Thank You

I’ve had better evenings. If I need to face bad news, it sure helps to be in company of friends and family. Your support made this campaign possible. To all of you who walked in our parades, who went door-to-door, licked the envelopes and made the phone calls, and all those endless tasks: I will always be grateful for your gifts of time and energy. Thank you.

But it was not just you who sustained me. Campaigning is such a wearing, time-draining activity. How do we dare do anything this big, this long without faith in our God who makes all things possible in Christ Jesus? Without that faith, all else would just be empty noise.

Now is also a time to congratulate Justin Amash. As hard as we worked, he worked just as hard, and finally a little bit better. He competed everywhere. Like us, he believed that every part of the district needs representation. He will bring a boldness to Lansing that will shake things up. I look forward to supporting him, John McCain and the Republican ticket this fall.

Finally, there’s Caledonia. What a humbling, awesome experience it was to stand before you, in this place I grew up. The encouragement of colleagues on the school board, of “go-get-ems” from neighbors at the store — they helped me again to see how blessed I was to come from such a great community. Thank you.

With a heart of gratitude,

Now, Go Vote

As Paul says, I have run the race…

Over the past months, we have talked on doorsteps, in backyards, in community meetings, and here on this blog.

Looking back, I can only say how grateful I am for your support and encouragement. These last days have been so hectic, I couldn’t have managed it without my wife Amy’s understanding and support.

But as I said, we’ve finished our race. Now it’s up to you.

We need more than a change of direction in Lansing, we need a change of spirit. We have some big tasks in front of us: improve our schools, rebuild a tax code; repair our roads. They’re going to challenge us, legislators and citizens alike. I have an unabashed hope — a hope I celebrate each Sunday — that principle can be a bridge and not a barrier to working together. It’s been that way in the landscaping business, and it certainly has guided me on the school board.

I have been honored to meet you. Today, I would be honored to receive your vote.

And tonight? Please come out to the Caledonia High School for our campaign celebration. Our campaign would never have had the impact it did without all our volunteers, friends and supporters. Tuesday night will be a time to celebrate our hard work and, we hope, the fruit of our labor. I hope to see you there.

Walk the Talk

here is one West Michigan Value our campaign has sought to embody, it’s that of fiscal responsibility.

We can’t hold Lansing to fiscal accountability if we don’t exercise it ourselves. We have run this campaign on a shoe string.

We have not paid for big-name, out-of-town consultants. You will not find a line item for hired staff. Instead, we built this campaign with volunteers. What we can do for ourselves, we do. We lick our stamps, we handle our yard signs, we wear out our shoes. And we talk to voters in every part of our district.

Now we’ve raised and invested a respectable amount to accomplish this: $45,000. Other campaigns this year have raised far more: over $60,000 for one, and nearly $80,000 for the other. Why do they need so much more (Glen Steil Jr. in 2002 only raised $52,000)? It’s a matter of experience. There’s nothing like running your business for twenty years, or serving on a school board to teach you that every dollar counts, that if you want to do good, you had better be smart.

Lansing is not about raising money (aka taxes), it’s about what you do with it. If we are not careful with our finances, how can the public expect us to be careful with their finances? Fiscal responsibility is a matter of integrity and it starts at home, with our campaigns.

Last Minute Details: Where Do I Vote?

We’re finally down to the wire in this horse race — and what a campaign it has been. We started planning this run over a year ago, and now we have only 36 hours or so left. Every vote counts. If you know of any one who needs a ride to their polling place, let my campaign know. We will help with transportation.

Note that some polling places, especially in Kentwood have changed this year, you can verify your’s at the Secretary of State’s website:

Or just look below the fold for the list of all the Kentwood polling stations.

The Reason I’m Running

Well, we wrapped up the door to door today. And as I look back I kept hearing one issue on the doorsteps — an issue that hits our family.

“What will happen when our kids graduate? Will they stay in Michigan?”

That touches home. We have college students, and soon enough we’ll be empty nesters.

One of the saddest aspects of Michigan’s economy is how we’ve turned our children into our most valuable export. Instead of staying around they go to where opportunity is better: Texas or Florida or North Carolina. And who can blame them.

And when they leave, all too often they never come back.

That brings me why I’m running. I’m not running because I have an agenda, or because I have this life desire to go Lansing, or because this is somehow a family business. I’m running because I want a State where my children can return after college, a state with real opportunity and good jobs.

I’m running because I think I can make a contribution to our State

I’m running because it’s not too late. We can do something. Now. Together. It’s time to put Michigan’s economy on a better foundation.  To get our economy growing again,  we will take need to take a look at our tax code and what we can do to create fairer taxes. We will need make sure Lansing runs lean.  And we will  need to make sure that children throughout the State are well-educated.

All that will take a practical, even a servant leadership.

Every time I look at the family picture, I realize again this election is personal. The challenges are real. But  there’s good news There still is time — we only have to  take it. This Tuesday, let’s make a Michigan our kids can come home to.

Setting the Record Straight

By now you probably have seen the letter in Friday’s Press.

The situation with Wes VanDenburg was a difficult one for our district, but I will stand by how we handled it.

Wes Vandenburg did not just make a mistake. As the facts came out, it was clear this was a deliberate act. He committed a crime. He admitted his guilt, was tried, convicted and paid his dues to society.

During this time, I cooperated fully with the investigation and heeded the advice of the school’s counsel. In a crisis, you can’t hide from your problem. On the school board we worked to handle the problem in a frank and open manner, balancing the needs to hold Mr. VanDenburg accountable while protecting the school from potential liability by not jumping to conclusions until the investigation was complete.

At a personal level, we recognized we were looking at a potentially career-ending crime. In such circumstances, you need to deal fairly. I will not walk away from my duty to be a man of integrity, that’s a duty I owe to God. And treating other people with integrity and fairness — that’s another of those West Michigan Values I hope to bring to Lansing.

So I will be unapologetic for being a leader in a time of crisis. We needed to treat Mr VanDenburg fairly. We needed to test the accusations before we acted. Some will always want to fly off the handle. That balanced, respectful approach to our problems is exactly the style of leadership we need in Lansing. Next year the Legislature will be pulled by a number of crises. There will be no place for brashness there — it is a time that calls for tested leadership.

Kent Intermediate says “Yes”

Today we received two more endorsements:

• Friends of Kent County Schools is the PAC for the Kent Intermediate School District,

• Michigan Association of School Administrators.

It means a lot to me that both a local and a state-wide group recognize our commitment. You can’t spend seven years on a school board without giving it your heart.

Their endorsement puts a lie to the idea you’ll hear from Democrats, that somehow Conservative Republicans can’t work with education. This Republican certainly does. A first class education should be the standard in our State, and not the exception. To get there will take the the lessons I’ve learned working with our administrators and teachers: how to handle conflict, how to be tough-minded and fair, how to work for the common good.

It takes time — experience — to learn those lessons. And that experience lets us look forward to putting conservative principles to work for our State. After all, the future we are building here in West Michigan — the future our State desperately needs to find — is a future built on strong schools. And we can do that, starting August 5.

The Six Billion Dollar Question

Michigan faces plenty of challenges. A report released last week tells us what one of the biggest ones will be: our roads.

The report from the Citizens Advisory Committee on Transportation Funding estimates that Michigan will need to double the money it spends on our roads and bridges. The total estimated price tag? More than 6 billion dollars annually.

This is a huge hit. It’s double what we are currently spending. And one thing is certain, we can’t take it out of our fuel taxes.

Rich Studley from the Michigan Chamber of Commerce stated it right:

“One of the things we’re learning is that a transportation funding system based on motor fuel taxes is increasingly obsolete. … I don’t think anyone on the task force is under the illusion the problelm is a small one or wil be easily resolved.”

No matter who gets elected in November, they’re going to face this challenge.

Ignore the problem? I don’t think so.

Of course, some might try to ignore the problem or postpone a solution, waiting for better times. Unfortunately, that is not an option. Our business and industry depend on our roads. We need this infrastructure in place if we are to reshape a new Michigan.

Can’t we just shift money?

The needs in our state are double what we’re spending now. Pitting one region against another will not solve the problem. So the question is, what kind of leader can help us meet this challenge together?

With a price tag like this, there will be plenty of disagreement. I have proposed a solution, including looking at truck weights. And let’s face it, others will bring their solutions as well — this is going to take some tough negotiation. And new ideas.

A problem this tough takes a different kind of leadership.

The answer to the 6 billion dollar question depends on the leadership we send to Lansing. So then, do we elect people who will keep on with the same approach we’ve been following with all its partisan deadlock? Do we turn to some ivory-tower brash new idea? Frankly, these are the answers we get when we talk to ourselves.

It sounds so obvious, but the great virtue of business is that you learn how to build practical solutions with people who may be very different. That’s the same lesson I’ve applied these last 7 years on the Caledonia school board. We’ve made it work by working together. I believe this type of practical leadership is the sort that Lansing desperately needs.

“Cooperative and Creative Leadership . . .”

Those are words of The Grand Rapids Press’ endorsement.

And modestly, I think they sum up what we’ve been trying to do for this campaign.

Everyone knows that Lansing is broken.  The question ahead is what we will do about it.  And I should emphasize that word “we.”  It’s going to take both sides to solve our problems.  As I’ve said before, we’re going to have to listen to one another.  Leadership is helping others see our principles in action.  That’s the style of leadership I brought to my business for 24 years, and to the Caledonia school board. It’s principle backed by real-world knowledge and a commitment to results.

And we have a term for that informed, principled, practical leadership: “West Michigan Values.”

And now its a Grand Rapids Press value, too.

So Bad It’s Almost Funny

Ever had a really bad picture? I can remember one they took of me in 2nd grade, goofy grin and all.

Well, it came back. Somehow the only picture The Grand Rapids Press had of me was one with my cowboy hat. And let me tell you, the picture is unfair to cowboy hats.

Take a look