Dear Constituents,
I was born to parents who were missionaries in Eastern Europe. Before I was born, my parents lived and worked behind the Iron Curtain during Reagan’s presidency. They were living in England when I was born. When I was 3, we moved to a small town outside of Budapest, Hungary. When I was 8, my parents moved our family back to the Unites States after being overseas for 20 plus years. My parents transitioned from the international non-profit they had worked for to a new non-profit located here in the tri-state.
My parents blessed me with their love for me and their faith in Jesus Christ. My dad read proverbs to us on a regular basis at the dinner table. All through my childhood he stressed the importance of seeking truth and wisdom. Dad worked a salary position, full-time for the nonprofit, and mom was a full-time parent and homeschool teacher. I am the 6th of 8 kids, and nothing was ever handed to me, except hand-me-downs.
I started my first job at 10, working for a local farmer doing odd jobs. I started my lawncare business at 13 in 2006. I rented a mower from my parents in those early years. I wanted to live the American dream and didn’t want anyone to be able to say I got lucky because my parents gave me free stuff. I purchased my first commercial mower soon after I turned 18. I diligently shopped around and found a commercial mower within a few hours that was for sale for $2800 I used that mower for 5 years and put a lot of hours on it, doing most of the maintenance and repairs myself because I was running such a tight budget, pumping every hard earner dollar back into better equipment. I sold that mower for $2800 5 years later. Turned around and paid cash for my first brand new mower! Things continued to compound, and I expanded into other areas of the grounds maintenance industry. In 2022, I sold off the majority of my lawncare business to allow for more family time.
A week later, my wife gave birth to our first child, a beautiful baby girl we named Reagan. 40 minutes later, we were surprised to find out she had been pregnant with twins! 30 minutes after that, I was holding a second child. Another beautiful baby girl, Liberty.
I’ll never forget the flood of emotions and thoughts as I held those two beautiful, precious gifts from the Lord! I don’t have time to explain all the emotions I experienced, but for those of you who have children, you know exactly what I felt, and that feeling changed me forever! I have always considered myself a responsible man, working hard to take care of my own needs, my family and give to others. With the Political climate being what it was around that time, I realized that providing for my children required more than just putting food on the table. I felt it was essential to engage politically so I could ensure they would have access to a great country, full of hope and opportunities. This is where I was at when I first ran for office in the fall of 2023.
Statement: Politicians benefit from the good of their country. Patriots sacrifice for the good of their country.
A modern-day example of someone who sacrifices for the good of their country, is President Donald Trump. I love that man! One of the things I first admired about him was he refused a salary and donated the money to worthy causes. I had told many people when I was running for Senate that I intended to do the same thing with my Senate salary. My perception of the establishment Republicans was that they thought I was just another selfish, young, politically hungry, want to be, politician. I felt extremely disrespected when I was not given worthy consideration. I was even more disgusted when I realized that many of the people who voted for me, were not even elected themselves. When I read the GOP rules where it states that if a precinct committee person is appointed, they “serve at the pleasure of the chair”, and can be removed whenever, I was floored! I had no idea that the game could be so rigged! I thank God that I did not get elected to the Indiana Senate. The sacrifice, time, attention, mental and emotional energy it would have taken away from my family would have been high! However, I knew I had no choice but to get involved if I was going to be responsible and create a better world for my children.
I never thought in 1000 years I would ever be involved in county government. Truthfully, if I had not run and worked as hard as I did and then been disrespected and ignored like I was, I wonder if I would have ever seen the problems here in our county. I am a responsible man, when I see a problem in my world, I fix it! That is what I’ve done and will continue to do. I now realize that if I am not involved in county government, I might as well not even bother to vote. To really make a difference, one must get their reins into county government, which enables putting their spurs into the state government, and then use the state to buck the federal government. When apathy at a county level is high, the federal government is out of control. Aren’t we all witnessing a steady trend of out-of-control federal government?
In my letter that I wrote when I ran for Senate, I stated the Albert Einstein phrase, “Learn the rules of the game and then play better than everyone else.” Many people have been irritated by my tactics. If you were one of them, please allow me to explain.
It is my opinion that our Dearborn County district one commissioner has amassed a significant amount of power that is completely out of control and unchecked. I have heard many people express their concern of manipulation and tyrannical control. Our current state representative referred to this individual as “the godfather of Dearborn County. “ I was stunned when I first heard that statement, but now that I see with my own eyes what has transpired in this county at his hand, I understand why he has earned this nickname. I realize many people may think I am mean, ruthless, unkind, and unloving. I understand why some people looking from the outside, would come to that conclusion. I don’t like the game that I find myself in the middle of, but I did not choose to start playing this game. I only have the choice of playing the game better than the current power structure so that we can restore balance, transparency, and quality government in our county, or I simply walk away completely.
Name recognition and being in good standing with the club, are the two foundational principles of the current political landscape in this county. Only those who suck up to the powerful and become pawns for the politicians are the ones who are considered in good standing and thus get promised a spot. They are the ones who are favored in the party, and they are the ones who are appointed to public office. This has led to a very small group of people controlling Dearborn County for who knows how long. I hate this game!
I want to see foundational principles that are completely opposite. How can we expect to have good government if we don’t hire the right people for the right spots. In my personal business, none of my clients decided to do business with me because of my last name, or who my relatives were, or who I sucked up to. People chose to do business with me because they recognized that I would deliver the quality goods and services that met their needs and solved their problems. They also chose to do business with me because they believed they could trust me to fulfill my promises and deliver on what was agreed upon. I believe this is because I’ve chosen to live my life by the Biblical principle that Jesus taught when He said, “Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you “. As Stephen Covey put it in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, “always think win, win.” In every situation, always make sure that if you traded places with the other side, it would still be a positive.
Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great, teaches the following mindset. Get the right people on the bus. Then get the right people in the right seats. Then get the bus headed in the right direction. The Political establishment I encountered, seemed more like a philosophy of, “Make sure you’re on the bus, get your family and friends on the bus, make sure you have plenty to eat and drink on the road trip, and make sure the bus is going in a direction that benefits the passengers on that bus. “
From what I have been told, the 3rd County Council District that I am running for, struggles to get the attention in needs. The majority votes on Council have predominantly been the ones who belong to the Club. Many of them live in the Bright/Hidden Valley area. This is probably one of the reasons why I’ve always heard as I was growing up on the west side of the county, that bright and hidden Valley pretty much run the whole county, and we don’t really matter over here. I have many customers and wonderful people that I know up in Bright and Hidden Valley. I have much in common with many of them and I think we are more alike than we are different. However, I am extremely different from the Club. My experience has been that the people I know who live up in that area are also very different from the Club as well.
I want to see a united and strong county that is committed to thriving together. I want to see Dearborn County grow, prosper, and be a place full of opportunity for the next generation. I want my children to grow up here, want to put their roots down here, and have their children grow up here. That is why I am committed to staying involved. Regardless of whether I am elected to this seat or not, I know I will continue looking for ways to make a difference. I know I will continue to get stronger, better, and more competent at playing the game until we beat the Club. Let’s win the game, so we can change the game to a better game that attracts great people who love our community and are getting involved for all the right reasons! Let’s have elections by The People, not selections by The Club.
If you are one of the precinct committeemen that will be voting in this upcoming election, or if you know any of the 13 precinct committeemen who will be deciding who fills the seat on Dearborn County Council, I encourage you to connect with them. If I am elected to District 3 County Council, I could be the tie breaking vote. If I am elected, I promise to do my best until I know better, then when I know better, I will do even better! This is what it means to be committed to excellence! I will not be accepting the Health Insurance offered by this position, which is part time, but as I understand comes with full-time benefits, and the money I am paid will be used to cover any expenses related to fulfilling my duties, and the rest will be donated to worthy causes. I pledge to produce an annual record for the voters to see where my paycheck went. It will not be going into my personal pocket to be spent on me or my family.
In closing, I would like to point out that this is the 6th time in the last 18 months that The Club has selected individuals to an elected office without the public’s vote (Clerk, State Senator, 2 Commissioners, & 2 Councilmen). I truly hope the best person is selected for this position. However, that decision is not up to me. It is up to 7 of the 13 who are eligible to vote in this election. Anyone can contact the Dearborn County clerk’s office and request the election results from the 2024 May primary. Precinct committeemen elected to Caesar Creek, Clay 1, 2, 3, Sparta 3, Hogan, Washington, and Center 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, & 6, are eligible to vote or sign a proxy form to allow their appointed vice PC to vote in their place. The caucus will be held in Aurora at the Purdue extension office, Wednesday, February 5, at 6 PM.
Yours in Freedom,
Uncle Sam
