Danny Gabriel, 56, of Cleveland, filed for mayor of Cleveland on July 5.
Gabriel, who works at Performance Fibers, is a 1974 graduate of West Rowan High School.
He has served as a Town of Cleveland Commissioner for 19 years and in the Cleveland Fire Department for 12 years. He is also a North Carolina EMT. He and his wife, Gina, have one daughter.
“The current mayor is not running again, and he advised me he was stepping down,” Gabriel said. “It’s really just a natural progression. I’d still like to do it a few more years, so I just thought I would try to run for mayor.”
“A low tax rate is always a concern from the citizens, especially where the economy is right now,” Gabriel said. “I want to try to be a little more proactive as a board, because we’ve always been more or less a reactive board. That could go with trying to maybe jump-start a few businesses, get things done where we can streamline things. Also, the appearance of the town has been an issue the last few years. Maybe I’ll try to be a little more proactive on that, get something done and decide what to do and the direction we want to go in.”
“A lot of people think I’m capable of doing the job and want me to continue, so that has a lot to do with me running again,” Gabriel said.