Scott Burton announces run for third term
Scott Burton
Burton is seeking his third term as Mayor of Clinton.
“I have been married to my wife Tracy for 24 years and have been blessed with three great kids. Alex is starting his freshman year at Bluefield College in Bluefield, Va., on a baseball scholarship, Lauren is a junior at Clinton High School and is enrolled in Roane State’s Middle College, and Sarah is a Freshman at Clinton High School where she will be playing softball and basketball for the Dragons,” Burton’s release said.
“I was born and raised in Clinton. My parents, Dow and Peggy Burton moved to Clinton in 1964 to raise their three children. My dad worked for South Central Bell, now AT&T, for 40 years and my mom worked at Hamilton First Bank/Union Planters Bank on Market Street for many years. I have many fond memories of shopping and eating on Market Street while growing up in Clinton. Businesses like Lewallen Miller’s, Emery 5&10, Clinton Drug, Hammers, Twin’s Café and other establishments helped me develop my Clinton values that I hold dear to my heart today.
“My sister Laura graduated from Clinton in 1977 and lives in Rockville, Maryland. My brother Barry graduated from Clinton in 1980 and lives in Kingston.
“I graduated from Clinton High School in 1984 and went on to graduate from the University of Tennessee in 1989 with a degree in Management. I worked for Hallmark Cards for 11 years. I held several different positions including Sales Representative, Sales Trainer, and Account Manager. From Hallmark, I worked in the Pharmaceutical Industry for 18 years. I started as a Sales Representative and was a District Sales Manager for the last 16 years. I have worked for many Fortune 500 companies including Novartis, Schering-Plough, and Merck.
“I have managed more than 80 professionals over my career and have managed over $35 million dollars in sales consistently throughout my career. I have always been responsible for Cardiovascular products and Respiratory products. Currently I am an Affiliate Broker with Sellers Realty and am excited about my future in Real Estate.
“In the last 8 plus years, the City of Clinton has accomplished:
• Reducing the city’s debt by 4.6 million dollars, going from a negative fund balance in 2010 to having a surplus of 7.4 million dollars at the end of 2017, having the highest Moody rating of A1 in 15 years which reflects the very strong financial position and low debt burden.
“With this healthy fund balance we can pay for things out of our fund balance instead of borrowing money. For example, over the last 7 years the city has spent over 8.4 million dollars on capital outlay projects that were planned without borrowing any funds.
“This includes 3 million dollars in paving city streets, renovations to JC Park, the Splash Pad at Lakefront Park, renovations of the concessions and bath room at the Community Center Ball Park, Public Works equipment (leaf vacuum truck, backhoe/loader, tractors, and knuckle-broom brush truck), renovations to Fire Stations 1 & 2, while re-opening the City Hall Fire Station has helped the city to improve its fire rating from a 4 to a 2.
“This means a safer city and lower homeowners insurance for our taxpayers. Paying for police cars out of our capital project fund instead of borrowing money and/or leasing the vehicles saves money, and being one of the first communities in the area to have fully funded SRO officers at every Elementary School.
• “The relocation of the Glen Alpine Convenience Center and progress of the Magnet Mills property are two eyesores that have been addressed and are being resolved. Both have been 30-40 year issues and have been addressed by this council, Roger Houck, and staff.
“The city has been very involved in supporting Mayor Frank and the County Commission in the relocation of the Convenience Center and the City are taking appropriate steps to ensure continued improvement of the Magnet Mills property.
“The city enacted a Slum Ordinance several years ago to address properties like Magnet Mills and the process is paying off. This is a slower process because the city is dealing with private property, and owners should have every right to correct issues in order to comply with codes and ordinances.
“But, in the end, both of these initiatives will increase retail in our city over time and thus will increase our tax base.
“ Moving forward I want to focus on the following:
“1. Keeping our property tax low. Currently our tax rate is .94 cents for every $100 assessed valued. We have a clear path to being debt free in about 7 years. Which means, our property tax can go down as much as 30% and can get our tax rate down to .65 cents for every $100 assessed value.
“2. Continue to improve our services for our citizens.
“This includes making Clinton safer with continued support of our Police and Fire departments through equipment and being pro-active vs. reactive in order to protect our property and to protect our citizens. Also, continue to update our parks in order to meet the demands of our taxpayers.
“Construction of the Splash Pad at Lakefront Park and the new Inclusive Playground in South Clinton Park are great examples of updating our parks to meet the needs of our citizens, and these initiatives came from citizens that were passionate and driven to make these two additions to our parks a reality.
“3. Increasing our quality of life by increasing our retail, industrial, and residential base in our city.
“We need to work with the Anderson County chamber and go “outside the box” in regards to growing our retail at a faster pace.
“Though we don’t have a lot of land in the city limits for residential development, we need to identify why developers aren’t building at a faster pace and look at what barriers can be taken away in order to increase housing development in the years to come.
“My eight- plus years as the Mayor of Clinton has been one of most rewarding things that I have done in my professional career. I love Clinton and the people in it. There has been much that has been accomplished during my tenure as Mayor.
“This doesn’t happen by chance, but by many people working together. This involves council, our city manger, department heads and employees. Even though we have accomplished much, there is much more work ahead.
“It has been an honor to serve you as Mayor and I’m asking for your support to serve you for four more years.”