Virginia Penley has no personal issues with current Chatham County elected officials

Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2014 19:02:09 -0400
From: virginia penley
Subject: A good trade

As I have written in the past, I have lived here for over 42 years, raised my daughter in Chatham County and my deceased husband had deep roots in Madison County and Buncombe County.

I am a property owner and like most other property owners, I want clean and transparent government led by officials who are good fiscal stewards of our resources who also exhibit fortitude and vision.

I have no personal issue with our current elected officials, other than I believe that replacing Brian Bock and Pam Stewart with Jim Crawford and Diana Hales is a good trade for the people of Chatham County and our region.

(Neither Karen Howard nor Walter Petty have opposition. Ms. Howard will replace Jim Elza who was the pick to fill in for former county chairwoman, Sally Kost.)

From what I understand, Jim Crawford grew up on a farm in central Pennsylvania in a large family, he was the President of his high school class, graduated from Penn State and received his masters and doctorate degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill. Jim is a good carpenter, who understands the value of hard work, craftsmanship and pride in a job well done. He is also a historian, a member of the County Planning Board and an educator, who will push to make good decisions in our county for education and planning. He has a child at Northwood High School and his wife is an accomplished
executive in her own right at Lenovo. Jim has the time and desire to listen to the people and serve our county.

Diana Hales is a studious, hard working and thorough person, who worked in mapping at DENR. She is a hard worker and I believe she may have a better attendance record over the past 3 a 1/2 years at county BOC meetings than either Mr. Bock or Ms. Stewart. Diana is willing to make tough decisions, understands the serious effects of fracking and opposes its approval in NC. She will also work diligently to bring investment to Siler City, Goldston and Pittsboro and will be a strong advocate for clean and safe drinking water. Diana is married and cares greatly about the Rocky River and improving financial prospects for Chatham County and more particularly Western Chatham.

Bock and Stewart for Crawford and Hales sounds like a good move for the voters of Chatham County and a trade we should all endorse.