Planning Board member Bill Stone said Monday he plans to run for Town Council as a Democrat. There are no Democrats on the council now.

“I have enjoyed serving on Planning Board for three years, and I think doing so has given me insight into how the town is run and the issues that matter to EG residents,” said Stone.

“East Greenwich is a very special place and I feel really lucky to be able to live here and raise my kids here,” he said. “As an EG resident for over a decade, and an entrepreneur who has successfully built an innovative legal services business, I feel I have something to offer the town and I would be very happy to serve on the Town Council.”

Of the five members now on the council, only President Michael Isaacs has said he will run again. Mike Kiernan and Jeff Cianciolo have said they will not run for reelection and Mark Gee is running for state Senate Dist. 33. Brad Bishop – who also served on the Planning Board before seeking a spot on the council – has not yet decided if he will run again.

“Seeing that three and maybe four current Town Council members are not planning to run for reelection makes me feel even more moved to step up and offer my service and experience,” Stone said.

If Stone wins, he would be half of the only husband-and-wife duo in town politics. His wife, Carolyn Mark, was elected to the School Committee in 2012.

Noting he thinks the town has been well run in recent years, Stone said he sees the Town Council’s main job is “to preserve the quality of life we already have and to keep looking for ways to create efficiencies in the way we deliver services.”

He said he is supportive of the resurgent Main Street, including all the new restaurants and the reopening of the Greenwich Odeum theater.

“Main Street is thriving and we should continue to support business growth that contributes to the quality of life here,” he said.

In terms of new initiatives, Stone said he’d like to see East Greenwich become more bicycle friendly “if there were funds available.”

He added, “I also think we need to keep looking at how we can improve access to and usage of the waterfront. I am also interested in opportunities there may be to expand our partnership with NEIT. We’re a college town now, and it would be good to find ways to benefit from NEIT’s presence here to create opportunities for local workforce development, adult education and possibly opportunities for our high school students.”

Stone, a lawyer, is founder and managing partner of the legal services companies Outside GC and Patent GC. He is a graduate of Tufts University (summa cum laude) and Harvard Law School (magna cum laude). Stone is a lecturer at Brown University on venture capital, founder and director of the Bubs Foundation, which provides support to public school music programs, and a member of the board of directors of Rhode Island Public Radio.

He and Mark have two children, Benjamin and Teah.