Vote Acres for St. Lawrence legislator

My name is Kevin Acres. I am a Republican candidate for the St. Lawrence County Legislature representing District 8, which consists of the township of Madrid and major portions of the townships of Canton and Potsdam.

I would like to tell you a little about myself. I've been married to my lovely wife, Phyllis, for 27 years. We have three sons: Brandon, a 2009 Clarkson graduate; Sean, a 2010 Wharton graduate, and Gavin, a fall 2010 Cornell University freshman. We own and operate a dairy farm in the Madrid area. I served on the Madrid-Waddington Central School board for 22 years and on the St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES board for six years.

My combination of private business and public-policy experience has prepared me for the position of county legislator. Long-term planning, preparing budgets, tax management, incorporating new methods and technologies along with hard work have led to growth in our farm business. On the school board level, I served on numerous negotiating committees and am very familiar with contracts, arbitration, salary issues and also pension and health care benefits.

As a member of the Madrid-Waddington school board, I helped pioneer changes to the district's health care plan by implementing health savings accounts coupled with high deductibles. The new plan has saved the school district an average of over $400,000 a year. The Madrid-Waddington school district is now in its fourth year of implementation.

This health care change has spread to Lisbon, Heuvelton, Morristown and Ogdensburg City school districts. My plan is to bring this innovation to the county, which currently has 1,400 employees and retirees. I conservatively estimate that it will save the county $3 million a year and will be a win-win for both the county and its employees.

The county is facing hard times and taxpayers are doing all they can to make ends meet. There are many problems that will need solutions and that will take experience and creative thinking. I feel that I have both the knowledge and proven experience to meet these challenging times. On Sept. 14, I would appreciate your vote in the Republican primary for District 8 county legislator.

Kevin Acres

Madrid