news-record.com

Sedalia Town Council candidate

Occupation: Litigation Support

Age: 48

Education: BS – Louisiana State University, JD – Lewis and Clark Law School

Address: 211 Martingale Drive

Web site/email address: www.brookspierce.com/about-technology.html , litigation.technology@gmail.com

Previous elective experience: None

Other relevant experience: Served on the Board of Trustees then as chairman for the Crook County Library System (in Oregon) for about three years. Crook County had a popular but very limited library system. One crowded, decades-old 900-square-foot building. For every book added to the library, one had to be removed. Computer facilities were very limited and there was no public meeting area. I led the effort to build a new library, and I made sure the community was involved at all levels of design from interior to landscape to style of architecture. We built a library with a waterfall, a fireplace, multiple flag poles, a children’s section bigger than the entire old library building and a large multi-media capable meeting room because that is what the community wanted. A successful community project and it came in under budget.

Why have you chosen to run for this office? Community service

Key qualifications you would bring to the job: Broadening the experience base of the council, organizational skills, leadership experience, and a preference for consensus decision making from the Japanese culture of our household tempered by willingness to state my case and back it up from my litigation background.

Family: wife, Chitose; two daughters, Liana and Manika

What distinguishes you most from your opponents? Diversity of experience. I have lived in small towns (Whitsett, Prineville, Oregon), medium towns (Baton Rouge, La.), big cities (Portland, Ore.) and a huge metropolis (Osaka, Japan). My work background includes just about even parts blue collar (assembly line, forklift operator) and white collar (litigator, legal consultant). I would expand the experience base upon which the town council relies to make its decisions thereby making those decisions even more well considered and stronger.

Please list the top three issues in Sedalia and your stances on those issues:
1. The Comprehensive Plan: An important road map on the journey to get where we want Sedalia to go. I have joined the Planning Board to assist in getting that finalized.
2. Preserve historic sites: An important part of Sedalia’s identity. I understand efforts are already under way. I want to add additional momentum to those efforts.
3. OK, this one is personal and I am sure it has been explored, but why don’t I have a Sedalia address? I live in Sedalia, not Gibsonville. Let’s do what we can to maximize our chances of getting all residents of Sedalia a Sedalia address.

If you were to give Sedalia a letter grade on its effectiveness in managing growth, what would it be? B+

What vote or decision of the current council would you overturn? Why do you disagree with the decision? I would not overturn any vote or decision of the current council. They have been doing a good job, for example, the recent change in garbage pickup.