Personal Life and History
I have one sister, and we largely grew up in Toccoa GA, a small city in northeast Georgia a bit smaller than Bristol VA. I could walk to Walmart (and Radio Shack!), and there was what was termed a “mall”, which was a lot like Bristol’s State Street from Piedmont Ave to Moore St – but closed to traffic and largely covered, but the nearest indoor mall was about 45 minutes away. (Side note: The mall has since been reopened to traffic, Walmart has moved to the edge of town.)
We were educated with almost every recognized method at one time or another – public, private, Christian, home – and at home, some was using video programs with detailed guidance, and some was basically “here’s the textbook – I have an answer key when you’re ready to take a test”. I could give my parents’ justifications – trying for better educational quality, to avoid harmful influences, etc – but ultimately it was their decision, not mine – and it was important enough to them that they sacrificed a lot to make it possible. My father is a professional in secondary education and my mother tried to help us the best she could, but ultimately my sister and I learned a lot from textbooks, supplemented by encyclopedias and a few topical video courses – and regular visits to both public and college libraries. Even while we home-educated, we received a decent amount of socialization, as we had a large number of friends who also home educated, and we attended a good church with a number of those friends. We arguably had better socialization during these times, since the times while attending formal schools, we did not live near our school friends.
Because at the end of high school we did not use an organization that offered a recognized diploma, I got a GED – and I didn’t have any difficulty doing so. I followed that up with several technology jobs, a period of time with a nonprofit emergency response organization, two technical degrees (Networking Specialist and Microcomputer Specialist) and an Associates of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from North Georgia Technical College. But while I had a number of jobs in my field (the short contracts through Atlanta agencies were fun and paid well, but they were not consistent), I found that finding a solid career-level job was difficult without a four-year degree.
So I looked into colleges. Even with what few scholarships that were available to an older student, UGA was very expensive. So I followed the recommendation of some adult friends, and I went to Florida – to Pensacola Christian College, a school known for its strict standards and tough educational programs, and low tuition heavily supported by its publishing house, A Beka Book. I worked my way through college – benefited by educational, corporate, and manufacturing environments in one job – with some assistance from my parents near the end so I could finish earlier.
I graduated in 2005 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Technology and a minor in Management. And while I was in Florida, my parents had moved to Bristol TN. I moved into their basement for a couple of months, and I found a job at Universal Fiber Systems, where I work again after some time away, purchased a house in the Bellehaven area, where I still live, and started attending a local church.
A few years ago, I was introduced by a mutual friend to a lady by the name of Amanda Gardner. We started doing things together, and she eventually convinced me that we should marry. We got married last July (2021), and we’ve worked at integrating our stuff – no mean feat for two people still single in their <>’s.
Work History (briefly)
My first technology job was in 1993 in a small computer shop, but that was not my first technology experience. My first computer (and my first programming experience) was a TI-99/4A my parents gave me at Christmas in 1983, which was followed by a variety of computers my father either purchased or got from his college employers (and I liked playing in the college computer labs in the era of DOS and Macintosh System 6). Between my Technical and Associate degrees, I worked several tech and non-tech jobs, some to pay for school and some which I thought had long-term potential. I thought I had a real opportunity at a career in 2000, where I was technical support and backup network admin for a company of about 50 – but they hit problems on the loss of their biggest customer (MCI – remember them?) and they were later bought by a competitor. That’s when I went for my Bachelor.
As I said above, I started at Universal Fiber Systems after graduation with my Bachelor Degree. And I stayed there, doing anything and everything desktop support related (later adding programming, server management, and database admin roles) for a little over 3 years, until the 2008 recession, when Universal (and many others) had to have massive layoffs. After that, I worked several contract jobs (King Pharm/Pfizer, Southwest Virginia Mental Health Institution, General Dynamic, among others), and then went to Networking and Computer Connection (NACC) for a couple of years. (Side note: NACC has since sold the tech side to Saratoga, renaming the cabling business to FiberConNext.)
While I was at NACC, my old boss at Universal called me up and asked if I would come back. I did. And I’ve been back since 2014, though my role this time only fills in for desktop support, primarily working with programming, server management, network infrastructure, and technology systems improvement. While I’m still on-call, as is often the case in IT jobs, I have a lot more flexibility than I used to. Most of what I do can be done remotely. And my boss has expressed his full support in my run for City Council.
So how did I get involved with the City Council?
In the late 80’s, my parents got involved to a slight degree with a primary campaign for governor. He lost.
In the early 90’s, my parents got heavily involved with a campaign for US Congress. In this campaign, my sister and I helped a lot – we worked tables at events, wrote addresses on envelopes, stuffed information into envelopes, applied stamps, sorted by ZIP code, acted in support roles at phone parties, etc. Alas, he lost the general election, only to have the other guy change parties a few years later.
Over the next few years, they worked some for campaigns for Senate and Lt Governor, and my sister went on staff for the candidate. I helped my parents some and went to events. He lost too.
After this, my parents became disillusioned with the process, and I pursued my own work and education.
In the 2008 Presidential election, I was not happy with any of my options on either side, and I was not happy with the results. I heard someone say that local politics matter more anyway, so I started going to the City Council meetings occasionally, and I started attending the meetings of both local political committees. (One objected to my presence, saying they thought I was a spy for the other party – of which I was also not a member. To keep the peace, I stopped attending their business meetings – but I kept going to breakfast meetings for the discussions. I have since joined the one that let me keep coming to their meetings, and later became Secretary – since somebody needed to.)
Many of the discussions I heard in local political meetings and in breakfast meetings were about problems created or ignored at the state level. The 2010 election season came around, and I tried to get involved. And the candidates I liked lost, apparently due to intense pressure (and money) from party insiders who preferred to keep the status quo.
So I decided to follow up on the advice that “all politics is local”. Since January 2011, I have attended the meetings of the City Council regularly. I started speaking up – even if I was largely ignored. For the past several years, I have attended every meeting for which I did not have a hard schedule conflict. I even attend the closed “executive session” meetings, even though I have to wait outside – they need to know that people are watching.
In 2015, I decided to get more involved – and I applied for and was appointed to the Planning Commission. There, I have worked, among other things, to complete the first Comprehensive Plan in decades, and to simplify the complex zoning ordinance. I served as Chairman for the 2016-2017 year, and in 2018 I was re-appointed to the Commission for a second term. And I was unanimously re-elected as Chairman for the 2019-2020 year.
In July 2016, I worked with several other residents to rework the appendix to the trash ordinance to avoid either raising collection rates or cutting services.
In Fall 2016, Jim Steele resigned from the Council for health reasons. I applied for and interviewed for the appointment, but ultimately was not selected.
In Spring 2018, I ran for election to City Council, and ultimately fell short by 16 votes.
In Fall 2018, Doug Fleenor resigned from the Council amid accusations of wrongdoing. I applied for and interviewed for the appointment, but ultimately was not selected.
In Summer 2021, Kevin Mumpower resigned from the Council because of his work schedule. I applied for and interviewed for the appointment, but I was again not selected.
And now, I am running again for City Council. The election will be November 8, 2022.