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School Choice is the Solution to Oregon's Failing Public Schools
As seen in Bend Bulletin - 04/30/2023 With the upcoming election, there's much focus on schools and school boards. However, we have a much deeper problem. By nearly every meaningful measure, Oregon's public school system is failing ... and it has been on a downhill slide for a long time. Recent reports, by the Oregon Department of Education, show only 30% of Oregon students are proficient in math and only 43% in English/Language Arts. Public school enrollment is falling. For example, Portland School District reports elementary school enrollment has declined by 17.3% since 2018-19. The state's "solution?"...[keep reading] |
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"Bank Failure" Two Very Scary Words. How to Tell If Your Bank Is Safe.
As seen in Bend Bulletin - 03/30/2023 Few words strike fear into people like news of a bank failure, especially the failure of very prominent banks like Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank. It’s especially scary for small business owners. The cash to pay employees, vendors, landlords and lenders is on deposit in a bank or credit union – frequently a relatively small local financial institution. News of a bank failure is like a punch to an entrepreneurial gut. Fear-filled imagination can run wild. Some people panic…which is the worst response...[keep reading] |
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Building Enterprise Value with Standard Operating Procedures
As seen in Cascade Business News - 03/15/2023 Most of the strategies we employ to help clients build enterprise value involve steps to mitigate a potential buyer’s perception of risk. The lower the perceived risk, the higher the price a buyer is likely to pay. Minimizing risk factors takes deliberate attention, time and specific strategies. One of the most straightforward ways to improve operating efficiencies, increase short term profitability, and simultaneously enhance enterprise value, is to establish and document Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)...[keep reading] |
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Focus: Essential for Success
As seen in Cascade Business News - 03/01/2023 The ability to focus is essential to achieving success in any area of life. For business leaders, maintaining focus is especially important. Focus helps us remain on track and ensures that we use our time effectively, leading to more successful results. Achieving and maintaining focus, however, is not always easy ...[keep reading] |
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Making Money in a Tough Economy
As seen in Cascade Business News - 01/18/2023 Pricing is one of the most important, and perhaps one of trickiest aspects of business design and operation, but it’s critical to profitability. Price too low, and you leave money on the table and reduce the legitimate profit you could have had. Price way too low...and you go out of business. Price too high and you risk customers shopping your competition, you risk losing sales, you risk diminishing customer satisfaction, you risk producing overly demanding customers, and you risk alienating customers forever...[keep reading] |
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A Region Divided - Understanding the HD53 Election
12/29/2022 Thank you to all who supported and voted for me in my campaign for House District 53 State Representative. My team and I executed a comprehensive, positive, policy-focused campaign to the best of our abilities. The final votes have now been tallied...[keep reading] |
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Launching 2023 with a Sense of Direction & Accomplishment
As seen in Cascade Business News - 12/21/2022 If you’ve been in business awhile, you have undoubtedly done goal-setting exercises. Perhaps you are doing one now in preparation for 2023. It’s well-established thatbusiness leaders who establish and write down their goals are more likely to achieve them, and that those who don’t set and write down goals fall short of their potential. This is also ancient wisdom. King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, wrote in the Book of Proverbs, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” The issue is not whether we should set and communicate goals, but perhaps how best to do so ...[keep reading] |
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Quarterbacking Your Business 2023 - Scrambling or Scoring
As seen in Cascade Business News - 12/07/2022 Imagine for a minute that the last three years have been the first three “quarters” of a football game, and you are the quarterback. Now you’re coming up on the fourth quarter (2023). Your first quarter (2020) started great with an eighty-yard kickoff return and a quick surgical pass to the endzone for a touchdown, followed by a picture-perfect field goal ...[keep reading] |
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Playing Until The Final Buzzer
11/17/2022 As the election for HD53 unfolds, I am behind by 412 votes. There are cries from the peanut gallery to “concede.” Concession, quitting and giving up seems to be common in our culture today. It’s a concept that is strange to me...[keep reading] |
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Turning a Service into a Product
As seen in Cascade Business News - 11/16/2022 Many businesses I work with offer a service or a product that they attempt to differentiate through offering a higher level of service. Perhaps you do too. If so, you’re probably being disproportionately impacted by the economic disruption caused by the pandemic year ...[keep reading] |
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Thoughts on Running a Clean Race: Rotary, Jesus and Politics
11/04/2022 In the final days of the campaign for HD53 as innuendos, misinformation, attacks and outright lies against me come, some of my friends ask, “Why don’t you hit back? You’ve got plenty of dirt you could use! Fight back!” I’m not going to do that. I’m not going negative. Here’s why...[keep reading] |
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Highest and Best Use of Central Oregon Land
10/31/2022 Often people point to land use laws and regulations as if they are God-given rights or Constitutional provisions. The truth is, they are all made up. When Central Oregon was settled, there were no property boundaries, zoning laws, environmentally protected zones or urban growth boundaries. These artificially created distinctions evolved to meet the changing needs of a growing population. It’s time for them to change again. We should do so using the long-established concept of “highest and best use"...[keep reading] |
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Innovation vs. The Entrepreneurial Centrifuge
As seen in Cascade Business News - 10/19/2022 As a business owner, it’s easy to get distracted. It’s easy for your employees to get distracted as well. With limited time and resources, how do you prioritize your efforts and keep your team focused on activities that yield the highest return? ...[keep reading] |
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Time to Call BloatBusters
10/28/2022 Throughout the campaign for HD53 State Representative, I’ve mentioned consistently that I’ll bring a business perspective to the role of State Representative. The other day, a constituent asked, “Well Mike, that sounds good, but give me an idea of what a business perspective on politics looks like.” There are many answers to that question, but for this article, let’s talk about government bloat from a business perspective...[keep reading] |
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Oregon’s Plans For Universal Health Insurance Should Be Dead On Arrival
09/29/2022 Given the vast array of challenges with the health care system in the United States, universal health insurance plan alternatives have been discussed at the Federal and State level for years. So far, socialized medicine approaches have proven expensive and problematic, or at least produced mixed results, in countries where they have been implemented. Nonetheless, a legislative task force is recommending that the Oregon legislature move ahead with creating a universal health insurance system in our state. ...[keep reading] |
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Easing the High Cost of Living for Seniors and the Disabled
09/29/2022 What can seniors and those on disabilities do to deal with rising costs straining their limited income? Oregon has a limited program in place, called the Property Tax Deferral System, that can help. But we can and should broaden that program by amending Oregon’s Constitution to place a cap on property tax increases for senior citizens and people with disabilities...[keep reading] |
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Solving the Child Care Crisis for Small Businesses & Working Families
As seen in Cascade Business News - 10/05/2022 The lack of safe and affordable childcare has a major adverse impact on parents and children, and in the workplace. The problem is well-recognized. Our state has even been called a childcare desert. The question is, “How do we fix it?”...[keep reading] |
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Breakthrough Strategies for 2023
As seen in Cascade Business News - 09/21/2022 I’m running for State Representative as a small business advocate. I believe a pro-business legislator should produce events that support and bring together the business community. Thus, I’m producing the first annual Central Oregon Small Business Forum on October 11, 2022. We need business sense in Salem, and the same tool that I use to help business leaders enjoy innovation and breakthrough success is applicable to bringing fresh ideas and strategy to Salem...[keep reading] |
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Climate Alarmism Meets Common Sense
09/16/2022 I believe we should have contingency plans to care for ourselves and our communities based on the inevitability of weather and natural events that can threaten life and property. We should, however, be very cautious about drawing sweeping conclusions about the state of global environmental health from observing short term and regional fluctuations. We should be even more deliberate about mandating radical changes in societal behavior on the basis of such assumptions...[keep reading] |
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Oregon’s Corporate Activities Tax: An Ill-Conceived, Inflationary Failure
As seen in Cascade Business News - 9/07/2022 As seen in Bend Bulletin - 09/14/2022 Time has proven that CAT is unfair, regressive, oppressive to small businesses, and extremely inflationary. Worst of all, CAT failed to improve public education. The Legislature should immediately give Oregonians cost-of-living relief by repealing the CAT tax. Here’s why... [keep reading] |
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Deal Guides – A Merger and Acquisition Intermediary's Role
As seen in Cascade Business News - 8/17/2022 As a State Representative, the job is to advocate for constituents while negotiating with a variety or special interests, all vying to get their way. It’s a lot like putting together deals as a mergers and acquisitions advisor, serving buyers and sellers of small businesses, which has been my career for over 30 years. To get a sense of the skill sets that must be developed to succeed in this career, read the short article below that was published in our local business paper... [keep reading] |
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Excellence in Education
8/15/2022 Remember when the main point of public education was to equip students with skill in reading, writing, math and science in order to prepare them to be capable, resourceful and productive citizens? Remember when actual learning and achieving excellence, instead of just getting by and getting out, was the objective?... [keep reading] |
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Lessons From Central Oregon’s Biggest Meet and Greet Ever
8/11/2022 We just finished five very full days manning our large campaign tent at the Deschutes County Fair and Rodeo. We had non-stop conversations and learned a lot…some of the high points of which I’ll share below. Consequently, I feel more equipped than ever to represent our region. The fair was grassroots politics at its best. It was like a crash course in what really matters to mainstream Central Oregonians... [keep reading] |
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Lombardi and Law Enforcement
8/09/2022 Each year at training camp, legendary Packers coach Vince Lombardi would “begin at the beginning,” by holding up a ball and telling his team, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” The more I explore Oregon government, the more it seems we have drastically diverged from the basic purposes of government. We need to go back to the beginning, take a close look at the “football,” and remind ourselves why government exists... [keep reading] |
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Establish Your Exit Plan On A Firm Foundation
As seen in Cascade Business News - 8/03/2022 My professional life has been devoted to serving small business owners. After decades of consulting and coaching entrepreneurs, I have a deep appreciation for and understanding of business. Consequently, I’ll be a strong champion for small business as a State Representative. Here’s an example of the practical advice I offer to small business owners... [keep reading] |
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Negotiating Lessons From Big Whitewater
As seen in Cascade Business News - 7/20/2022 Tons of books have been written about negotiating. Many of them focus on manipulative tactics or hard-nosed, hip-shooting techniques that you're supposed to use to beat the other guy. Most of this stuff is useless or detrimental. Fortunately, there are better and more effective ways to think about negotiating... [keep reading] |
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The Missing Element in the Roe v. Wade Controversy
7/18/2022 The Supreme Court has spoken. The Roe v. Wade decision has been overturned. Some people are enraged. Some are overjoyed. Some simply see a way to gain leverage in the upcoming November election. But you know what’s missing from all the debates, protests, jeering, cheering and political maneuvering? Love.....[keep reading] |
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Taxpayer alert: Your home mortgage interest deduction is at risk
As seen in the Bend Bulletin - 7/14/2022 Wouldn’t it be great if our government officials had to take the political equivalent of the medical doctor’s Hippocratic oath: “First, do no harm?” If they did, we would not see the growing interest among state political leaders in eliminating the home mortgage interest deduction. This is a tax deduction available to every single homeowner and potential homeowner in the state of Oregon, regardless of demographics. At a time when many Oregonians are just scraping to get by, and with tougher times ahead, it’s foolish of our state leaders to consider eliminating a tax benefit available to all working-class Oregonians....[keep reading] |
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Small Business Resilience – Strategies for Challenging Times
As seen in Cascade Business News - 7/6/2022 These are challenging times for small businesses in Central Oregon. We face inflation, labor shortages, lingering employee COVID fears, employee motivation issues, retention challenges, rapidly escalating wages, skyrocketing cost of goods sold, supply chain shortages and delays, increasing taxes, and never-ending government regulations. Unfortunately, things will likely get worse before they get better....[keep reading] |
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Oregon: An Expensive Place to Live – An Expensive Place to Die
As seen in Cascade Business News - 6/15/2022 This year, individual tax-payers in Oregon, will pay more in income taxes than residents of any other state. That’s according to US News and World Report on January 24, 2022, citing a Finance Buzz analysis of federal and state tax rates for 2021. That’s one reason the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis just announced unprecedented tax revenues. According to its May 18, 2022 report: “Oregon experienced a flood of collections during the 2022 tax filing season, far outstripping projections. Following a record year for payments during the 2021 tax season, final payments this year came in $1.2 billion (70%) larger. Along with large personal income tax collections, corporate and estate tax collections continue to set records as well.” However, it’s not just high tax rates causing the flood of state revenue. It’s inflation. ...[keep reading] |
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Safety, Education, and Pacing: A Rational Approach to Gun Safety Policy Enhancement
06/10/2022 The recent horrific shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo have caused Americans to, once again, focus on national and state gun policies. Oregon has not been immune from mass shootings, and the Oregon legislature should consider gun policy changes that could reduce future violence, while preserving the Constitutional rights of Oregonians. As an Army officer, I swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution…all of it. I never renounced that, and I am strongly pro-2nd Amendment. However, I have a few reasonable gun safety policy suggestions below...[keep reading] |
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It’s Time for True Equity in Oregon Transportation Funding
As seen in Bend Bulletin - 5/24/2022 If you drive in and between Bend, Redmond and Sisters, you know that traffic has never been worse. Central Oregon is growing quickly, and Highway 97 and Highway 20 are important freight corridors for goods moving through the region. They are also becoming increasingly dangerous. Oregon state statistics show our statewide fatalities are four times higher than other developed countries and two times higher than Canada. Locally, in just the last 6 months of 2021, there were over 250 reported crashes on Highway 97...[keep reading] |
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All We Really Need to Know to Get Along in Central Oregon We Learned in Kindergarten
As seen in The Source - 5/19/2022 The past couple years have been tumultuous and divisive in Central Oregon. The causes are many: a pandemic and the policies that came with it, protests and counter-protests, unaffordable housing, and now, high prices for almost everything else. We’ve been through a lot together, and I’ve often reflected on Robert Fulghum’s book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things. That book’s simple, but valuable life lessons are more relevant now than ever. Here’s a handful: ...[keep reading] |
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Small Business Resilience in Challenging Times
As seen in The Nugget - 5/11/2022 As everyone knows, these are challenging times for small businesses in Central Oregon. We face inflation, labor shortages, lingering employee COVID fears, employee motivation issues, retention challenges, rapidly escalating wages, skyrocketing cost of goods sold, supply chain shortages and delays, increasing taxes, and never-ending government regulations. Unfortunately, things will likely get worse before they get better, which may be a long time coming, as we continue to wrestle with the current inflation that will probably be followed by a painful economic “correction.”...[keep reading] |
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Ballot Measure 110: Bad for Business - Bad for Oregon
As seen in Cascade Business News - 5/04/2022 Small business is the backbone of Central Oregon. For small business to survive and thrive, it requires an environment of law and order. Lest there’s any doubt, visit any war-torn country around the world or any crime-ridden inner city across America. For that matter, just visit downtown Portland. Or even parts of Bend and Redmond now. Without the foundation of public safety, businesses are vandalized, burglarized and terrorized. Employees quit. Customers flee. Businesses close...[keep reading] |
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Pro-Life | Pro-Women | Pro-Children
5/09/2022 States across the nation are grappling with the issue of abortion. In the coming months, we can expect much turmoil around the topic of abortion, as, based on the recently leaked draft opinion, it appears likely that the U.S. Supreme Court will reverse Roe v. Wade and make abortion availability a matter of state control, and not something considered to be a U.S. Constitutional right. Some in Oregon, the state with the most permissive abortion laws in the country, will be in an uproar...[keep reading] |
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Oregon Constitution - Article 1 - Bill of Rights
5/09/2022 There is much talk about the Constitution these days and a lot of argument on many topics supposedly based on the Constitution – especially the Bill of Rights. Even though the Oregon Constitution is readily available and for the most part easy to read and understand, it’s rare to find someone who has recently read the Oregon Bill of Rights...[keep reading] |
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A Bold Proposal to Quickly Address the Child Care Shortage
As seen in Bend Bulletin - 4/13/2022 Central Oregon has long suffered from an acute shortage of childcare services. The situation has worsened due to COVID-related regulatory and staffing upheavals. The lack of safe and affordable childcare has a major adverse impact on parents and children, and in the workplace. The problem is well-recognized; the question is, “How do we fix it?”...[keep reading] |
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Inflation Hits Oregon Hard
4/18/2022 If you feel poorer than you did a year ago despite making more money, you’re not alone. Oregonians’ real wages, which are workers’ wages adjusted for increases on prices of the goods and services those wages buy, on average declined by 1.6% between February 2021 and February 2022. That’s in spite of the fact that the state’s average private sector wage increased by $1.82 per hour over the same time span. The average Oregonian is, in real terms, poorer now than a year ago...[keep reading] |
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Plugging the Loophole – Stopping Oregon Executive Branch Overreach
4/4/2022 Over the last two years in Oregon, we’ve experienced (to the great detriment of our state) the overreach of Oregon’s Governor and executive branch, and the unconstitutional abuse of power. Most of the problems raging in our state can arguably be traced to a root cause of the Governor’s mandates and executive orders, which, in total, equate to the worst public policy decisions and public health policy decisions in Oregon history ...[keep reading] |
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Solving the Homeless Crisis with Compassion, Realism and Common-Sense: A Businessman’s Approach
3/22/2022 Recent polls show homelessness, addiction, mental illness, and public safety lead the list of concerns for Oregonians - as they should. The crisis is escalating. If we don’t turn the tide, it will become a social tsunami. Every day, we see homeless camps in neighborhoods ...[keep reading] |
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How to Fund Workforce Housing
3/18/2022 Oregonians are feeling the pinch of the highest inflation rate in 40 years and mind-blowing increases in housing prices. According to US News and World Report, Oregon is the fifth most expensive state to live in the country. Much of the blame for the state’s crippling cost of living belongs to our sky-high housing prices....[keep reading] |
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A Case of Mis-Guided Priorities - The 2022 Oregon Legislative Short Session
3/8/2022 The comment I hear the most as I meet with people in Central Oregon is, “Oregon is great. Oregon government is a disaster.” I got a firsthand look at why people feel this way when I visited Salem a couple weeks ago to observe the Oregon legislature wrapping up its month-long 2022 session. Our legislators serve year-round....[keep reading] |
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Oregon Boots on the Ground In Eastern Europe
2/26/2022 There is a war going on in Eastern Europe and, as mentioned in my previous blog, 120 Oregon National Guard soldiers are deployed to Poland as part of America’s European Deterrence Initiative. Surprisingly, there was little Oregon media coverage of these soldiers in the immediate run-up to war, or since the war started a couple days ago....[keep reading] |
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Cold War – Déjà Vu All Over Again – Russian Invasion In Eastern Europe
2/20/2022 As I sit down to write this on the afternoon of Friday, February 18, news reports indicate Russia is very likely to invade Ukraine. Foreign policy isn’t really part of a State Representative’s job, but International and National events often significantly impact our state, and I do have some relevant experience and thoughts...[keep reading] |
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A Ranger Mindset in Salem
2/12/2022 You have pivotal life experiences that shape the way you make decisions and how you lead. So do I. One of mine was US Army Ranger School. I graduated in 1976, at the end of the Vietnam War and the height of the Cold War. Although the connection between leading Ranger patrols through the swamp...[keep reading] |
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A Simple Way to Gain Clarity and Act Boldly in Uncertain Times
1/30/2022 As we move beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, everywhere you turn, someone is declaring something like: “We’re in uncharted water.” “This is unprecedented.” “The world as we knew it is gone forever.” [keep reading] |
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What Makes America Great?
1/20/2022 What is it about America? Why do we love it so? Why are patriots willing to die for it? Why have people for hundreds of years walked, crawled, swam, sailed and flown to get here, in search of a better life? Why does hardly anyone...[keep reading] |
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Better Questions Produce Better Results
1/2/2022 Here’s the primary question we asked for the last two years: “How do we keep from catching COVID?” The result of asking that question led to lockdowns, mandates, masking, forced injections, unjust terminations, unemployment, labor shortages, supply chain disruption, business failure and suffering...[keep reading] |
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Serving Everyone when Everyone Disagrees with Everyone about Everything
1/2/2022 The job of properly motivated politicians is to serve their constituents. All of them. As I campaign for Oregon State Representative from House District 53, I’ve been pondering the question of how to serve everyone. [keep reading] |
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How TINA Crippled America
12/29/2020 If you’re a leader, you face regular challenges. It goes with the territory. Problems arise. Timeframes are short. Resources seem limited. The stakes are high. The fallout from failure looms large. You feel the urgency to act. You fear what might happen if you don’t act. The people you lead are clamoring for a decision. Ignorant opinions abound. Seems everyone has a vested interest, ulterior motive and a slick... [keep reading] |
