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TO: The Members of the Orono City Council W4ff 5 1891 <br />Dear Council Members: <br />There are many reasons why I am keenly interested in joining the <br />City of Orono Planning Commission. Whether it is taxes, schools. <br />Highway 12, Lakeshore/UfCD, sewer plant annexation or development, <br />I find these issues matter a lot to me emd my family. Often, I <br />catch myself reacting critically to the information I read in the <br />local papers yet wishing to know more of the facts and <br />complexities of each evolving decision. <br />Mot surprisingly, such knowledge comes only through active <br />participation—one must become involved in local government to <br />earn the right to be a constructive and critical voice of the <br />process. Many of the decisions that will impact Orono's future <br />quality of life will be made in the next several years. Thus, I <br />wish to embrace civic responsibility and become involved. While I <br />cannot offer any prior public office experience to the Orono City <br />Council, what I will do is bring compassion and pragmatic concern <br />for the issues that confront the lifestyle we all share. I will <br />learn the details and forthrightly contribute towards finding the <br />proper solutions. <br />My goal is to be a consensus builder, net a maverick. :i >; y . f ctm <br />aforementioned issues hit close to our .*)ome here in the Orchard <br />Highlands on Lyman Avenue. By participating in and understanding <br />the decision making process, I will necessarily be more accepting <br />of the choices made, without any doubt, I hope to err on the side <br />of fiscal prudence and gradual, well-reasoned development, with a <br />strong bias towards protecting the rural traditions of this <br />community. <br />On the personal side, my biography is a quick read. I grew up on <br />Shavers Lake in Deephaven and at age thirteen, moved with my <br />family into a home on Wayzata Bay. I graduated from Blake School <br />in 1976, and earned a degree in Ancient History from Brown <br />University in 1981. <br />Shortly thereafter, I began my professional career with Cargill. <br />Having spent my undergraduate years in New England, I would spend <br />the next six years merchandising grain in Iowa, Ohio and Missouri. <br />My addresses ranged from rural towns to larger cities. The <br />exposures to different communities were great experiences, yet too <br />short to put down roots in a meaningful way.