Meet Seat 3 Candidate Thomas Guame
I have always been active in the City of Palm Bay since moving here when I was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1994 after 12 1/2 years of active duty military service.
I volunteered as both coach and board member of Palm Bay West Little League. Founded the City’s first Little League Challenger Division for children with disabilities and secured the Charter for Palm Bay’s 1st Little League Softball League for female athletes that had previously been underserved by the existing male-oriented Leagues.
I served one term as Chairman of the Board of the Greater Palm Bay Chamber of Commerce, and 18 months as the Chamber’s Government Affairs Director.
As a small business owner, I founded two small computers and Internet companies and received the Palm Bay Chamber Small Business of the Year award in 2007. I’m currently retired.
For enjoyment, I perform solo acoustic guitar and vocal shows for charitable organizations and for those living in assisted living facilities. My wife and I have two fully independent adult Children, and there are 4 generations of my family that reside in Palm Bay.
I’ve decided to run for seat 3 as I believe that we, the Citizens of Palm Bay deserve better. Better leadership and experience that will work tirelessly on your behalf.
My main concern is for the citizens of Palm Bay. We all moved to the bedroom community by choice. Most of us were simply looking for an affordable, safe, and quiet place to raise our families or retire.
Palm Bay was built as a bedroom community and since its inception, each person that has run for office wanted to change that, some wanting to turn us into another Orlando. Attempting to be something we’re not, were not designed to be, and abolish the bedroom community we all chose to move to.
I also believe that growth should be organic. Millions of our tax dollars have been wasted in the name of economic development with limited results, and zero to little return on investment. I intend to stop this practice. We can’t buy or tax our way to prosperity and certainly can’t try to do so by placing heavy tax burdens on the City’s taxpayers.
I’m aware of the condition of our infrastructure and fought tirelessly to remove the draconian assessments that were instituted by the City Council in 2017. Resulting in the first Citizen initiated petition to reign in the City Council and their spending. While at the same time injecting a solid plan for fixing the Palm Bay roads. For as long as I’ve been here people have talked about fixing Palm Bay’s roads, and now we are doing it by a Voter approved road bond program, rather than being dictated to fund this with additional assessments levied by Council.
Property rights are a major concern, and I have every intention of working to abolish ordinances and regulations that restrict what a property owner may or may not do on their own property. One example of that is a recent rule that you can’t park a vehicle on your own grass and are not allowed to park on any unimproved lot, even if that’s the reason you purchased that vacant lot. Presently this council is working towards further restrictions to further erode our property rights. I’ll be working to oppose any new restrictions, and remove those that are presently in place.
My vote is your vote. I will not hesitate to set my personal bias aside and cast a vote that is aligned with a majority of the Citizen. That’s called representation.
I strongly believe in Government of, by, and for the people…not the moneyed interests. I’m asking for your vote and support, so together we can move forward without putting our families, friends, neighbors, and those on fixed or limited incomes in financial jeopardy.
Please feel free to contact me by phone or email anytime.
Thomas Gaume
321-557-4700
tom@gaume.us
I’ve decided to run for seat 3 as I believe that we, the Citizens of Palm Bay deserve better. Better leadership and experience that will work tirelessly on your behalf.