Candidate: Junior Roger Daniel

Hello, my name is Junior Roger Daniel, a resident of Palatka, Florida, for 17 years. I was born and raised in LaGrange, Georgia, where I received my education in the Georgia school system. You could say I am a self-made man. Starting at the young age of 11, I took an interest in repairing cars that gave me my automotive skills I have today.  At the age 15 I spent my summer break worked as a labor learning the construction building trades. By the age of 18, I had learned many skills as demolition, electrical work, plumbing, and carpentry.

 Later, I moved to Atlanta, Georgia, to pursue my dream of a better life. In Atlanta, I met and married my wonderful wife, Patricia, and we began raising our four beauityful children. In 1989, I opened in Atlanta my business, R&P General Contractors, which I ran for 15 years. I was voted one of the best construction companies in the Atlanta edition of Creative Loafing, a weekly Atlanta periodical.

Once our children were grown and left home, we visited and fell in love with Palatka, especially, its beautiful St. Johns River. We decided to relocate to Palatka and soon thereafter, I secured a job with Mike Tripp Construction Company, building homes in Putnam County. After several years, I resigned to open R&P General Contractors, LLC, here in Palatka as a remodeling business. I continue to help businesses and homeowners with their remodeling projects.

I bring to Palatka more than 40 years of extensive experience in all aspects of commercial construction and residential remodeling. This includes demolition, and HVAC, electrical work, and plumbing. With my extensive work history, I also gained management and administrative experience, especially in hiring and managing my own work crews. My responsibilities included maintaining a fleet of trucks, purchasing, sales, customer service, and training employees. 

I worked for Atlanta companies such as Foster Air Conditioning and Plumbing Company, Mark Smith Construction, and Sawhorse Construction Company. I trained employees for Air Condition Contractors, Inc. I also worked for several, Atlanta-based celebrities, who trusted my ideas and experience to get the job done correctly. People say that I am a perfectionist. I believe in treating my customers fairly by producing the highest quality work at reasonable prices and in "getting it right the first time."

I also like to serve as a role model for our youth. I served as a coach at Brunswick Bowling League in Decatur, Georgia, for 13 years, teaching youth ranging in age from 6 to 18. Under my leadership and direction, many of these young bowlers went on to earn scholarships. I have also been recognized by Girls' Club of Georgia for my years of volunteering and commitment.

My wife and I are proud to have raised our granddaughter, Tatiana, for 12 years. During the COVID pandemic, Tatiana home-schooled herself and graduated a year early in 2022. Scoring very highly on her entrance exams, Tatiana was recently accepted to the Air Force, where she plans to work in IT and has been offered to upgrade to the space force program.

In Palatka, me my wife and grandson volunteer our services for Keep Putnam Beautiful, picking up litter to make our city cleans beautiful. My wife and I also volunteer for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, raising funds for the organization.

If I am elected Mayor of Palatka, Florida, I want to continue to help our youth, especially by training them in the building trades at early ages. I also want to raise the bar by bringing more jobs to Palatka, including manufacturing jobs, for which training in the trades is vital. By raising the bar, I intend to raise the standard of living for all of our residents. I also want to improve people's perception of Palatka's image. I want to build a strong city by solving problems together and creating realizable dreams. To learn more, please follow me on jrdaniel4mayor2022.com and Facebook, Junior Roger Daniel. Thank you!