Press Release of Vern Presley for Delegate
With encouragement from friends and supporters from neighboring counties, I decided to announce my intent to seek the Democratic nomination for the House of Delegates representing the Third District. Although the district boundaries are not finalized, my supporters urged me to step forward now so that we can begin the process of discussing the issues and future of this district. We live in increasingly difficult times because of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression and the demands to curb spending at all levels of government. Our state continues to slash its budget by forcing localities to bear the costs of essential state functions. We can ill afford to wait potentially several more months for the final district boundaries to materialize before we address the issues and our priorities. We can face these difficult times with high expectations for the future by addressing our priorities and putting jobs and our values first.
To address these difficult times, we need to promote our coal and natural gas resources while respecting the rights of workers, property owners, and energy consumers. Two decades of practicing law and representing coal and energy related clients as well as property owners provide me with the necessary background and experience to address the challenging issues of our district’s vast energy resources. Although we need to emphasize our strengths, we also need to continue the process of diversifying our local economy to insulate us from the energy related downturns our district has faced in the past. Two decades of representing local economic development authorities also provide me with the understanding and capability to assist our district with recruiting businesses and industries to locate and remain in our district. If given the opportunity, I will work tirelessly with local leaders to promote and encourage businesses that provide decent paying jobs with benefits to locate and remain in our district so that our children will have the opportunity to raise their own family in this district.
Our values include providing a quality education for our children. To ensure that the commitments and obligations that we hold so dear persevere, we must invest in the future by seeing that our children have the same educational resources available that children from more affluent districts enjoy to allow them to secure good paying jobs with benefits. We cannot balance or slash budgets at the expense of the education or our children, which jeopardizes the very future of our district, state, and nation. We can be mindful of our budget and resources while looking toward the future. For this reason, we must address our priorities to see that our children have the brightest possible future and the opportunity to remain in our communities.
Regardless of politics, our values and priorities must advance the middle class and working families. The middle class and working families have for far too long shouldered the burden of supporting our district, state, and nation. Our elected leaders continue to ask for spending cuts that disproportionately affect the middle class, working families, children, and the elderly while they carry the burden of higher utility bills, fuel costs, and health care. The middle class and working families cannot absorb continued utility rate hikes. We must take a stand and say enough is enough and actually help our middle class and working families. In other words, we must say that our jobs and values come first. We must honor our commitments to our children and the elderly for the sake of our future. To engage in this campaign, I will need your support, thoughts, and prayers as we attempt to address our future and the priorities of this district.
