Family Members: My wife of 40+ years, Pat, daughter, Annette and son-in-law, Tyler Schwartz, grandchildren Hope and Zachary of Kearney. Annette graduated from Hastings HS in 1990. I graduated from high school in Franklin, Pat from Bloomington; we both went to UNK in Kearney, as did Annette and Tyler.

Occupation: Retired after teaching High School Mathematics for 40 years (the last 37 years at Adams Central HS). We have owned residential rental property in Hastings since 1974, and I am currently teaching an Algebra class at Central Community College. I hope to be able to spend more time on my classic/antique cars and motorcycles as I planned to when I retired.

Wanted to be an elected official: I was born in Hastings while my father was a mechanic at the Naval Ammunition Depot. I returned to Hastings in 1968, and have lived here since. Hastings has given my family and me a safe, comfortable place to live with a high quality of life. I wanted to return to Hastings and its residents something for what I received. I hope that I can help build consensus on the city council and help make decisions that will bring progress to our city.

Items: I would most like to improve the situation between the BNSF railroad and residents of Hastings. The "whistles" of the trains are all too audible many blocks away from the tracks where they are of no use, and at times when there is no traffic approaching the crossing. A few blocks away from the tracks, the sound of the train itself is inaudible, but the whistle is still very irritating. I would like to pursue the idea of a "Quiet Zone" for the City of Hastings where stationary horns would be placed at the crossings, directed at approaching traffic with limited range, and trains would not be allowed to blow their all-directional high-volume whistles. I think residents within 8 - 9 blocks either side of the tracks would be able to sleep much better and the safety at the crossings would not be compromised.

Visions: I would like to see an increased, but controlled growth in both the population and the economy of our city. Other cities have shown us the problems with "growth at any cost", but if Hastings does not grow, and others do, we will fall far behind, and not support our current viable businesses and industries. I am very optimistic about the outlook of Hastings at this point. There are many things happening now, and many others "in the works" that I feel will really project Hastings forward. To me, the construction of the major power plant addition over the next few years with power generated being sold to other cities/power systems will be a great thing for Hastings Utilities and the city of Hastings.