I am newly elected to the District's Board of Trustees and will be sworn in on December 7th.

I am married and have two sons, 26 and 23 and a recently "adopted" daughter by the name of Shannon who is now a member of our extended family.  My wife and I live in Camarillo with my older son's donated enormous male Akita, Tremor, who is only two genes away from being a wolf but protects us very well, indeed. Our menagerie includes about two dozen tortoises, 8 fish,  a cat, a mess of free range frogs, innumerable preying mantises protecting the gardens, a mating pair of Hooded Orioles who visit each morning, an unidentified dumpy little brown bird and hummingbirds galore feeding at our stations and finally larvae butterflies for a butterfly "aviary" - what would you call it? I try to maintain a year around vegetable garden, specializing in tomatoes in the summer. I am a moderate sports fan, enjoying college basketball and volleyball and major league baseball in that order.

My family is very musical. Both boys are musicians. Garrett, the younger boy, is a percussionist and plays in several bands. Bart  graduated in May 2002 from the  New School University, Mannes College of Music Program of Contemporary Music and Jazz composition and arrangement in New York city.  Shannon lives in Santa Barbara and is a senior premed major at  UCSB.  My wife teaches 8th graders (the hormonally disadvantaged) at Las Colinas Middle School in Camarillo and is a modern day hero for that act of valor. She is also Past President of her Teacher's Association so we have two labor leaders in the family.

In the summer of 2002 we purchased an investment condominium in Ogden Valley, Utah, the site of the 2002 winter Olympics.  We rent it ten months of the year and use it for two.

I have been active in our faculty union since its inception 30 years ago. It is AFT Local 1828, California Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. I am the Ventura County Chapter Chair of the Tri-Counties Central Labor Council Executive Board and chosen in 1999 as Co-Labor Leader of the Year in the Tri-Counties. It is my firm belief that it is the union that stands between the students and the administration/board of trustees to ensure that quality education is offered in the district's three colleges. Our working conditions are the students' learning conditions.  

I am an elected member of the Ventura County Democratic Central Committee from the 3rd Supervisorial District and Treasurer of the  Committee.  I was also elected as a delegate to the August 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles.

In 2000 the Moorpark faculty honored me by awarding me the Distinguished Faculty Chair.  I am greatly honored and appreciative.