Jim's Platform
A Platform We Can All Stand On
Building a platform we can all stand on means coming up with common sense ideas everyone can agree with
- As a small business owner and builder, I understand what people are going through every day. Our paychecks are smaller and our bills are higher. Those who are elected don't seem to see this. They continue to push legislation that makes life harder. They don't seem to understand everything they do has consequences. For every government action - there is a reaction - and it's almost always us Coloradans that suffer.
- It seems we are becoming a divided nation. And I believe we all want basically the same things. We want our children to be educated and our neighborhoods to be peaceful. We want a clean and safe environment, so that our children and grandchildren can live a better life. We would like to have more of our hard earned money so that we can enjoy life instead of trying to survive from week to week or day to day. Many of us are struggling to put food on the table and the thought of a vacation is just that, a dream.
- I believe that if we give a voice to the voiceless, if we build prosperity in our community, and if we cut the B.S. in the State Capital - then we will have a platform we can all stand on.
Give a Voice to the Voiceless
Let's Support Small Business
- A lot of us are afraid of big box stores pushing out our mom-and-pop shops, our local start-ups, and people trying to be entrepreneurs. As a small business owner I always paid wages that were fair for the work performed. I didn't need the government to tell me what was fair. I hired anyone who was willing to put forth an honest effort. This included the Homeless. I also hired seniors who needed a supplement to their income. Single parents who also needed a bit more to help support their family. I was willing to help anyone who was willing to help themselves.
- I ran a Texas Hold-em free poker league service in Colorado Springs. And during that time I had people from all walks of life participating. A few of the venue owners stressed their concerns about the homeless winning the gift certificates. Being a problem solver, I hired them. If they are smart enough to win they should be smart enough to deal. It was a great idea and it gave them confidence to go farther. Of those who I hired, one is a union plumber and is married One is a lead on a landscape crew and others have gotten off the streets and are making lives for themselves. I didn't realize the impact I was making at the time, but it feels great today to know I helped make a difference.
- As a state legislator, I would advocate for self-funding programs, that use no taxpayer dollars, to work with small business owners to help match people who want to work with jobs out there. This is how we give a voice to the voiceless.
Let's Create the conditions for young Coloradans to be successful
- As a Little League coach and a Boy Scout leader I always tried to remember they were just children. When a player made a bad play, I would ask if they knew what happened. Most of the time they did. I never scolded a player. I asked the parents to always be supportive and never get down on the child for a bad game. I wanted them to enjoy the game, not see it as another chore. I wanted my players to be excited about coming back. The same thing is in Scouts. so many times I would see children who didn't enjoy activities because the adults took too much control. My belief is that if done right, the older boys taught the younger boys. I felt that adults were there to assist in making things easier. Adults mentored boys to become Leaders of men and to prepare them for the life ahead by letting them make mistakes that they could learn from. Nothing teaches a boy life lessons in the art of preparation better than a poorly executed campout menu.
- When I get to Denver next January, I will remember the lessons I have learned and the people I have been around when making decisions. We as legislators need to remember it's not about us, it's about the people we represent! Just like the boys I've Mentored, I want all of Colorado to enjoy life. We need to make things business friendly so more individuals can enjoy the American dream. When it comes to our children, we need to teach life skills like taxes, budgeting, and reading contracts. We can put up a large education budget, but it seems it never goes to what is needed. I am a product of Vocational education. We don't need large vocational wings in every school, let's build them in convenient locations so all students can benefit in the surrounding areas. At night these could help adults learn new skills and give them space to design things. When we mentor our students correctly and afford them the space for creativity, they will build a great life for themselves and for Colorado. That is how we give them a voice.
Prosperity in the Community
We need laws that work for Colorado
- Unfortunately, overregulation has made life difficult for Coloradans. Many of us have seen this first hand. This has been getting worse in Colorado for a long time now. In 2006, I was able to acquire my CDL drivers license because of a truck driving class I took. I was fortunate to be able to help a friend with his small business by filling in as a back-up trucker for my friend. In doing so, I got a different perspective on what he deals with as a business owner and the regulations that make his life harder. All the rules and regulations, good or bad, make everyone's life harder by driving up the costs for one, driving up the costs for all.
- Many regulations put forth today are initiated by insurance companies. And though they look good on the surface, they can make the tasks more dangerous, harder, and more time consuming. Wearing gloves as a carpenter is not a good idea. I know many friends who have lost fingers because the glove was grabbed by a blade. Wearing hard hats is a good idea in some places, but actually has caused injury in others. We need to start writing laws that benefit people, not third parties looking for new ways to bring in more money by gaming the system. Too many State Reps are career politicians that are afraid to do some good, honest work. I have lived a life that meant getting in the sand pit to get food on the table. Please support me if you think we need more legislators with that kind of experience.
- When I subcontracted for other small businesses I did the projects as if I was doing the job for myself. I had to engineer many of the projects to match the home I was building and correct errors in the drawings. I worked with the customers to create the end result to satisfy their wants and needs. One such small business I helped rebuild their showroom, creating a showpiece where customers could get the sense they were in their own outdoor living space. A humbling experience to be considered a skilled enough carpenter to do the work. Today, that business is thriving.
- I truly enjoy building something. I like seeing things grow, especially our businesses. We have great communities in HD18, let's thrive together with laws that make sense.
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Tell me your story
- But I am only one man. When elected, I will be one of your representatives in Denver. But I am only one man. I want to give you a voice. I need to know what's going on. If you are a small business owner, and you got hit with a regulation that makes no sense, let me know about it. I want to hear your story and what I can do for you.
- The only way to help our community thrive is by making it easier for small businesses. They are the backbone of America. When our small businesses thrive, so do the citizens. Manitou Springs, the Broadmore, and Woodland Park have so much character, let's not lose that to the big box stores.
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Don't “Denver” District 18
Stop bad laws from impacting our communities
- I've observed legislative sessions at the Capitol Building in Denver. And I've seen good things on both sides of the aisle. Unfortunately, I've seen a lot of bad.When elected, I will point out the hypocrisy (both Republican and Democrat), and hold those who bring forth bad policy accountable.
- We don't need more laws, we need to let the people of Colorado be free to create. Great things happen when we are free to do what works for our own communities. Denver says you need to fix the curbs in your neighborhoods, but I bet you think it would be nice to fix the potholes. I'll bet you want your child to know life skills that will help them as adults. We need common sense at the individual level and at the level that affects every Coloradan.
- The gap project was meant to help ease the congestion by adding a third lane. The only thing I see that happened was the wealthy people who can afford the toll lane benefit, and the original two lanes are still just as congested. What was intended as something to benefit all of Colorado was made worse by legislators in Denver. See, most of the State Representatives live North of Castle Rock and South of Boulder between the mountains and Denver International. What that means is they focus all their money on roadways in the Denver Metro. I am not even sure if they know what is south of Castle Rock besides New Mexico. We are forgotten because no one is advocating to spend tax dollars in the rest of the state - it's time to lend my voice to the voiceless. I don't want to raise taxes, I want to see some of the money we Coloradans already give to the state, make its way past E470, back to our community.
We need to work together
- Everyone has their ideas for what's right. Working on a jobsite one person might think their way is the best way. And though it might work, it might not work for the client. But sometimes, if you can lay differences aside, you can combine the two ideas you come up with and get the best results. This happens almost every day, to most builders, on a job. It is the same in politics. I believe most people have what they consider the “best idea.” And that might be acting in a way that only supports what's in it for them.
- We need to work together to come up with fixes for the problems affecting Colorado. For example: changing the curriculum in Colorado's schools. Why is This a highly volatile issue? We all agree we want our kids to succeed. So I would try to coral both sides of the aisle so they come into agreement. We need to teach life skills like doing taxes, budgeting, and taking out loans. Vocational schools are expensive, but necessary - it forever changed my life when I learned how to use my hands to make something. We don't need these programs at every High school - we just need to give students access to the training they need to succeed. By coming together and agreeing on good locations where everyone can benefit, we will build a Colorado we can be proud of. These are common sense ideas everyone can agree on for the better good of our state.
- We need to come together on policies that benefit everyone and stop the division in our country. Most of us all agree things need to change, we just need to find common ground to accomplish shared goals, instead of fighting each other.