My background

Sometimes, life goes in circles. Our home at 608 E. Republic, Salina, lies only a few blocks from my alma mater and the home of my adult awakening to the larger world, Kansas Wesleyan University. My ties to Salina are many, and service as Salina’s 71st District as State Representative seems a fitting way to honor those connections, while seeking changes sorely needed by Salinans and all Kansans.

As a sub-district officer for Methodist Youth Fellowship, I attended summer camps at KWU, and was Methodist Student Movement President during my college years. I sang in the Philharmonic Choir. I was also challenged intellectually and spiritually in one of my life’s most formative periods.

I’m a life-long Kansan, residing outside the state only during graduate study in Dallas and military training in South Carolina. My Masters is from KU, but I’ve done further study at K-State and Fort Hays State.

My longest teaching tenure has been within Salina’s sphere, at Cloud County Community College. Just after moving there, my first wife’s death initiated soul-searching. That resulted in my first attempts at activism. We founded Awakenings, a group dedicated to seeking real information about very real problems. That dedication also led me to run for 21st District Kansas Senator in 2000.

Teaching and Professional Roles

In my Kansas academic roles, I was a college instructor first at Garden City and then at Cloud County Community College. I was English Department chair at both institutions for a time. I served as Cloud County’s Director of Broadcasting and Public Information Coordinator before returning to a strictly teaching role. While teaching, I served as President of the State Community College English Association. I also value highly the honor awarded me by the state teacher’s association, namely the NEA Human and Civil Rights Award for my work in both classroom and community.

Salina Public Service

Since moving to Salina, I’ve been a member of the League of Women Voters and chaired its 2006 study on City/County consolidation. I was elected to the Board of Community Access TV of Salina in early 2006 and presently chair both Access and the Salina Human Relations Commission.

I am proud to be part of the Spirituality Resource Center’s work. Most recently we brought international money expert, consultant, and author Bernard Lietaer to Salina. I served as Director of a United Methodist Health Ministries Fund Grant to seek establishment of a Salina Wellness Local Currency. This pioneering effort continues to examine the role that money plays in shaping our relationships, and it has direct bearing on our methods of governance and the compassion we show, or sometimes do not, as a result. The ever-present question is how we can improve our community by improving government, and our own relationships.

Other public service

Before coming to Salina, I served as a board member and President of North Central CASA (Court-appointed Special Advocates for Children) and was named Kansas Board Member of the Year in 2003.

I was also board member of Ecumenical Campus Ministries at Kansas State University. A former ordained Elder of the Presbyterian Church, I now serve as Membership chairman and board Member at Large of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Salina.

My goal in these roles is to encourage better communication and understanding. Communities and governments work best when they understand themselves, and this is often prevented by suspicion and closed mindsets. We can do better.

That good work can begin with your vote for me for your Representative in the 71st. Thanks for considering me!

Related pages: My record in a nutshell