Dear friends and neighbors,

We have the daunting task of choosing among 17 candidates for the elected position of State Representative for our district, District 7 come Tuesday, August 5th. As we drive around the neighborhood we've seen the election signs of many of the candidates who are running for the office, which is a great indication of the importance Greenacres residents put on the election, as they should.

No one of us can know the qualifications of all 17 candidates, so we are left to make our choices based on others' recommendations, or perhaps based on name recognition, or perhaps you had the good fortune of going to one of the "greet the candidates" events where you got to hear about most of them.

We've put out a sign on our lawn for Mr. Lee Gaddies who we believe will make an excellent representative. We didn't have to go to an election event to meet Mr. Gaddies; we met him on the front lines of the many important issues that have been facing Greenacres residents (and, by extension, Detroit and Michigan as well).

Mr. Gaddies has been working in the community and for his community for some time now. He's running for the State Rep's job because he wants to enhance his effectiveness on the issues that he is already acting on. He has a very specific agenda, which is very much in tune with Greenacres' needs.

What distinguishes Mr. Gaddies in our minds is that he is not offering platitudes or generalities in bright election-day cards; he is setting out specific goals and therefore he is making himself accountable to the entire community.

We have found him to be very well versed on many of the important issues that we face. He has a pretty clear analysis of what's wrong but, more importantly, has a forward vision and specific, thought-out ideas for how to make things right.