National economic woes are trickling down to local government, and Tony Pestorious, 53, suggests making cuts starting with the county commissioners’ salaries and benefits even though he is running for county commissioner District 5, currently held by Commissioner Mark Behrends.

“It is imperative that every body of government, including the county, look at taxes and at potential budget cuts,” Pestorious said in a press release.

According to Pestorious, there has been a great increase in county taxes in the past two years.

“I feel we have to cut down,” he said Tuesday. “We’ve got to curtail the spending. Let’s start at the top, lead by example. Take a cut in wages, do whatever we can.”

Pestorious works for the United States Department of Agriculture as a front-line inspector making sure food-packing companies abide by regulations. He has done it for 23 years. Before working with the USDA, he worked on a packing line for 13 years at Wilson & Co. and then Farmstead.

At the USDA, Pestorious said he works with negotiations and represented people through unions. He said through work he has to walk a “real fine line” when inspecting plants. He doesn’t want to see the food-packing plant shut down, he said, but he wants to protect people and consumers.

“I feel that’s a lot of what the county board does, too,” he said, adding the goal is to get the biggest bang for the buck but keep problems to a low roar. The county board isn’t going to make everybody happy all the time.

“I really enjoy going out and talking to people, asking them what they think,” Pestorious said. “I know what I know, I’m more interested in what other people have to say.”

Pestorious has lived in Freeborn County his entire life except for five years when his job took him to southwest Minnesota. He has lived in New Richland and worked in Faribault. He currently lives in rural Albert Lea.

Issues of concern to him, he said, are the sewer system inspections, county road maintenance and economic development.

“We need economic growth,” Pestorious said.

Sufficient growth and more jobs, he said, would bring people to the county and keep young workers and families in the area.

“Together with area schools/colleges and with local job opportunities we can achieve this,” he said in a press release.

He understands that the cost of everything is going up, and “we’ve got to tighten everything up because tough times are coming,” he said.

Pestorious said he has always been interested in politics. Eight years ago his wife, Vicki, ran for commissioner in the same district against Behrends, who announced in January that he will not be running for another term.

“My wife and I argue politics all the time,” Pestorious said.

One thing that would make him a good commissioner, he said, is that he tries to keep an open mind for anything that comes along. Pestorious said he tries to listen to what is said and what would be best for taxpayers and economic growth for the county.

Through his work experience, Pestorious said, he has learned to work through issues with many different people.

“You don’t want to burn a bridge because you might have to go back across it. I’ve seen that in my job,” he said.

Through the USDA, he received advanced training and education through Texas A&M University, which Pestorious said has given him an appreciation of where he is from.

Pestorious has two grown daughters that work as accountants. He has two grandchildren with one on the way, which he said he is really looking forward to. He has been married to Vicki for 27 years.