CANDIDATE PROFILE: John Presswood wants to build on infrastructure

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Wilmington City Council candidates are campaigning as early voting starts next week.

Candidate John Presswood says he is focusing on infrastructure.

“Wilmington needs a new direction,” Presswood said.

He said that direction starts by improving the infrastructure.

“Number one is the rail,” Presswood said.

Presswood said the city needs to be more connected.

“I think we need to reconnect Wilmington to Raleigh and then that connects us all the way up the east coast,” Presswood said.

He said Wilmington needs a passenger rail between the city and Charlotte.

“I think that would bring a lot of tourists in and a lot of money in,” Presswood said.

Presswood also wants to bring more to the roads.

“We have to open up the Independence Boulevard extension,” Presswood said. “It’s 1.7 miles and I think it needs to be opened up to where we can get more cars going north and south. College Road isn’t sufficient.”

He said the lighting on some of the roads also is not sufficient.

“Downtown there are a lot of dark spots, so we need to improve the lighting and find solutions to that,” Presswood said.

From rail to transportation to innovation, Presswood said with a background in real estate appraising and land use knowledge, he hopes to bring a wide range of solutions to the city of Wilmington.

“The thing is we’ve got a growing city, but we’ve got a small town infrastructure and I just think we need to improve it,” Presswood said.

Early voting starts October 22 through October 31.

Click here to learn more about candidates running in Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties.