Full Biography for Anthony James "A.J." Miley

Candidate for
Council Member; City of Daly City

I was born in San Francisco, in 1942. My parents moved to Daly City in 1952.

As a child, I enjoyed playing all kinds of sports. I began taking tap dancing lessons at the age of seven and stuck with it. Bowling was of special interest to me from the age of twelve. If I was not tap dancing, you could find me at the bowling alley. This did not help my high school grades which always could have been improved.

My college grades, however, were about 3.1 over all . I went to college on the GI bill in the early seventies.

Unlike many others who did not, I answered the call of my country when I received my draft notice in 1963. I entered the U.S. Army in March of 1964. After serving two years of active duty, and four years of inactive reserves. I received an honorable discharge in March of 1966.

Before that, however, I grew up in a Roman Catholic home.

My mother was a devout Catholic, so I went through the entire sequence from First Communion to Confirmation. We rarely missed Sunday Mass. I learned early in life that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and about the existence of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as a trinity.

My mother was born in White Castle, Louisiana, so we visited there about once every two years. It was a great experience to grow up a city boy, but visit the country often. My aunts and uncles lived on farms mostly, and I was able to get the feel of what it was like to be on a farm first hand. I must say that I enjoyed returning to the San Francisco weather. Our built in air conditioning, the fog, would never let me down.

I had my first paper route when I was almost eight years old. I delivered the San Francisco News. As a young businessman, I lost about twelve dollars my first month in business. I learned quickly about the sharks out there in the business world.

After moving to Daly City, I continued in the newspaper business, delivering the morning San Francisco Examiner, until I graduated from Westmoor High School in 1960. I managed to earn enough money to get me through school, buy my first car, a motor scooter, a television, and pay for all that bowling.

In the mean time, I was entertaining on many of the popular stages throughout the bay area as a dancer and Master of Ceremonies for the Betty May School of Dance. We would entertain at all of the military bases from the Presidio of San Francisco to Travis Air Force Base. We would also entertain for many private clubs and organizations.

I had a very active, and happy childhood. My parents were together for thirty five years, until my father died, in July of 1977.

They would take me on picnics frequently during the summer. It was their favorite form of family outing. My father used to take my brother and I swimming at the YMCA in San Francisco. We also used to swim at Flieshaker Pool, and Sutro Baths.

My father worked as a waiter in Class A restaurants, and my mother was a stay at home mom. I never came home to an empty house. She was always waiting there for me.

It was a model family. The "Leave it to Beaver" kind that is joked about in our society today, as being an impossibility in our times, etc.

My first real job outside of the newspaper business was working for an insurance company as a junior underwriter. I left that job after about two years to get into a higher paying industry, the grocery business. While working for Safeway Stores, Inc., I was drafted into the U.S. Army. I served in Viet Nam (note the spelling is correct. Viet = South. Would we write Southdakota?).

After my discharge from the Army, I studied acting at the Circle Star theater, and acted in two plays there. I took a part time sales job, commission only, and met the mother of my first four children.

We were married, and I soon hit the reality of the work-a-day world. I returned to work in the grocery business, as our family grew, and we went to school. I was eventually promoted to assistant Manager.

At San Francisco City College, I studied acting and radio/television, later to receive my degree in Creative Arts from San Francisco State University.

My first marriage was a casualty of the "women's liberation" movement. Communication was very difficult. In December of 1975, I was held up at the grocery store by a robber armed with a shotgun, and left employment there. This exacerbated the marriage situation. My wife divorced me in 1979, after my repeated attempts at reconciliation, and eventually moved to the Chicago area with my children.

I remarried in 1985, but that was short lived. My twelve year old daughter, Robin, who lives with me, is a product of that marriage. I only wish my children could have enjoyed the benefit of one set of parents who stayed together as mine did.

I supported myself in the Music and entertainment business exclusively from 1984 through 1992. The recession of 1992 convinced me to seek other employment, so I took a job in the school bus transportation industry. I completed six full season of driving school bus, but this year, 1998, I resigned my driving job to return to my business endeavors, and also to being a full time father.

On Christmas Eve of 1990, I invited the Lord Jesus Christ into my life as my Lord and Savior. I go to Lighthouse Christian Fellowship, in Pacifica. I am very active in the church. Jesus said to "Seek ye first the kingdom of God". This is my goal.

I have included all of this information for you to get a feel of who I am. I do not see myself as a politician. I am "Mr. John Q. Public". I have made my share of mistakes, some bigger than others, and I have had my triumphs.

This biography is not intended to show my qualifications or to convince you of anything other than the fact that I may be just like you, someone who wants Christian values put back into our government. If that is not you, then I am not talking to you. I am not trying to convince you to change. I am only looking for those who feel the same way I do.

If that offends you, I see no need to apologize. I can still acknowledge your individuality as a person, and your right to choose.

Anthony J. Miley, 10/2/98