My name is Bart Connelly and I am announcing my candidacy for the Pickens County District 1 County Commissioner seat in the May 20, 2014, Republican primary.My wife Cindy and I have been married for thirty-nine years and we have lived in the Jerusalem community for the past 14 years. We have two children and three grandchildren.

I was blessed to be able to retire three years ago after spending 33 years in the construction industry. Prior to that I earned a master’s degree in education from West Virginia University and before that I received the Eagle Scout Award through the Boy Scouts of America.

I have been a member of the Pickens County Republican Party for the past ten years and currently serve on the executive board as the Vice-Chairman for precinct development. I hold memberships in Pickens County Sheriff’s Office Auxiliary Unit, Board of Directors for Keep Pickens Beautiful (serving as Chairman for the Adopt-A-Road program), Pickens County Board of Assessors and the Pickens County Chamber of Commerce.

We attend Our Lady of the Mountains Roman Catholic Church where I am currently the president of the Men’s Club and a member of the Knights of Columbus.

My objectives as District Commissioner would be to maintain an open and transparent government, to be a fiscal watchdog of the peoples’ money, to make common sense decisions and to be fair and honest to all the citizens of Pickens County.

I look forward to meeting and talking to as many of you as I can during this campaign. I am asking first for your prayers and then for your support to become District 1 Commissioner. Should you wish to contact me my phone number is 770-296-4640. May God bless us all.