To the editor:

Citizens of Polk County I have served on the county board of commissioners with Tom Pack for almost six years. When you have served that long with a person you get to know them well.

Reason No. 1 – Integrity: Tom never sugar coats or exaggerates the truth in order to please someone or to harm someone. (With him the truth and his convictions comes before politics.)

Reason No. 2 – Conservative Christian values: Tom is willing to stand up for his values. He placed on the commissioners’ agenda a resolution to support the Marriage Amendment. The three Democrat commissioners voted to take it off the agenda.

Reason No. 3 – Fiscal conservative: Tom makes his decisions based on facts and figures. His experience as a former owner of a company and now president of a growing specialty textile carpet plant, he understands and knows how to analyze budgets.

He does not have to rely completely on a county employee to explain a $25- to $30-million dollar budget. His willingness to take the time to study the county budget by each line item has enabled the county to have a more realistic and workable budgets. He has presented his own county budgets that called for a tax reduction and preserve the county employee’s benefits. (Unfortunately, the majority members of the boards would not agree to the tax cut, or preserving the employees’ benefits.)

Reason No. 4 – Bring jobs to Polk County: Being in business himself, Tom knows what it takes to get good companies with good paying jobs to come to Polk County. He was on the board that brought James Tool to the county.

Reason No. 5 – Good listener: Tom will listen and talk with each and every citizen of Polk County. No matter if you live in town or outside in the county or what section of the county you live in he feels everyone is a part of Polk County and should be treated and respected as such.

These are the reasons why my wife and I are voting to re-elect Tom Pack for county commissioner. We encourage you to do likewise.

Remember a vote for Tom Pack is a vote for you. God Bless Polk County and God bless the USA.

– Ted B. Owens, Tryon