Jeff Miller's the right man for the job

Jeff Miller's the right man for the job

Eligible voters of Hendersonville are now in the process of voting for their City Council and mayor. If you haven’t yet voted, I urge you to make your voice heard by voting in this important election.

Its importance is vital not only to the residents of the city of Hendersonville but also to all of us who live in Henderson County.

Although the residents of Hendersonville make up only about 10 percent of the population of the county, the reality is that Hendersonville is the county’s anchor. We all have a stake, even if we don’t have a vote, in its ability to thrive and grow. If it does, all of us will be the beneficiaries of its success. If it doesn’t, all of us will pay the price for its decline.

Those of you who have lived in Western North Carolina and/or Hendersonville all of your lives already love this uniquely special corner of America. And, like so many of you who chose to come here from all over America, my wife and I treasure the beauty, opportunity and magnificence we have found here.

That said, let’s talk about the election now underway for Hendersonville City Council. Two of the council’s four seats are up for election. Jeff Miller is seeking your support and your vote for one of those two City Council seats. I urge you to give him that support by voting for him, and I’d like to tell you why.

Of course, you remember that Jeff ran for our seat in Congress in 2010. Shortly after he won the primary, I decided maybe I could help him in the general election.

At that point, I had never met Jeff and knew little about him. The one thing I did know was how successful the HonorAir program had become and that Jeff was the driving force who had made it possible for so many World War II veterans in Western North Carolina to travel to Washington to visit the magnificent World War II Memorial and Arlington Cemetery.

So I called Jeff and introduced myself. I asked him if I could come by and meet with him for 10 minutes and talk about whether he’d like to have me as an unpaid volunteer for his campaign. He said yes, and the next day our 10-minute talk turned into a fascinating two-hour discussion.

Suffice to say, I called my then-editor at my former newspaper and requested a leave of absence from writing my weekly op-ed column in order to avoid any appearance of possible conflict of interest, which was granted. And during the summer and early fall of 2010, I did what little I could to advise for Jeff’s campaign.

Let me tell you about what happened regarding a piece of advice I gave him early on in the campaign. His reaction stunned me, caused my respect for him to skyrocket, and causes me to be urging you to vote for him now. It has everything to do with his integrity, humanity and willingness to help others — not himself.

Early on in my days as a volunteer in 2010, I engaged Jeff in a conversation about HonorAir.

I said, “Look, Jeff, there’s got to be an enormous number of veterans, their families and friends here in this congressional district who have benefited from the HonorAir program, right?” He responded, “Sure.”

“Do you have, or have access to, a mailing list of all of those folks?” I asked. “Yep”, he said.

“Jeff”, I said, “this is a special resource that could and should be used during the campaign. It could be a game changer on Election Day.” And Jeff smiled and said, “Don’t go there. I won’t mix my work with Honor Air with my political campaign, and that’s final!”

Now think about that conversation and contrast it with the way most politicians in this nation do business, whether they are in Washington, Raleigh or Hendersonville. I’ve worked very closely with scores of elected officials from both political parties over many decades, and I’m here to tell you that not one of them comes close to matching the integrity I saw firsthand from Jeff as he faced an uphill battle in 2010 against an entrenched, far better funded incumbent.

None of us is surprised that last month Gov. Pat McCrory came to Hendersonville and presented Jeff with one of North Carolina’s most prestigious awards, the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, for the HonorAir Program.

I could go on at considerable length and give you all the other strong arguments to vote for Jeff. But you already know most of them — things like being life-long Hendersonville resident, a successful small businessman, his superb working relationships with a host of civic and county organizations, and more. But that’s simply the icing on the cake, isn’t it? You get the point.

Jeff Miller, once elected to Hendersonville City Council, will turn his remarkable talents and limitless energy to giving our local government the boost and direction it needs to succeed. And he will do it for you and for all of us here in Hendersonville and Henderson County because that’s the kind of individual he is. That’s what makes him special, and that’s why he deserves your vote.

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