Leadership

Leadership requires those elected to remember the people impacted by their decisions. Integrity and accountability form critical foundations where people learn to trust and believe. Taking the initiative on behalf of people is essential in taking care of our own-fellow South Dakotans. I am self-motivated, results oriented and I like the challenge of making things happen for people. As a leader in the Army I took care of my troops, his/her job, health, family, safety and future. I led by example.

Accountability

There are both material and personal accountabilites. I have worked in positions of responsibility involving large sums of money, federal contracts, and inventoried property. My record sheets balanced in all cases, as not only was I on the line for accuracy, I was operating on the taxpayers dollars. Equally important to me was to be accountable to people who worked for me, I worked for and those I worked with. Answering to senior officers and government officials was a normal part of all my positions while in the Army. Answering to the people of District 12 and South Dakota will be no different. I would eagerly take on the responsibility of being a public servant and remember who I worked for.

Integrity

By definition integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching and doing what is right regardless of the repercussions. I learned what integrity was before I understood its importance from my parents; always do right by people, be ready to stand for what is right even though you may be standing alone. Throughout my working career I've been assigned to positions where I had to step up to the plate whether a finance officer, contracting officer, or I had soldiers under my responsibility. Complying with laws and regulations establishes standards by which people can trust and predict certain outcomes. Any number of times I have made the call to address serious wrong or potentially damaging situations simply because it was the right thing to do. I made calls that some might consider career ending. The result was my supervisors, my co-workers and my employees knew they could count on me to be honest with them and support them in good times and bad. Working in the SD state Legislature requires the utmost integrity dealing with millions of tax dollars, remembering faces of South Dakotans from all walks of life, and ensuring people are the primary purpose for tax paid programs.