About

My passion for BECA goes way back...

My roots are from Sandsprings and Worthington, Iowa. My dad wanted to raise a family on a diversified farming operation that maximized crop rotations, livestock grazing, chickens for eggs and butchering—the farm he grew up on. His dream was to minimize inputs and overhead to maximize the land's production. Unfortunately, he never got that opportunity. His father used the proceeds from the farm's sale to move into the town of Worthington. My grandpa observed too many family feuds over family farm parcing out so he decided not to do that. Dad saw the writing on the wall, you have to own the land to do what you want on it. Like me, he mustered up the COURAGE to reinvent himself (we did this multiple times over our lifetimes). He earned an Electronics degree from Devry Institute of Technology and moved to Cedar Rapids to work for Rockwell International. He always had a sales side hustle to support five kids. Eventually sales became his full-time career.

In Cedar Rapids, Dad always grew a family garden and even rented garden plots from the City. Many summers we would pick up a side of beef from the locker in Cascade. My Granpda who was also my Godfather on my Mom's side gifted us this most Christmases. Looking back, we had the healthiest, chemical-free food a person could have, and my mom was an amazing cook too. 

I learned gardening from Dad and am trying to pass it on to my 26 yr old son.

I remember how upset Dad got when he watched BIG ag ruin family farming, especially when only a handful of 25+ cousins took over their family farms. He didn't blame them given the hand they were dealt. This is the outcome from my family who pushed on despite BIG ag:

- A large dariy farmer in Petersburg died of colon cancer in his 50s. One of eight surviving children took over the operation. My aunt remarried but lost her second spouse too

- An Aunt who grew up in Sandspring and later ran a daycare in Cascade died from cognitive decline

- A hog and grain farmer from Cascade died of Parkinsons and a range of cognitive decline. One of his eight children are farming and one of his daughters is a breast cancer survivor

- A hog and grain farmer from Sandsprings may have dementia. One of his five children took over the farm

- An uncle who's spouse grew up just down the road from my grandpa's farm in Sandspring is a breast cancer survivor

- An undcle who took over my grandfather's farm in Sandsprings is worried he may develop cognitive decline or Parkinsons. He sold the farm after big Ag drove him out of cattle and into large hog confinement farming. He loved it for a while but BIG ag took its toll on him too. He found another more rewarding career before retiring.

My hero (Dad) was diagnosed with glioblastoma four years ago, out of the blue. He had surgery in August, chemo then died in November. The year before he hiked and biked with me and my now 26 yr old son almost weekly. Just before he passed, he said to me, "you need to find a career where you are getting people using renewable energy, that has been your passion for too long not to be doing that. Life is too short to shy away from your dreams."

My Godmother (Dad's mom) was a Catholic school teacher in Worthington, IA. Her Franciscan nun sister was an influence too. My birthday and Chirstmas gifts would include books about ecology and real native American history. 

I have undergraduate degrees in Microbiology (Iowa) and in Business (Mt. Mercy University)

I had a 15 yr career in Software Quality Assurance before I got into organizational coaching which eventually lead to launching https://www.agilityscience.llc/

I am currently a member of Practical Farmers of Iowa and the Iowa Faith and Climate Network. With my memberships in these organizations in mind, if you are a decision maker, please review your ordinances then ask these questions:

• Do our ordinances drive agricultural practices that are best for the land and the people who reside near the agricultural land?

• Do our ordinances maximize our fiduciary responsibility to ALL Clinton County residents?

• Do our ordinances impact residents who get their electricity from the main utility for the County in the most positive way possible?

• Spiritually, did we consider ALL residents with open hearts when we passed our ordinances?

I invite you to a one-on-one interview regarding your views when you passed your ordinances and your current views on those ordinances. I want to video these interviews for my News Channels. I feel ALL your voters deserve to hear what you considered when you made your decisions back then compared to what you know now and what you plan to do in the near future.