Staff report
Brian Miller, Salisbury market executive and senior vice president for Citizens South Bank, filed Thursday as a candidate for Salisbury City Council.
Miller, who lives at 110 Kingsbridge Road, has been heavily involved in the community since 1994.
He is past chairman of the Salisbury Planning Board and Downtown Salisbury Inc.’s board of directors. He currently serves as chairman of Downtown Salisbury Inc.’s Empire Hotel Task Force.
As a commercial lender for Citizens South, Miller also leads the Empire Hotel Loan Pool ó a collection of seven local banks that assisted DSI with financing of the project.
For the United Way in Rowan County, Miller has been a campaign division head, chairman of the allocations process and member of the board.
For the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce, Miller will lead the upcoming membership drive. He is a member of the Chamber board and a 1996 graduate of its Leadership Rowan program.
Miller’s children attend North Hills Christian School, where he serves on the school’s board and as treasurer and finance committee chairman.
He belongs to the Salisbury Civitan Club for which he also has been treasurer.
“I believe that the sum of my experiences in business as a local commercial banker, as a volunteer for local civic and non-profit organizations, as a contributing member of my church as a Sunday School teacher, deacon and trustee, a Little League coach and as a committed parent and husband have prepared me for this office,” Miller said.
He becomes the 12th City Council candidate for the Nov. 3 election. The filing period for municipal offices in Rowan County ends at noon today. All five seats on Salisbury City Council are up for election to two-year terms.
“My efforts to redevelop the Empire Hotel are a prime example of my long-term vision for how we build on the momentum that has already been created in the core of our town,” Miller said.
When completed, the project has the potential of increasing the property’s tax value by 20 times and could represent up to 125 new jobs, Miller said.
Miller also advocates a partnership among the city of Salisbury, Rowan County and the Rowan-Salisbury School System that will lead to a central school office in Salisbury’s downtown.
“If elected, I intend to pursue a partnership … that is fair and balanced ó one that does not put an undue burden onto the city taxpayer but that accomplishes this goal,” he said.
Miller supports the city’s fiber-to-the-home initiative which will establish a cable utility. He called it “an ambitious decision that will have tremendous long-term benefits for our citizens.”
“I am personally looking forward to having access to this new service both at home and business,” Miller said, “and I believe it will be a recruitment tool to help bring new next generation-type businesses to our community, or keep them here in cases where they are already here.”
Miller is a 1987 graduate of East Rowan High School and 1992 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a degree in business administration. He and his wife, Amy, have two sons and a daughter.