By Karissa Minn
kminn@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — Thomas J. “Jack” Eller, a Democrat who owns a trucking company, filed Wednesday for Rowan County Commissioner.
Eller, 51, of 8475 Woodleaf Road in Woodleaf, is the owner of Eller Transport. In a prepared statement Friday, he said he is a Lenoir native who has lived in Rowan County for 40 years.
“Even though I wasn’t born in Rowan County, my wife, children and granddaughter were,” Eller wrote. “I want to make Rowan County a better place for my family, the citizens and future generations to live and work. … I want the citizens to have someone they can trust and believe.”
Eller ran for sheriff in 2010 but lost in the Democratic primary. This year, he is one of 15 candidates running for two open seats on the Board of Commissioners.
In an interview Friday, Eller said he realized that while the sheriff can only enforce the law, it’s the commissioners that create and change local ordinances.
Eller said he thinks the board has made wasteful decisions over the years.“Summit Industrial Park, to me, is a big waste … just like the ballfield down there at Kannapolis,” he said. “They never made no money on it, and then they sold it.”
In his statement, Eller said the county board should work more with local business owners to offer educational opportunities, helping them stay and prosper in Rowan County.
“The county commission also needs to work with local investors to bring new businesses to the county,” he wrote, “and work with the school system and community leaders to address their needs not their wants.”

Thomas J. ‘Jack’ Eller
Office sought: Rowan County Commissioner
Age: 51
Address: 8475 Woodleaf Road, Woodleaf
Phone number: 704-278-0098
Party: Democrat
Occupation: Owner, Eller Transport
Education: Caldwell County Schools, Rowan County Schools, Bedford High School in Colbert, Ga.
Previous elected office: None
Community involvement: None listed
Family: Wife, Teresa; children, Jonathan and Tiffany; grandchild, Cloeigh.

Contact reporter Karissa Minn at 704-797-4222.
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