By Jeanie Groh

jeanie.groh@salisburypost.com

LANDIS — Longtime Landis alderman Tony Hilton will once again be running to maintain his seat on Landis’ town board.

The 68-year-old filed Monday to run for the position he’s held off and on for 11 years.

Hilton said if elected, his priorities are keeping taxes low, attracting industry and investment in Landis, getting the town’s roads up to standard and having the most efficient town government possible.

“We need to have someone on the board who will always fight to keep taxes low,” he said, adding that he has consistently voted against raising taxes.

“We need someone who is also going to look to the future,” the Rowan County native added.

Before retiring four years ago, Hilton was Rowan County’s risk manager. He previously served in the Navy and is a Vietnam combat veteran.

Hilton is a graduate of South Rowan High School, and he received a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He earned a master’s degree in human resource management from Pepperdine University, and he did some additional graduate coursework at the University of Oklahoma while in the Navy

Hilton volunteers with Meals on Wheels, is a life member of the National Rifle Association and is a member of multiple veterans’ organizations, including Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion and Forty and Eight.

He is a member of the Eureka Masonic Lodge No. 283, Oasis Shrine Temple and Rowan County Shrine Club.

Hilton is also member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Landis He is a member and past chairman of the Cabarrus-Rowan Metropolitan Planning Organization and a member of the local emergency planning committee.

Hilton has been married to his wife, Christine, for nearly 45 years. They have two children and two grandchildren.