I was born in Sioux City, IA, to a musician of Irish descent and a nurse descended from the Scottish Kerr Clan. I am the last of six children, my story is that my parents kept trying until they got it right. My siblings disagree.
We moved to Holdrege, NE, when I was six. I grew up there and lived there until I joined the U.S. Navy. I served six years as an Aviation Anti-Submarine Warfare Technician - basically a glorified electronics tech. The last four and a half of those years I served at the Sigonella Naval Facility in Italy. I stayed over there another eight years, three of them writing commercial software for Olivetti, then five years as a field engineer for Raytheon (later Memorex-Telex) supporting communications equipment at our nuclear cruise missile base at Comiso.
Upon returning to Holdrege for my twentieth high school class reunion, I was smitten by a beautiful brown eyed girl that has kept me by her side for the past 27 years. There, I worked for the local newspaper for a while, then became the assistant production manager at Allmand Bros., a local industry. I went back to school as a non-traditional student, getting a BFA in Visual Communications and Design. I ran my own business for a while doing websites and design work until I landed a gig doing technical writing for an organization that oversees the power grid for the eastern half of the U.S. and Canada. Around the time I was going into retirement, a good friend sold his bar and went back into the construction business. I helped him out on a job or two, liked it, and have been working with him, part-time, for the past few years. Its the first "job" I've had that I really look forward to getting up and doing. I should have been a carpenter all along!
So ... I wasn't born into money. I never accumulated a lot of it myself, but I've been comfortable.
In 2006 I saw an article in our local paper about a guy named David Hahn running for governor. I went to meet him and found that his message resonated with me. I helped him, and his running mate, Steve Loschen, with their campaign. I also became the Phelps County Chair, later an SCC delegate for LD38, was instrumental in the formation of the 3rd Congressional District Organization, and served for a while as Assoc. Chair of CD3 on the NDP Executive Committee. I also volunteered to serve on many other committees: Platform, Nominations, Rules, Technology ...
I became disillusioned with politics due to the outright corruption and lack of responsibility that I witnessed within our party. I am, however, a political beast and I can't seem to stay away from it. I was given new hope for the fortunes of our party after I saw all of these younger people, inspired by Bernie Sanders, that want to make changes to our party. They want more transparency, more responsibility, and less money and power hungry despots. They were the answer to my prayers.
So, here I am, running for State Chair again. I ran in 2014 mostly because I don't like seeing uncontested races, particularly when the only candidate is tainted by so many issues. Currently, my opponents include Chuck Hassebrook, a good man, an intelligent man, but far more conservative than what I want for the leader of my party to be. The other? Vince Powers, anyone that has dealt with him over the past several years can fill you in even better than I. Ask around.
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