A true fiscal converative for Cary

The No. 1 issue to me when determining who I will vote for, at any level, is how fiscally responsible they are. While I dutifully pay my taxes, that doesn't mean I like it.

Especially with government spending out of control. I look for candidates who understand that they're spending my money, so they better spend as little of it as possible.

Here in Cary, I've kept a close eye on our mayor, and I'm pleased with how fiscally conservative he has been. He's cut the staff down seven since he started (we're now at 58 employees, it was 90 as recently as 2011).

He's also been lauded throughout the county as a leader in something called "municipal partnering." This is governments working together to eliminate duplications in services and in purchasing to get bulk discounts. While this sounds like common sense to the rest of us, apparently this is groundbreaking in government.

And he's translated this into savings for my family. He held the village's portion of our property taxes flat his first two years and lowered them the last two. Unfortunately, my property taxes continue to go up because all the other taxing bodies keep raising their taxes, but sadly the mayor can only control the village's finances.

We have challenges ahead. Thanks to Springfield's inaction pension obligations continue to grow, already up 100 percent in the last four years, and they're going to continue to grow until they get their act together. And we need more investments in infrastructure improvements, something the mayor has been able to accomplish so far through grants.

But I'm confident, based on his history as a true fiscal conservative, Mark Kownick is the right guy to take on those challenges. He's earned my vote.

Mark J. Chandler

Cary