Candidate for
Board Member; Modesto City Schools; Full Term

As the son of a Marine Corp officer I had the district experience of attending five elementary schools as we relocated around the country. I still vividly remember riding shoulder to shoulder with my brothers in the back of the family Ford pickup, rickety camper shell above, bouncing trailer in tow as we traveled the roads of this great country with the sounds of rattling camper windows and the mild smell of exhaust.

My parents are the children of gritty dust bowl migrants who came to the Golden State shortly after the great depression. They taught me family, faith, community and country. Do what is right and work hard and chances are everything else will follow.

In 1982 my parents settled in Sacramento where I graduated high school and then completed my studies at California State University Sacramento where I majored in Government and Economics. In college I was blessed to meet my wonderful wife and upon graduation we moved back to Modesto to start our family and careers. I had entered college to become a teacher but with a new wife and a baby on the way the demands of life required an immediate means to provide.

A mixture of youthful bliss and unbridled ambition led me at 28 to open my own company McBay Tile and Stone. With our small savings and two well-worn pickup trucks I began operation with a philosophy of providing a top notch product with an unfaltering commitment to finishing on schedule.

Over the next fourteen years the company grew from a small proprietorship to one of the largest sub-contracting firms in the Central Valley. I am proud to say that we employed full time hundreds of men and women as we successfully completed work throughout Northern California. Today, I take great pride as I see the homes, schools, hospitals, churches and public buildings we had the privilege of working on.

Outside of work I spent my time as a basketball and baseball coach, youth program director, Stanislaus County Literacy board member, Rotarian and Campaign Manager for political campaigns.

In 2012 I was the Campaign Manager for Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen and her successful re-election to the California State Assembly. I was honored to accept a position as her District Representative for California's Twelfth Assembly District.

Businessman, board member or political representative; regardless which of these positions in which I was working, the same truth was evident to me. The single largest influence on many of our communities children, what they learn and how they perceive the world, is the modern public school system. Regardless, if you agree with this new role the schools have assumed, the fact remains that for many young people today the local school is the only place that they are receiving positive input.

I want to be involved in that process. I want to have a voice in the decisions that are being made that affect our children. I want to know that the best possible choices are being made with the ultimate goal being the academic excellence of our students. The core of our community, our Country for that matter, is how and what we teach our kids. That is why I am running for Modesto City School Board.