Political Philosophy for Thomas E. "Tom" Stewart

Candidate for
Council; District 8

TOM STEWART'S STRAIGHT TALK.....SOUND JUDGEMENT PHILOSOPHY

July 10, 1999

I am Tom Stewart, residing at 3730 Cedarwood Drive, Nashville, Tennessee, and maintain a law office at 333 Gallatin Road South, Madison, Tennessee, and I am a candidate for the 8th District of Metro, subject to the August 5, 1999, election. On this date you will be able to vote for the mayor, vice-mayor, and council persons (council at large and 8th District) of your choice with voting boxes at St. Joseph's School, Brush Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church, Jere Baxter School, and Dalewood School.

I will be writing and publishing Stewart's Straight Talk with the first publications being position papers on: a revenue raising plan so that the tax rates of GSD and USD are not raised; a crime reduction plan; return NES to the people; neighborhood - parks and recreation (quality of life); and education. They will be published by E-mail, delivery, outright and on request. I want to sincerely communicate the identity of the problems and my approach to the solutions.

I am married to Beth Pylant Stewart who is a retired public school teacher of 37 years, attended Inglewood and Jere Baxter grammar schools in the 8th District and graduated from Litton in the 1956 class and was a classmate to my sister, Nancy Stewart Sutton, who graduated the same year. In fact, they both graduated from Inglewood grammar school together. My wife attends Brush Hill Cumberland Presbyterian Church, which is the same church her parents attended who are now deceased; however her step-mother, Helen Pylant, who lives at Chippington Towers, presently attends the same church.

I commenced Inglewood Grammar School in the third grade and then graduated from Litton High School in 1954. I attended U.T. Martin and then graduated from U.T. Knoxville in 1958, served two years in the U.S. Army, worked one year adjusting insurance, and then attended and graduated from Vanderbilt Law School in the 1964 class. I have been a practicing attorney for 35 years with 30 years of that in the Inglewood and Madison area. My areas of practice are civil litigation, real estate, estates, and special projects. I attend, and have for 25 years, Madison Church of Christ while my mother and deceased father are members of Riverside Baptist Church, and my sister and her family are members of Dalewood Baptist Church. My wife and I own our residence and I own property in the downtown Madison business district, along with the farm where I was born and some other investment properties.

Why am I running for 8th District council at age 62 having enjoyed a successful legal career and presently eligible for social security? It is very simple. Citizens and voters of the 8th District have asked me to run for various reasons, all for the good and general welfare of the District, as they desire a change and want to project the 8th District in a different way. I accepted this challenge because I THINK IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE.

I have the experience and ideas concerning the issues and problems on the minds of the voters in the 8th District and the solutions to them, without increasing the total tax rate of the GSD and USD taxes.