I moved to Fayette County in 1992 incident to military orders assigning me to Ft. McPherson. I intended to leave after my tour of duty was completed. That, of course, never happened. I grew to love the quality of life, and the people of Fayette County. When the time came, I chose to retire and settle here permanently.

Janet and I have three children and seven grandchildren, all of whom live in the Atlanta metro area. We want to stay here, and I continue to be willing to work as long and as hard as possible to preserve our way of life.

I am extremely proud of my record in office. You can be assured that I will never waiver from making tough choices just because special interest groups may threaten me or I am being pressured politically. Since day one I have insisted on the highest ethical standards for myself and for everyone else with whom your government does business.

I have continually defended our zoning and land use plans and have fought to stabilize the taxes your County Commission is responsible to establish.

In fact, since I became chairman, residential building permits have been reduced 40 percent. Since then, your county tax millage rates have been reduced 22 percent for the general fund and 18 percent for fire tax.

That means that everyone would be paying 22 percent and 18 percent higher taxes respectively had we not lowered the tax rates five straight years. This is the only way to offset the state’s rising assessments on your property.

We have never claimed that we are lowering your taxes. We are fighting to stabilize your taxes through tough, conservative fiscal planning, programming and budgeting. Why? Because we don’t want anyone to be taxed out of their homes.

Any taxing authority that does not lower your millage rates is raising your taxes. Please don’t be misled by those who claim millage rates are not important. Look at your tax bills; see which entities are lowering your rates. If their rates are the same or higher, your taxes are increasing substantially.

My highest priority has been and always will be to provide the resources necessary to keep our public safety at its current high level. In addition to building a new jail and courthouse, on time and under budget, we have increased the overall public safety budget 38 percent to include a 63 percent increase in sheriff’s budget.

It is the most important factor I consider when striving to maintain and enhance the quality of life in our wonderful community. I need your help and support to ensure our future.