John Bruce

John Bruce was born in Melbourne and has spent his whole life in Florida, growing up between the Space and Treasure coasts. He has lived in Melbourne District 4 for nine years. His family's Melbourne roots run back to his grandfather, whose small business, Coleman's Pharmacy, was a cornerstone of Eau Gallie more than 60 years ago.

Bruce has worked in bid and proposal management for eight years. He started in Melbourne, writing proposals for aerospace and defense work worth up to $120 million, including projects for NASA, L3Harris Technologies and Northrop Grumman, as well as county, state and federal opportunities.

Today he manages proposals and contracts for a Fortune 5 organization, handling proposals representing over $68 million in contract value, and he maintains a 100% on-time delivery rate. That work includes reading contracts and financial documents closely, catching what gets missed and holding teams of stakeholders to their deadlines and their numbers. It’s the same discipline city budget and development decisions need.

Bruce holds a bachelor's degree in writing and rhetoric from the University of Central Florida. He reads a city staff report the way he reads a proposal: for what it actually says, not what it's dressed up to say.

When he isn't working, Bruce is often paddleboarding or boating on the Indian River Lagoon or riding his bike through the city and surrounding area. That time on the water is a big reason lagoon health sits at the center of his campaign.

He isn't running for the paycheck. Bruce has pledged to donate 100% of his council salary to Melbourne-based 501(c)(3) nonprofits.

Bruce's platform comes back to one question: Does it keep Melbourne working for the people who live here?

The Basics, Done Right:
As the budget tightens, Bruce will vote to protect police, fire and emergency services without cutting recreation and community programs. He wants trash cans at bus stops and dumped debris cleared out of drainage canals. He'll push for a simpler permit process for volunteer-run events and a homelessness cost-share with Brevard County and neighboring cities.

Housing and Growth:
If you work in Melbourne, you should be able to live in Melbourne. Bruce backs walkable housing along corridors where water, sewer and roads are already in the ground, instead of edge-of-town subdivisions that cost taxpayers for decades. If the roads and drainage can't handle a project, it waits. He opposes data centers and will fight for the people of Melbourne to prevent one from being built in the city.

The Lagoon:
The Indian River Lagoon is why people move here, fish here and buy houses here. When it dies, property values follow. Melbourne has done more for lagoon health than most cities on this water, and as the lagoon-first candidate for District 4, Bruce will keep it that way. He'll build on Melbourne's baffle box and stormwater work and push for tighter fertilizer rules that are actually enforced. A developer with a failed silt fence should face the same consequences a homeowner does.

Getting Around:
Melbourne should be easier to get around without a car. Bruce wants trails on the canal banks the city already mows, linking neighborhoods to parks and schools without buying land. He'll push to fix the worst sidewalk hazards first and add shade and benches at bus stops.