Arthur Thomas seeks San Antonio City Council seat, Running for San Antonio City Council District 10, 34 year old Arthur M. Thomas IV, a graduate of Baylor University and a programmer at a local small business, has been active in the political scene for several years now.
Beginning with an initial “passive” campaign in 2008 for Texas House Seat 121, he pulled 11,380 votes for over 20% of the vote. He then put forth an active campaign, though severely limited due to lack of funding in 2010 for Texas Senate Seat 25 where he garnered 40,972 votes. In 2012 he returned for another bid at Seat 121, pulling in 12,444 votes.
He now seeks to focus his efforts on a local grassroots campaign where he believes he can better serve people at a level which tends to impact people the most. With lower voter turnouts, less than 10% in San Antonio, every vote is all the more meaningful at this level of government and Arthur hopes this will play to his advantage by allowing him to make a convincing argument to people that he will serve them best as a representative.
When asked why he chose to run for city council, he replied “All elections have detailed issues, but at the city level one encounters more individuals with more specific issues than one does at the state level. It requires being prepared to answer a wider variety of questions and dealing with citizen’s very specific issues. It’s easy to find politicians that have ideas for what they want to use government for. It’s easy to find them that want an 'efficient' and 'responsible' government that is used 'wisely'. It is very difficult to find candidates who believe people are the only ones efficient, responsible, and wise enough to make decisions about the use of their own resources.”
Speaking about his opponent he says, “I think the incumbent is a good business man, but government is not a business. It makes no products. The things it does 'produce' are created by a monopoly it has forced upon people and given them no other choice in. Roads, police, fire, SAWS, CPS and other services and utilities come as monopolies in which government perform both well and poorly.
Citizens have very little control when things are done poorly. Government does not earn money like a business. Every dollar it gets is taken from citizens. What if no one is there to fight against 'just another dollar' in an ever expanding government? Every dollar out of a taxpayers pocket is a dollar away from the things they want or need to spend that on. It is a dollar from their families and their own passions and dreams.”
“I am running because people shape the growth, culture, and future of San Antonio better than any politician ever could” he further states.
When it comes to working with other council members, he aims to be pragmatic but principled, making sure that people knows where he stands on an issue. He seeks to work with anyone in any way he can and adds, “focusing on making sure government is efficient and meets its basic promises while fighting to remove government excesses is key.”
Wanting to empower people, Arthur seeks to help citizens realize just how much power they hold. Arthur states, “Many local issues can be taken care of directly by the neighborhoods and the local community. People should not be forced to give up their money only to fight to get it back. They certainly should not put their futures in danger by a city eager to build bond debt either.”
One of his primary projects he seeks to enact through the city is a “City Builder” website which would allow citizens to directly donate money to projects and causes they believe need to be prioritized. City officials would not be able to spend this money on anything other than the project it is intended for.
When asked for details about what sort of projects he has in mind, he states “Whether it is something simple like building a sidewalk or something more involved like new fire equipment, citizens should be able to fund and build the city they want. I think people will see that great things can be done voluntarily.”
A primary focus for Arthur is transparency in government and his actions as a representative of the community. He plans to accomplish this by establishing a blog in which he explains every vote he takes and what issues the council is discussing and acting on.
Arthur believes that he can further help people by being “a voice that calls for always giving people the power and resources back that belong to them whenever possible. Not just in finding ways to lower taxes, but to remove burdens like regulations that get in the way of jobs, and creating a fair and easy to understand tax structure for companies that are here and ones that want to do business here.”
He follows up by saying “I believe there is room to create a simple and straightforward government that maximizes restoring power to citizens.”
When asked to explain how his political philosophy guides him, he replies “My core philosophy is libertarianism, voluntarism, and the non-aggression principle. I basically believe that force does not make a better world. Force is needed as defense when aggression is used, but not in solving problems we face as a society. You can no more make 'bad' turn to 'good' with violence, but you can turn 'good' to 'bad'.
Government is force. When people realize they have the responsibility and power to solve problems they become the change in the world they seek. Giving that power up to government creates all of the politics that people are tired of. It is the problem and the endless battle we face every day.”
Arthur describes his campaign as simply “Grassroots. People use that word a lot and I think it’s lost some meaning. Grassroots is not having a nonprofit behind you or the GOP/Democrats funneling money to your campaign through their built up support structures and PACs. Grassroots means building your own campaign by hand and finding your own support. It means starting with nothing and fighting for everything. It means starting with ideals and trying as hard as you can to turn them into votes. It means asking for campaign donations every chance because it means more opportunities to reach voters. Please donate!”
Beginning with an initial “passive” campaign in 2008 for Texas House Seat 121, he pulled 11,380 votes for over 20% of the vote. He then put forth an active campaign, though severely limited due to lack of funding in 2010 for Texas Senate Seat 25 where he garnered 40,972 votes. In 2012 he returned for another bid at Seat 121, pulling in 12,444 votes.
He now seeks to focus his efforts on a local grassroots campaign where he believes he can better serve people at a level which tends to impact people the most. With lower voter turnouts, less than 10% in San Antonio, every vote is all the more meaningful at this level of government and Arthur hopes this will play to his advantage by allowing him to make a convincing argument to people that he will serve them best as a representative.
When asked why he chose to run for city council, he replied “All elections have detailed issues, but at the city level one encounters more individuals with more specific issues than one does at the state level. It requires being prepared to answer a wider variety of questions and dealing with citizen’s very specific issues. It’s easy to find politicians that have ideas for what they want to use government for. It’s easy to find them that want an 'efficient' and 'responsible' government that is used 'wisely'. It is very difficult to find candidates who believe people are the only ones efficient, responsible, and wise enough to make decisions about the use of their own resources.”
Speaking about his opponent he says, “I think the incumbent is a good business man, but government is not a business. It makes no products. The things it does 'produce' are created by a monopoly it has forced upon people and given them no other choice in. Roads, police, fire, SAWS, CPS and other services and utilities come as monopolies in which government perform both well and poorly.
Citizens have very little control when things are done poorly. Government does not earn money like a business. Every dollar it gets is taken from citizens. What if no one is there to fight against 'just another dollar' in an ever expanding government? Every dollar out of a taxpayers pocket is a dollar away from the things they want or need to spend that on. It is a dollar from their families and their own passions and dreams.”
“I am running because people shape the growth, culture, and future of San Antonio better than any politician ever could” he further states.
When it comes to working with other council members, he aims to be pragmatic but principled, making sure that people knows where he stands on an issue. He seeks to work with anyone in any way he can and adds, “focusing on making sure government is efficient and meets its basic promises while fighting to remove government excesses is key.”
Wanting to empower people, Arthur seeks to help citizens realize just how much power they hold. Arthur states, “Many local issues can be taken care of directly by the neighborhoods and the local community. People should not be forced to give up their money only to fight to get it back. They certainly should not put their futures in danger by a city eager to build bond debt either.”
One of his primary projects he seeks to enact through the city is a “City Builder” website which would allow citizens to directly donate money to projects and causes they believe need to be prioritized. City officials would not be able to spend this money on anything other than the project it is intended for.
When asked for details about what sort of projects he has in mind, he states “Whether it is something simple like building a sidewalk or something more involved like new fire equipment, citizens should be able to fund and build the city they want. I think people will see that great things can be done voluntarily.”
A primary focus for Arthur is transparency in government and his actions as a representative of the community. He plans to accomplish this by establishing a blog in which he explains every vote he takes and what issues the council is discussing and acting on.
Arthur believes that he can further help people by being “a voice that calls for always giving people the power and resources back that belong to them whenever possible. Not just in finding ways to lower taxes, but to remove burdens like regulations that get in the way of jobs, and creating a fair and easy to understand tax structure for companies that are here and ones that want to do business here.”
He follows up by saying “I believe there is room to create a simple and straightforward government that maximizes restoring power to citizens.”
When asked to explain how his political philosophy guides him, he replies “My core philosophy is libertarianism, voluntarism, and the non-aggression principle. I basically believe that force does not make a better world. Force is needed as defense when aggression is used, but not in solving problems we face as a society. You can no more make 'bad' turn to 'good' with violence, but you can turn 'good' to 'bad'.
Government is force. When people realize they have the responsibility and power to solve problems they become the change in the world they seek. Giving that power up to government creates all of the politics that people are tired of. It is the problem and the endless battle we face every day.”
Arthur describes his campaign as simply “Grassroots. People use that word a lot and I think it’s lost some meaning. Grassroots is not having a nonprofit behind you or the GOP/Democrats funneling money to your campaign through their built up support structures and PACs. Grassroots means building your own campaign by hand and finding your own support. It means starting with nothing and fighting for everything. It means starting with ideals and trying as hard as you can to turn them into votes. It means asking for campaign donations every chance because it means more opportunities to reach voters. Please donate!”
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