In my backyard...

Thursday night, January 14, 2010 was my first meeting with the Arenac County Democratic Party as a candidate. It was a decent turnout, with about 17 people in attendance, including 96th District State Rep. Jeff Mayes (D – Bay City). Mr. Mayes is also a candidate for Michigan State Senate, and gave a very interesting presentation to my fellow Arenac County folks and me.
Witnessing the problems that have been thrust upon Arenac County while working at the Independent – unfunded mandates from the state, the closing of Standish Max, underfunded school districts, to name a few – is what influenced me to run for State Rep., and I hope to continue to develop a relationship with not only the members of the county's Democratic Party, but residents of the county in general. For so many of them have brought a smile to my face over the past two years, and I have learned so much from so many of them.
During the meeting I briefly introduced myself and talked about some of the issues specific to Arenac County, issues which I look forward to addressing head-on if I am indeed elected as State Representative. I also received plenty of advice from several people with a plethora of experience in Arenac County government. The fine men and women in attendance included Ronald Branda and Mike Snyder, county commissioners; Virginia Zygiel, former commissioner, all-around sweetheart and one of the people who I always enjoyed seeing walk into the newspaper office; JoEllyn Pedota, county party chair, someone who has already helped me a ton; AuGres VFW member William Beier; Register of Deeds, Rose Smith; and 29-year Standish Township Board member Sharon Belchak. Others, including spouses of some of the aforementioned individuals, came out to the meeting as well.
I will definitely take the advice given to me to heart and look forward to using it throughout the year as I continue my campaign. The next stop for me is Redding Township in Clare County, where I will visit Wednesday, January 20.
Also, this weekend, I should have a campaign facebook page finished. I will continually update the facebook page with photos and campaign event reminders. I will be sure to update the blog informing readers of the "unveiling" of the site.