The commercial pilot who trains others to fly planes said he loves America and has a respect for the U.S. Constitution and has pride in America and its citizens.

The self-proclaimed Ronald Reagan conservative moved to Thousand Oaks three years ago from Los Angeles because the city “has a hometown feel with the amenities of a big city, with a low crime rate, good libraries and great schools.”

He has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Northeastern University in Boston.

“I’m a team player, a good listener and am dedicated to improving the city,” he said.