To the Editor,

My name is David Stimpson, and I have represented you for the past four years as your Lenawee County Commissioner. As a resident of the City of Tecumseh, and as a local attorney in Tecumseh, I have worked diligently to develop and invest in the future of Lenawee County.

When seeking office I spoke with many constituents to personally ask what problems, concerns, or issues they were facing. The four major areas of concern that surfaced were a desire to halt any increases in taxes, economic development, availability of health care, and alternatives to our energy crisis. Over the past four years I am proud to say that Lenawee County has taken the lead for investment in these major areas of concern for our communities without any increase in our county tax rates.

Economic development has been a large concern for many members of our county. The loss of manufacturing and other related industries has caused many members of our community to seek alternative employment or travel considerably further to obtain quality employment. The County Commission through its role in the Lenawee Chamber of Commerce has reconstituted the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) for Lenawee County providing it the tools necessary to attract and develop new industries and employment opportunities.  The EDC has begun to open tax exemptions, revisit land use provisions, and centralized the EDC to assist to recruiting new industries to develop and relocate to Lenawee County.

Health care availability for the uninsured is another major concern for our community. I am proud to say with help from ProMedica Health systems, Community Action Agency, and the United Way a full service health care clinic opened its door in March of 2008.
The clinic will be available five days a week to serve more than 1208 individuals and filling more than 1620 prescriptions for medications.

Lenawee County has moved forward in development of energy alternatives over the last four years by investing in ethanol, wind energy, and bio-diesel. As a result of this investment the county has seen an ethanol plant built in Blissfield, a bio-diesel plant in Adrian, and the first test towers for wind energy in Deerfiled. These new technologies wil assist in moving Lenawee County into the forefront of energy development and assist our communities by job creation in the future.

The concerns we face in our community continue to exist and new challenge will arise. However with continued hard work and an ability to bring together different resources within the county, we can work to make Lenawee County and Tecumseh an extraordinary place to live and work.

David M. Stimpson
County Commissioner