Candidate for
County Supervisor; County of Butte; Supervisorial District 5

My wife, Shannon, and I have lived in Paradise for almost 30 years. We have raised five children who all went though our public schools and graduated from Paradise High School. We also have eleven grandchildren whom we share with their parents. We are members of a local church and have participated in scouting programs, youth activities and local sports programs and are members of the Sterling City Historical Society. When growing up our children participated in the Paradise Recreation and Parks District theater productions and one of our daughters was in the Gold Nugget Queen competition. We have three sons: Mike, Jeff and Jamieson and two daughters: Melanie and Alison. Shannon has worked in several local banks and now works for the Butte County Social Services department. I am currently a teacher of Special Education, teaching a living skills class of 16 to 22 year-old students. I have officiated college and high school sports for over thirty years and have coached in Little League and at Biggs High School. I was selected by Cal-High Sports as the 2002 Small School Coach of the Year for the State of California in softball. For the last five years I have been a President of a California Teachers Association unit in Sutter County. The voters have elected me three times to the Paradise Unified School District Board where I have served as its President, Vice President and Clerk. While on the Board we have had to make difficult life changing decisions by cutting our budget from approximately $34,000,000 to $25,000,000 over the last four years. I have not accepted the free health insurance that is offered to Board members, instead choosing to pay for mine where I work. I do accept a stipend of $240 a month and it is used in classrooms for projects that the district doesn't have money for. The money has been spent on various items such as: library shelves, books, art projects, sports equipment, kindergarten packets and fundraising activities, all of which support the students in Paradise. I believe that public service is not a way to enrich one's own pocket or one's political contributors. Elected officials should represent all the people, not self or special interests. A vote for me is a vote for yourself to have a say in your district and your county.