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As a service to our readers, we are publishing profiles of Claiborne County candidates who have submitted their answers to a short survey. The firm deadline for all submissions is June 30 at 4 p.m.

Early voting begins on July15. We will continue to publish in our July 6 and July 13 editions of the newspaper all survey answers that were submitted by the deadline.

Following is the profile of Claiborne County Mayor hopeful Jack Daniels:

My name is Jack Daniels and I am a candidate for Claiborne County Mayor. I am a lifelong resident of this county and the 13^th child of Jack and Della Daniels. My desire to be a help to others began as a child. My parents were always willing to lend a helping hand to family, friends and total strangers. My father served as a county commissioner for 12 years. My parents were hardworking farmers and I have worked ever since I was able to pick up a hoe. The work was hard but there was something very special about watching the results of that hard work grow and produce what we needed to survive.

I am 58 years old now and am humbled at how God took a poor boy like me and gave me the knowledge necessary to be a successful farmer, carpenter and public servant. I currently reside in the Forge Ridge Community with my wife Dixie of 38 years. We have 3 wonderful daughters and 2 beautiful grandchildren. God has been very good to me. It is my greatest honor in life to serve as a pastor for over 30 years. This experience has taught me how important it is that every individual know you are someone that they can listen to their concerns and make every effort to address their needs now and in the future.

Having prior knowledge of what is required to be a successful mayor will save the county valuable time and money. It also means that I can immediately go to working on your concerns and needs. As mayor, I will work diligently to establish productive relationships with county commissioners, county board members, locally elected officials, as well as state and federal officials.

By working together, we were able to create new jobs, obtain over 5 million dollars in much needed water grants, obtain grants to purchase new handicap accessible vans for our senior citizen centers, place law enforcement officers in all our public schools and complete a bond-refinancing project, which decreased the life of the bond by 3 years, which saved you, the taxpayers nearly 1 million dollars.

I realize we are living in different times which may require different approaches to achieve success. However, one thing that never changes is the value of good working relationships. Without these, one can never be successful in government or anything else. I am very proud of my ability and track record to work well with others and I will never take for granted your trust and belief in my skills to be the kind of mayor you deserve.

During this campaign, it is abundantly clear to me that the people need to be reassured that the mayor will listen to the concerns and needs of all, without a hidden agenda. They have not voiced unrealistic expectations of a mayor but the people do expect the mayor’s main objectives to be their well-being and to take the necessary measures to insure their tax dollars are utilized wisely.

As our county begins to feel the effects of a 40 year high of inflation rate, as well as historically soaring gas and food prices, our county government will be faced with the task of doing whatever is necessary to keep costs down on things within their power to do so. No one person has all the solutions necessary to deal with these issues, nor should they. It will take good leadership, working with others, to correctly prioritize how our tax dollars can be best used for the benefit of all our citizens.

As your mayor, I promise to listen and make myself available to you. I will always be honest and up-front with everyone regarding the things I can change or not change. You can depend on me to be working diligently on ways to improve the future of our county. I will work closely with all county officials to address your expressed needs and concerns. With my proven leadership of county government, I will once again work with state and federal officials to obtain available grants to fund necessary improvements within the county, while avoiding unnecessary costs where ever possible. These relationships can open new doors, expose us to new ideas, as well as educating us on ways that improve the lives of our citizens.