<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Dear Greenbrier County voters:</span> In 1991, several people were hired to work the new reappraisal program of all real estate in Greenbrier Co. Just happened to work out that Michael Burke, the current Assessor of Greenbrier County, and I hired in on the same day. I got to know Michael Burke pretty well as time went by and realized very quickly that this young man from the Western end of the County had a first class mind. I have to admit that I had to put a lot of effort into learning all that was required to do the job, not saying that I actually did learn everything, while it was obvious that Mike just had a natural talent of mastering the job effortlessly. As time went by, Michael just kept learning as much as he could in the Assessors office. It wasn’t long before the Assessors that manned the office over the years started to rely on Mike more and more. Mike conducted the hearings at the Board of Equalization when a tax payer had any questions about their assessments. That was a pretty stressful assignment. He didn’t bat an eye, just went about business as usual. Everyone that works there, saw that he is intelligent, knew the jobs he was assigned and trusted his knowledge. If anyone had a question, I heard “ask Mike” a lot. He has learned every aspect of running the Assessors office over the years. He worked his way “up through the ranks.” I admire him for staying the course there through several different bosses. Clyde Bowling, Nancy Sarter, and Steve Keadle. The last Assessor, Steve Keadle decided to retire, so he went to the County Commissioners and recommended Michael be the acting Assessor until the next election came up. He has performed this job now for several months. He is the most capable person that Greenbrier County citizens could hope to have in this position, and very lucky to have someone of his caliber. I want to end this letter with one more tidbit of “insider” knowledge. I hope Mike doesn’t mind me saying this, but the voters of Greenbrier County don’t always get all the facts they need to really make an informed decision about a candidate. So here is what I know, Michael is a quiet, soft spoken guy, not your typical politician . So please take that with a grain of salt. He more than makes up for being kind of quiet, with just being down right smart. That’s what Greenbrier County needs. Always looking out for the taxpayers’ best interests, which I know he does relentlessly. That’s Mike. Sincerely, James G. Livesay Ronceverte
