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This information is provided by the candidate
I was born in Bellflower, California, and moved to Chicago when I was 13 years old. I attended Northern Illinois University for one year, and later transferred to the University of Wisconsin, Madison. There I earned a Bachelor's Degree in Geography. While attending school there, I met my wife; we were married over twenty years ago and have two children.
Indifferent and restless as a young man, I'd held a variety of jobs, including time in the Merchant Marine, a supervisor in bank security, and other positions. I worked for a major retailer based in Madison, Wisconsin, and was promoted to department manager. Later, my family relocated to Washington D.C., where I was the manager of the National Map Gallery, and later owned and operated my own map stores.
We returned to Illinois to help take care of my wife's father, and among other positions I was the sales manager for the local Culligan franchise.
As a married man with two children, stability certainly became more important to me. To that end, I took a teaching position with schools in Rockford and Belvedere, Illinois. In both districts I taught in the alternative education programs, working with students who had been expelled from comprehensive high schools.
There is no way to fully describe the satisfaction I gained in working with this special group of students. They were certainly the students no other teacher wanted in the classroom, and yet I dealt with them every day. It was a pleasure to see students who had once been 'written-off' actually salvage their education, get back on their feet, and take control of their lives.
I later moved to Murrieta when I took a similar position in the Perris Union High School District. During the last few years I became an advocate for students and teachers at the Academy, fighting what I saw as deteriorating conditions in the school and the District.
Although I had my successes in dealing with the District, it was clear that I needed to do something more. This activism led me into the realm of politics. This is not such a tremendous leap as it may seem. The problems with education in this country, I feel, stem from misguided efforts of the Federal government, at least in part. As a social studies teacher, I was also well-aware of the other social issues of the day, as well.
After consulting with my family and others I decided to run for Congress in the 45th District of California, which includes most of Murrieta. Although I ran a spirited campaign, Julie Bornstein, the current candidate, won in last June's primary. I had no regrets and quickly joined her campaign.
My decision to run for Murrieta City Council was based largely on my experiences in the Congressional campaign. There was a need, I felt, for someone on City Council who was independent and not beholden to special interests. To that end, I pledged from the beginning not to accept any contributions and run a bare-bones, grass roots campaign. I have not spent, and will not spend, more than $1,000; spending any more, I feel, is inappropriate for this position.
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