Monthly Archive for February, 2010

I’ve always known INNATELY why I’m running for the Texas House of Representatives, but to articulate this feeling to others has been difficult. Through diligent daily introspection, I’ve finally been able to articulate my mission in running for public office.

Something is missing in government today.

I think back on my childhood and my memories as a young adult and those individuals who literally “carved out” my goals and dreams.
There was Lyndon Johnson, Bobby Kennedy, Mother Teresa and Gandhi–Mr. Gandhi is my ultimate hero. Later, I deeply admired Ann Richards, Barbara Jordan and lastly, Benazir Bhutto who gave her life in her attempt to stabilize her beloved Pakistan.
All of these heroes made political deals…probably better than anyone, but they were different from other “deal makers” of today in that they were guided by a “northstar mentality”.

Before we had GPS and before compasses—all travelers used the north star as their guide on their journeys—because the north star was fixed, never moved–you could always count on the north star. 

All of my heroes were guided by nobility, honor and service. They possessed a strong sense of ethics and a genuine interest in people.
That’s what missing in government today—the lack of a northern star.

Confucius, who lived five hundred years before Christ, understood the significance of the northstar and it’s metaphor to leadership.
“He who exercises government by means of his virtue may be compared to the north polar star, which keeps its place
and all the stars turn towards it.”
In William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar—Caesar remarks: “I am as constant as the northern star whose true fixed and resting quality there is no fellow in the firmament.”

Why is it that I believe we have no leaders who are guided by the metaphor of the northstar?
There’s plenty of evidence that proves that.

If we examine statistics about Texas and its ratings, both high and low, we see our true priorities.

Our low numbers say this:
We’re 49/50 in dropouts.
We’re 44/50 in educational funding.
We’re 48/50 in health and human services.
We have one of the highest rates of citizens without health insurance (and of those so called “lazy uninsured Texans” 76% hold down one or more jobs).

Texas has some high numbers though:
Texas is one of the worst polluters in the U.S.
Texas is #1 in the nation for outsourcing state functions to private companies.
Texas has the highest homeowner’s insurance rates in the nation.

The things that really matter, making sure our children have opportunities, taking care of our seniors, and being good stewards of the environment–we’re at the bottom.
The things that are frivolous and depict greediness–we are at the top.
Is this the kind of state that we want to be?

We keep hearing the political catch phrase “traditional values” over and over and over. But when I look at Texas’ statistics–are these the values that we call traditional? I don’t think it is.
We keep other down educationally. We abandon the helpless—children, elderly, and animals.
There is a difference between having traditional values and having a northern star.
Having a northern star is not having traditional values; it’s having your words match your actions.
What does this say about our state? It says we have no northstar.

I began to reflect on my candidate mission—what’s MY northern star? If I want to lead, what’s my northern star?
Education is the foundation for everything.
When I look back on my life–what if I hadn’t experienced the richness of education? I would have missed the words of Baudelier, the many inspirational books that held those poignantly beautiful universal truths, the poetry of Tagore and Rumi, the plays of O’Neill and Tennessee Wiliams, the archetypal heroes of Homer’s Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid, who received “the call” to heroism, left the comforts of their home on a pilgrimage that transformed them and upon their return to home these quintessential heroes were enabled to do great things for the people of their homeland.

Inspiration was the thing I acquired from education. Education has been my muse for life.

These are the things I want for this generation and for future generations.
Without these things, we will create a whole generation of “underclass”–individuals who don’t understand the underlying universal truths of Shakespeare or even the amusing truths of Jack Keroac.
Without these things, how we can even understand ourselves?? And our behavior? or define our dreams?
Without education, a whole generation will be devoid of opportunity and most importantly, inspiration.

We all need to be inspired again. One of my favorite words in the English language is the word “inspiration”.
I studied Latin for eight years and it’s assisted me in understanding language, the true semantics of words and their original meanings and the evolution of words as we understand them today—and that’s why I love the word “inspiration”. That word…”inspiration” comes from Latin—”inspirare”…which literally means to put breath into something. When you breathe into something it means you give LIFE . So when we inspire –we’re giving life to something–whether it’s a people or an idea.

We have to have that noble northstar that heroes of the past used as their guide.
Good leaders get things done for people. Great leaders inspire people to do things for themselves and others.
Great leaders have a personal northern star—it’s unwavering, it’s constant and it shows us the way.

I hope that I’ll be your leader with the noble northern star.

The activity that touches me in a special way in my campaign is talking to people.

You have to understand that I am a “people junkie”. I love listening to people’s stories. I discovered this when I was a teacher. One particular year when I was a teacher at O.L. Slaton I was given a one period assignment as the ISS (In-School-Suspension) monitor. For some this would be “horror” assignment, but I loved it. It was my favorite time of the day. I would talk to students about why they had been “sentenced” to ISS, talk with them about their grades and how they could improve. That’s what started my journey as a counselor and a true people lover.

During my campaign I have been priviliged to listen to people’s stories–their needs, their trials, and why they need a representative who REALLY wants to help.

Today was one of those days that made me truly realize why I’m running for this office. While phoning, I talked to a woman with a handicapped child who keeps the woman “housebound” in order to care for her. We talked about IDEA and special education and her needs as a parent of a special needs child. I talked to a man who has terminal cancer and an extremely optimistic attitude.

At the Pancake Festival, I met Miss Caprock 2010, Patrea Ferrell, a beautiful poised young lady who is a student at SPC. I was also priviliged to meet her little sister who is in elementary school and especially Patrea’s mother–a beautiful and warm woman. We talked about college tuition and how much more it might increase by the time Patrea’s little sister would attend college. Mrs. Ferrell was worried about how she would manage that.

I talked to many of the custodians who were working at the Civic Center, diligently bussing tables, bagging trash, and cleaning up. One man was working for a temporary help business because he had been laid off two years ago. Another was eager to go home to his children and yet another, was leaving to help take care of her elderly mother.

These are the people I want to represent as the District 84 Representative. They’re working hard to make ends meet, they have challenges in their life and they need someone who cares and who will speak for them.

I can’t wait to help these people. They are why I’m running.

The older we get, the more time seems to get away from us.

If you remember when you were young, time went so slowly. Summers were forever, getting to Christmas was such an unbearably long time and it seemed as if you would never grow up. We always wanted to be older than we were and sometimes we even pretended to be older.

Now, time and our lives seem to whiz by at nano-speed. We look up dreading Mondays and then wonder where the week went when Friday rolls around. We reach our birthday and wonder what we did with that year of our life that just passed and is behind us.

Are you just going to let those years roll by and then live with a litany of regrets? Are you going to be sitting in a rocking chair thinking about all the things you could have done and wonder why you didn’t?

Think about this: Who are the people that you’ve admired in your life? It might be an ordinary person that you know–someone in your neighborhood or an acquaintance at church. It might be someone famous like Joan of Arc, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, or Nelson Mandala–those historical giants that have left a great legacy with their work and efforts. Each and every one of those individuals was just like you AT SOME POINT. They were young and had big dreams of something, a passion, that they wanted to accomplish. They each could have allowed jobs, family, health, aging parents, setbacks, or money problems to derail the creation and development of their vision. But, they didn’t.

We all have issues that are gauntlets that slow us down, but we shouldn’t let those hurdles short-circuit our hopes and dreams. And they won’t, but only if we erect a spirit of determination without ourselves.

What makes them different from you? They had the DETERMINATION to accomplish something that was so important and so overriding to all their personal life issues that they persisted and as a result, were successful.
Determination is the most powerful word in the English language if we understand its real meaning: de (turn away from), termination(the end)

Each one of us is the same as these famous people. We all have the potential to be great. We all have the qualities deep within us to accomplish our most cherished dreams.

All it takes is the GAS of determination to propel us to that treasured destination.
Turn away from the end today, be determined!

I’ve said so many times during my campaign that I’m not a politician—and I sincerely mean that!

I try to keep this quote from Reed Markham in my thoughts each day: “A good leader inspires other men and women with confidence. A great leader inspires them with confidence in themselves.”

The power in being a great leader is in “tossing the ball to others” and motivating them to “run with it”. A great leader inspires others. There is tremendous power in ideas and encouragement.

This is the kind of public servant I want to be—not a politician.

So many believe that the power of a representative is in creating legislation and appropriating funds and while that is a part of a legislator’s job, a good public servant should do more than that. A public servant should use the influence of his/her office to solve problems for people on an individual basis. A public servant should utilize the legislative network to connect others to resources that will enhance their community and enrich lives.

A public servant should diligently strive to create unity and cooperation between the political parties and different groups. I contemplate this each morning and the steps I can take each day to make this a reality. We should speak despairingly of no one, but instead concentrate on understanding his/her point of view and relating how it might be incorporated into our own.

I am so tired of listening to the anger and hatred of cable television and talk radio. These negative emotions do nothing but waste our energy that should be directed toward positive efforts. Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Tea Baggers, Independents—we all have great ideas! How much more could be accomplished if we worked together in a spirit of cooperation and unity!

The key to establishing a community of diverse groups working in harmony is to NOT be anonymous. It is so easy to fear those you don’t know. And where there is fear, hate is not far behind. That’s why the haters continue to hate. If you get to know someone, as an individual, it is impossible to fear and hate them.

In a rally with a group of young people, a beautiful young lady remarked to me, “You give me hope that things can be better.” I was so inspired by this statement and I like to think about it each day. It’s the fuel that makes me want to work even harder to pass along a positive message to each person that I meet in this campaign.

January 4th, when I announced my campaign before old friends, new friends and the media, I said I was excited and my excitement grows exponentially each day. I hope that the citizens of West Texas catch my excitement and pass it on to their friends, relatives and coworkers.

I sincerely wish to represent the wonderful, warm and welcoming people of West Texas as their public servant in Austin. My daily strivings are to make that wish a reality.