Leadership for Tomorrow - Respect for Yesterday

Working for Nevada

Its been 3 years since i left office and began working for the State of Nevada with the Transportation area. My focus has been in working with the 14 rural counties and 28 tribal governments in the state.. 

Its been an honor to continue to serve the people of the state in a new capacity.  I find myself helping to solve problems, move ideas forward and strengthening internal processes. Coming of the GE culture and knowing and utilizing six sigma principles and methodology has always been a part of my DNA. It seems that in my job I am always looking for ways to refine or improve processes. 

There is no doubt that people complain about how the government moves slow.  There are many reasons for why this happens.  Some reasons involve the regulations that surround certain types of funding, others involve the external factors of securing right of way for projects or working with other agencies that cause years of delay.  The other aspect that i see in state government are the many steps it takes to get projects or ideas moving.  

From a state perspective the biggest impact we could have across all agencies is some type strategy for lean process improvement.  If we can find a way to make it mandatory to streamline all processes especially those that impact the citizens and entities that rely on processes.  If we can take one permitting process and cut it and others by 30-50% we will save not only the citizens time, but also free up time, resources and money.  If GE can take a process to build a locomotive and reduce it from 6 months to 45 days I am sure the state can find a way to streamline our permitting and other processes around the state.

Preparing for Tomorrow Today

Its been over a year since I left public office and I have been honored to continue to serve the citizens of Nevada through working for the State of Nevada. currently I work with all the county and tribal governments around the state and love making those connections and getting things done for the great people that live here.

​Over the last year I was able to make my way back into the world of ministry and music and am honored to lead worship a few Sundays a month.  I am a former pastor and have had my share of ups and downs but its always God that leads me back to where I am supposed to be. 

​Often people ask me what I do in my spare time.  I play music learn songs and have been writing a book about the principles of living the Christian life.  One of my mottos in life is:  We aren’t shaped by our victories, but by our defeats.  I would say that's true in the Christian life as well.  Its those times in life where I failed miserably that led me to defining moments in my life.  its in those moments of utter defeat that I found my way back. 

​Through this website and blog I will be sharing articles that I have written which are all a part of the book that I hope will help people live strong and fearless Christian lives.

Its About The People

Republican - District 2

When I ran for office in 2010 it was all about the citizens of Douglas County. About making good decisions,  privatizing services and making this a business friendly place.  Its about bringing jobs to our county and making sure families can continue to find work and live here.  We have a great community and we know that once people find out about this gem, they want to live here too.

I entered the race with some specific objectives, which were all accomplished in the first year of office.  My key focus in running was economic development and workforce development.  We were in double digit unemployment and young families were leaving our community.  Over the past two years 50+ new businesses have moved to our county and we are not finished yet.  At the same time we have also seen businesses fail and we must do more.  While we have had businesses move here our workforce has still declined. The challenge ahead is to continue to retain businesses

I will not support a tax increase on our citizens at a time when we have a balanced budget and when our citizens voted them down in the past.  We have  enabled a new priority based budgeting system, which will allow us deeper  insight into the 702 programs in the county.  This insight should help us find ways to increase funding for our priority programs.

This past year we broke ground on a new community and senior center, consolidated water rates in the valley, negotiated 3 year contracts with all of our associations, obtained $1.3M in federal funds for the airport, finalized a 5 year agreement with the current airport operator, developed a 5 year fiscal outlook for the first time in county history, balanced a $3M shortfall, enhanced communication with our citizens through a new website, began the new priority based budgeting system, established new methods of communication and we have strengthened our relationships with our towns and GIDs in the process.

2013 has a great foundation and I know in working together we will see even more success.

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2013-14 Board of Commissioners