By Krista Chandler

The Orange Leader

 

Brad Childs believes in actively building from the ground up.

Whether it’s structures – as he was trained to do as an early 1980s Texas A&M construction science graduate and current second-generation owner of Childs Ace Hardware in Orange – or goals and dreams, the City of Orange District 2 councilman focuses in on the smaller pieces of bigger pictures as he builds upon them.

Childs said his father taught him from a young age to learn something new every day. As a councilman, he said this Golden Rule has been taken up a notch, and as a quiet-by-nature type of person, he is constantly absorbing new information as part of the council.

After moving to Orange after college for a “hometown life,” Childs said around town he’s always bound to see someone he knows, and that the quality of life in Orange is fantastic.

The Eagle Scout joined city council over a year ago to involve himself even more with improving and growing the city he loves.

“We’re on the cusp of things exploding here in Orange,” Childs said. “Orange has so much potential. In my opinion, everyone needs to be active in the local community, and offer whatever services they have available. We need to keep speaking positively about Orange; there’s more on the horizon.”

After working hard, but mainly incognito, during and after Hurricane Harvey, Childs said one of the main things the council is working on together as a team for his district is resolving the flooding issues in Adam’s and Cow Bayou.

Childs said his current forte is making sure flooding that’s happened during a heavy rain is preventable in the future.

As for being a councilman, Childs said he enjoys “working with councilmembers. We all get along, and we’re a good, diversified group. We gain so much from each individual and our talents.”

He spoke highly of efforts by the council to pick up trash as a group and encouraged residents to keep the city beautiful by not littering and offering their services around town.

As for fun in Orange, he said he hasn’t had much fun since Hurricane Harvey, but that in his free time he’s an active member of the Lion’s Club and local Mardis Gras crews, he likes eating at local restaurants and that he especially enjoys shooting amateur photography – following his theme of focusing on the smaller parts of bigger pictures within Orange.

Childs invited the public to tell him about their dreams for the city so he can work with them on the goals necessary to get those dreams accomplished. He said he believes in the “power of Facebook,” and residents are welcome to message him on his personal Facebook page with the assurance that he will follow up with them, or to visit him at the local Ace Hardware and speak in-person.

“I want people to understand we’re the spokespersons for our citizens,” Childs said. “I want people to communicate their dreams and goals, and what they’d like to see happen. We can get it to (city) staff and work towards it.”