I was raised in Maplewood and have a deep commitment to the area. I have been married for 22 years to my wife Kristi, who works for the University of Minnesota, and we have three wonderful children. All three of my children have attended local public schools. Our youngest daughter, Emily, is a senior at North High in North St. Paul. My oldest son, Peter, is a junior at Hamline and our middle daughter, Hannah, is a freshman at The School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, South Dakota.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Over the years many have encouraged me to run for office but I haven't done so because of my family commitments. However, this doesn't mean I haven't been involved in my local community. I've been actively engaged in some of the following ways:
- • Five years on the Maplewood Human Relations Commission, serving 3 years as chair.
- • Eighteen years on the Maplewood Parks Commission, ten years as the chair. During this time the focus of my energy was devoted to expanding the park system, restoring our open spaces, and redeveloping tired, run-down parks. My work earned me a Public Service Award for outstanding service in the promotion of parks and trails, from the Friends of the Parks and Trails of St. Paul and Ramsey County.
- • Six years in Boy Scout Troop 187 as a committee member and merit badge counselor.
- • Two years as a Citizen's Representative on the Tri-District Integration District School Board.
- • Three years singing and cantering in my church.
PROFESSIONAL CAREER
My professional career is quite extensive. The first 30 years of my professional career I worked in private club management. During that time I learned many very important lessons, including the following:
At age 20 I was in my first job hiring, training, scheduling, and supervising wait staff. It came to my attention that a number of female staff felt they were being sexual harassed by the General Manager. I contacted the Board of Directors about their complaints. The Board members did not believe me, with several indicating that the Manager can do whatever he wants.
At that point I called the Department of Human Rights and the Commissioner came to my house and met with the women involved. The Commissioner filed 11 charges of sexual harassment against the club. Eventually all charges were found to have merit and the women received justice.
I learned that management is not always right and without a union we had no immediate protection. I also learned that when government does not properly fund its functions, justice can be slow. The process took over four years because the Department of Human Rights was so underfunded that they had developed a backlog of hundreds of cases.
In 2007 I changed career paths and was hired by Avenues for Homeless Youth as Director of Finance and Operations to help restore financial accuracy and stability. Avenues is a small nonprofit that was in financial difficulty because of state funding cuts. When I started at Avenues there was a large amount of debt and for a number of months we barely had enough money to make payroll. I am proud to say that within two years we were generating surpluses and had even established a reserve.
Success continues and we are currently under construction to expand our shelter from 15 to 20 beds and have added several more programs to help meet the needs of homeless youth ages 16 to 21. Still, Wilder Research estimates that, on any night in the state of Minnesota, 2,500 youth and young adults are homeless and unaccompanied by an adult. In any year, 10,000 youth experience homelessness in Minnesota.
KEY ISSUES
Two of the key issues I care deeply about and plan to work hard on are education and the environment.
First, I will fight to provide a strong education system so every young person, no matter their circumstances, can obtain quality jobs, as well as secure, safe, permanent stable housing, and be free from discrimination.
Second, I will continue to strive for a clean environment, strong parks, and vibrant open spaces.
I feel that I don't just talk DFL principles, but have spent my entire life walking it. That's why I am asking for your support for the DFL endorsement.
CAMPAIGN EXPERIENCE
In addition I have very strong campaign experience. My first political endeavor was working for Bruce Vento in his first run for congress. In 1996 I was part of a group of people that sought out and encouraged Chuck Wiger to run for Senate. I became his campaign chair and have served in that position until this year. I chaired Betty McCollum's campaign for local representative in the years that Chuck was not running. I have also chaired many successful local campaigns.
I look forward to having an opportunity to talk with you and expand on my positions and qualifications for Representative of House District 43A. Thank you for being involved as a Democrat!
P.S. for additional information about youth homelessness please check out http://www.avenuesforyouth.org/aboutyouthhomelessness.html
