I live in St. Clair Township and I want to tell you about some of the good things that Township Supervisor Tim Buchanan has done for the township since taking office in 2009.

Buchanan:

* Bid out property and causality insurance and saved $35,000 the first year.

* Bought electricity for the sewer plant on the open market and saved $17,000 the first year.

* Instituted water shutoff on delinquent sewer accounts and brought in thousands of dollars in past due bills.

* Stopped the practice of paying state sales tax on fuel purchases and saved 9 percent on fuel costs.

* Changed the cell phone usage policy and reduced costs by more than 60 percent.

* Ended part-time trustees eligibility for pensions.

But by far the best example of Buchanan's leadership is how he saved each and every government entity in Illinois from hundreds to thousands of dollars annually by changing the state law to allow the annual treasurer's reports to be published on local government websites, with smaller notices being published in the newspapers. Tim took an expense problem he discovered at the township and made a change at the state level that benefited St. Clair Township taxpayers and all taxpayers across the state. That is real local leadership.

Jim Shively

Belleville