The call has come from some quarters for the Michigan legislature to become a part-time job…not an end in itself. I tend to agree with those who would like to see a legislature that performs its duties and then goes home to their normal work. If we compare the salary of our legislators and the population of Michigan to the other states, our politicians are over-paid and under-worked. With expenses, a legislator draws about $91,000 a year. On top of this is the cost of keeping the capitol building functioning, to include its staff and the normal expenses of a bureaucracy.

The savings of having a part-time legislator are significant in terms of our daily lives and costs, but insignificant when looking at the total Michigan budget. However, going to a part-time legislature for no more reason than cost savings is not rational. What is reasonable is going to a legislature that is less than full-time because of the mind set. Legislators that don’t receive the time or money to be in Lansing full-time allows for a political body that focuses on the task at hand and doesn’t spend time on political pandering or proposing bills that are nonsensical.

I do believe that going to a part-time legislator should also allow a politician to have special rules in place in order to allow a legislator to retain his civilian employment while serving in Lansing. It should be similar to reserve military members who retain certain rights for those times when they are on active duty. Those rights could allow a part-time legislator to retain his position, title, pension and health benefits in his regular employment even though he may be at his “normal” job perhaps only ½ of the time. These rules would permit those who are not independently wealthy, business owners or masters of their normal work week to represent their home district without concern to losing their job that they have to return to some day. Perhaps this would truly allow the citizen-politician to represent those that are truly like him in terms of concerns, beliefs and desires for the state.

As we begin another year, it is normal to look back to the year that has passed and look forward to the year before us. 2009 was an eventful year. Our son Kees graduated from West Point and became a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, our twin granddaughters continued to grow and celebrated their 1st birthdays, and, of course, I decided to run for the 91st district seat and all that entails. It was a year of challenges and wonderful memories. Everyone’s health is good and that is not something I take for granted any longer. Age does make you more appreciative of what God has given you in terms of health, family, faith and friends.
What does the crystal ball say about 2010? God controls that crystal ball and I am determined to be content in whatever He has in store for our family and me. I pray that the granddaughters continue to grow spiritually and physically, that my son assumes his needed place among those serving in the Marine Corps and that Kay and I run a spirited and honest campaign. 2010 promises to be a very busy year…. but it will be approached on a day by day basis and hopefully managed in small, daily bites. I pray everyone has a good year that brings what you need in your life to continue to grow into the person God has intended.

Kay and I spent time Monday at the state Republican headquarters in Lansing. It is a non-descript building located within a quarter mile of the capitol building. We meet with Republican staffers who informed us as to what they will or will not do for us during this campaign season. Much of that is based upon laws that regulate how they can operate as it concerns candidates. The one regulation that is fore-front for us right now is the law prohibiting the Republican committee from financially helping any candidate during the primary. In addition they cannot favor one candidate over another in any way. This was a good message for us to hear since we are the outsiders to the Lansing GOP elite…something we think is good though we don’t want them working against us either.

All-in-all, it was a productive one hour meeting and we went away feeling confident that the “party” would not hinder us during the primary. They also assigned a staffer to us that is available to help us with any questions we might have about campaign finance, voter rolls, demographics etc. While I am still cautious about the elite Lansing GOP party and how it is not always in touch with the citizens it should be helping/representing, I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt as we begin to work with them. I pray that they are faithful to their mission and provide some assistance to our campaign.

Kay and I spent Thanksgiving in Connecticut with our son, daughter, son-in-law, and our two grandchildren. It was a long road trip but well worth the time with family. We now will be together again around Christmas as everyone travels to Ravenna for the holiday….their turn to travel!

The Christmas season also involves political events that we will attend. From Christmas parades, to Christmas gatherings, ringing the bell at the kettle, the season is sure to be busy. I am determined however to balance the demands of the holiday season with the more important necessity of setting aside time for my family. I understand that political seasons come and go, but the family is forever and those relationships must be cultivated. It is possible that this time next year, my son Kees will be in Afghanistan and will not be home for the holidays. I must make the most of the opportunities given to me to make memories with our family.

I pray that your Christmas season is time well spent with family and that relationships are restored or strengthened and that lots of great memories are made….it is all about people and not presents.

I had the opportunity to attend three events that honored the service of our military men and women. These events also honored veterans that have died, whether in time of war or back in the civilian world. The events were the 75th anniversary of the veteran’s causeway in North Muskegon, the remembrance of the 91st Armistice Day (now Veteran’s Day) and the re-dedication of the Blue Star Highway sign commemorating WWII veterans that came from old 31 highway. That dedication also included the christening of the five flag poles with the 5 service flags at the north end of the causeway park.

We were blessed with extraordinary weather for all the events. I think that the best part of the events was the time I took out of my schedule to slow down and remember the service of so few for so many. During these times, I think more of what lays ahead for Kees, my Marine Corps 2LT son, than what I experienced in my military career. Kees is on duty during a time of war and will most likely be put into harm’s way. I certainly worry more for his safety then I ever worried for my own….this must be a parental right, I suppose!

So happy 234th Marines, semper fidelis ….and happy Veteran’s Day to all service members. May God continue to bless this nation.

My wife Kay and I hosted our first volunteer gathering for the campaign last week. We had about 12 people show for the meeting and it was a diverse group that is concerned about where this state and country are heading. Out-of-control spending, a liberal moral leaning and political elite that do not listen to their citizens have the voters in this country looking for change. There is a palpable feeling that the current politicians, both democrats and republicans, put their agendas ahead of those they are representing.

Kay had an excellent agenda prepared and it kept the group on track. We still spent nearly 3 hours going through campaign issues but the effort was needed and the results were gratifying. It certainly helps to know that there are others willing to support you with their time, an asset that is truly more valuable than money. It also tells me that they believe in my campaign and the values I stand for.

The volunteers will be used as the truth tellers, letting us know when we are going the right direction to the times when we are losing our way. We are using them to get an opinion on signs, voter cards, events to attend and how our resources should be spent. They are also taking some of the burden off of Kay’s shoulders as the campaign goes into full throttle after the New Year. They are a blessing and encouragement to Kay and me.

I attended the Muskegon County School Boards Association Annual Fall Dinner Meeting Thursday night. Dinner was great and was followed by a panel discussion about the new Michigan high school educational requirements. It is known as the Michigan Merit Curriculum and requires 4 math credits, 4 English credits, 3 science credits and 2 credits in a foreign language….these being the most significant requirements of the curriculum. They are the new graduation requirements for the class of 2011.

I don’t have any issues with the new requirements and believe that any college-bound student should at a minimum have these new requisites for their high school curriculum. The problem occurs with those students for whom this curriculum is beyond their capabilities or for those who don’t want to make the effort to be successful in these classes. Schools will undoubtedly find ways to opt these students out of the new curriculum requirements through alternative education and personal educational plans…or some new novel program.

Currently, less then 30% of Michigan residents have a Bachelor’s degree. While it may be noble and right to want that percentage to increase, in reality Michigan will most likely never be over 50% in citizens with an undergraduate degree. What do we do with the 50% that are not educated in the liberal arts tradition? We do some great work with technical schools at the high school level and excellent higher education trades schools such as Ferris State.

I do believe we need to at some time identify those students who should attend a liberal arts college or be tracked into a “trades” occupation. This should occur in the 8th grade time frame and the students would then have the high school curriculum that matches their desires, abilities and career path. We would also have to create an opt-out for any student/parents that didn’t want the career path given/chosen for them. This would allow students to begin on their career path earlier in their lives, allow for less money to be spent going down the wrong road, and help students achieve their potential.

This past Saturday, my wife Kay and I completed our first door-to-door campaign walk. It was with a bit of trepidation that we began the task and Kay selected an older neighborhood in Norton Shores in which to begin. We brought along the palm cards to hand out and also stickers that said, “Sorry I missed you…Ken”, for the homes where a resident did not answer the door.

We walked on the same side of the street and alternated houses as we went up and down the streets. In my heart, I didn’t want to bother people, especially on a sunny and quiet Saturday. I found however, that the vast majority of residents were cordial and that they didn’t seem bothered by my visit. Kay and I had a couple of longer conversations, but most discussions were no longer than the time it took to introduce ourselves and hand them a card.

About ½ of the residents were not home and we had only one person who didn’t want us near his home. So, the experience was better than I feared and we got to about 100 homes in 3 hours. I still prefer events/occasions where citizens expect the candidate to speak with them instead of the unsolicited home visits but the door-to-door visits are important and must continue. Face-to-face interactions are one of the best ways for a candidate to make a favorable impact upon a potential voter. So it appears that the neighborhood walks will be continuing for the foreseeable future.

We sent out my press release yesterday formally announcing my candidacy to the 91st District. We are ahead of the pack in terms of our announcement, establishing our website and producing literature, but we are also a grassroots effort that will require hands-on activity every day to move this campaign forward. I attended Representative Peter Hoekstra’s town hall meeting in Holland on Monday and was amazed that nearly 1,000 people attended the event. Clearly, people (including myself) are agitated about more than just a proposed health care bill. This is a clear discontent with the direction that the national government is heading in terms of fiscal policy. Citizens are truly concerned about the national debt and where it is taking this country. The bill for all of this stimulus spending is coming due soon. As a state, that bill is due. Stimulus money is giving us a false security but that will soon disappear as we deal with the 2011 fiscal year budget. The 2010 fiscal budget is still far from being resolved and that is with stimulus money included. Paying for education and state mandates will be an ugly process. On the positive side, perhaps as a state we will take an honest look at what we can or cannot afford. Fiscal responsibility must be the watchword for this state as we determine our identity as a state in the next decade.

We are expecting to go live with our web site today. I finished my first video and it is sure to reinforce the fact that this is a grassroots effort. It is an “in-house” video that does the job by relaying a summary of my background and emphasizing my belief in leadership through being a listener, by being someone who is understanding and someone who leads by example….in short, a servant leader. The myriad of tasks is daunting and I haven’t even started the active campaigning portion of this endurance race. I would be lost without the help of my son-in-law and my wife who patiently teach me how a campaign needs to be run. I have also received a lot of advice from seasoned politicians and spend much time deciding what advice to follow and what I need to ignore. I struggle with the need to run a professional campaign with the over-riding necessity to be a servant leader in all my decisions and to never forget that I am a citizen first and a politician second. People in the community are becoming aware of my candidacy and this “soft” opening of my campaign may be good. It allows me to slowly ramp up and not get totally overwhelmed by all the details of the campaign….having to produce blogs, e-mails, literature, videos, making appearances, requesting donations and the list goes on. As in most large endeavors, I need to attack the needs of each day and not get overwhelmed by considering the obligations of the entire campaign…..semper fidelis.