Candidate for
City Council Member; City of Stockton; District 1

The three things most important in my life are my faith, the happiness, safety and well being of my family, and the community where I live. When my wife of 29 years Carol and I first moved to Stockton in 1982, that sense of community was one of the first things that really struck us about Stockton. The water tower off I-5 had in large lettering, "Stockton: Someplace Special." We thought the city and people of Stockton were special then, and we still feel that way today. That is why I'd like to be your City Councilman to District 1.

Carol and I have two sons. Jeremy, our oldest is serving, as I did in 1969, in the United States Navy. He is presently in Japan, homeport of his ship the USS Kitty Hawk. He has just returned there from the Arabian Sea, having been one of the first vessels ordered into combat in "Operation Enduring Freedom." We are obviosly happy about his safe return to Japan and very, very proud of him and all our servicemen and women. Our youngest son, Jason, is a junior at the University of the Pacific, where Carol is employed as the Administrative Assistant to the Department of Speech-Language Pathology. He is majoring in Studio Design/Art. We are equally proud of him.

When we first came to Stockton, I had just finished 7 years of college, having graduated from Cleveland Chiropractic College in Los Angeles California. I practiced as a Doctor of Chiropractic in Stockton for 17 years. During that time there was a brief period when I practiced as one of the first cenral-northern California chiropractors to have staff priviledges in three major medical offices, two in Sacramento and one in Rocklin California. Working side-by-side as a chiropractor with medical doctors and therapists was exciting and rewarding.

In 1989, while still practicing, faith became a bigger part of my life. I enrolled in a 5-year course of study and pastor-in-training program and was ordained at Zion Christian Fellowship in Lodi, California on November 13th, 1994. This led to a major change in my life when I left my Chiropractic practice six years ago to direct a Christian non-profit organization, the Pregnancy Help Center.

My first interest in local government came towards the end of 1994 as well. The City Council at that time was entertaining the idea of changing a city ordinance, specifically to allow for a big gambling interest to establish itself in Stockton. I led the opposition to this expanded presence of gambling in our city. Along with others I presented several hundreds of pages of research showing the negative effects expanded gambling was having on the crime rates, finances, businesses and property values in cities that had welcomed and embraced gambling for tax revenues. The night the Council was to vote on the new city ordinance, about 800 people came out to speak against it, while only about 60 came out to speak in favor of it, and many of those were from outside of Stockton. Still the City Council determined to pass the new ordinance almost unanimously. I continued my opposition by organizing a grass-roots movement and petition drive to repeal the new city ordinance. Ultimately, we placed Measure Q on the ballot. Our measure prevailed by 78% to 32% majority of the Stockton voters.

Since that time, I have remained interested in local government and have been waiting for the time when I felt I should run. That time is now. If elected I promise to put that same energy and determination to work again. I am a pragmatist. Many important issues lie ahead for city government. I believe Stockton deserves a City Councilman that can divorce himself from special interests and listen to the people of Stockton. I believe that I am that person and I respectfully ask that you elect me as your next City Councilman to District 1.

Thank you.