Andy will fight to keep government R.E.A.L. - Responsible - Effective - Accountable - Limited
Andy will fight to keep government R.E.A.L. - Responsible - Effective - Accountable - Limited
A lifelong Washingtonian, Andy helped pay his way through college working on fishing boats and with an ROTC scholarship. Andy graduated from CWU with a degree in Law and Justice. He's spent over 30 years in law enforcement beginning as an NPS Ranger at Lake Roosevelt before making a change to stay in Washington where he's been in Klickitat County for 30 years.
Andy served 14 years in the National Guard as an officer to include assignment as an Armor Company Commander. Andy finished his military time in the USCG reserves and spent significant time on our northern border in Minnesota including patrols with our Border Patrol agents where he developed a great appreciation for them and their mission. Border security is national security.
He's a Christian, was raised Lutheran, and is a devoted husband, father, son, and brother. He has a deep understanding of the impacts of mental illness from experiences in his family. During their efforts to become parents, Andy and his wife Kris, became foster parents. The experience gave him a deeper understanding of the needs of some of our state's most vulnerable. Andy and Kris were eventually blessed with their own son who came into the world at about 28 weeks. Things were scary but many weeks in the NICU with their tiny son in an incubator strengthened Andy's faith and brought into sharp focus just how fragile and precious life is.
Andy has built strong relationships with Tribal staff from the Yakama Nation as well as frequently working with tribal members exercising their traditional fishing and gathering treaty rights. Fishing salmon his whole life, Andy is aware of the importance and value they have culturally and economically and he'll pursue ways to increase the health of our rivers' runs.
Andy has developed relationships at all levels of government and NGOs. Andy understands government, where it is effective and when it struggles. In addition to his core duties, Andy serves as a Field Training Officer, Marine Enforcement Officer, and has been a public pesticide applicator and wildland fire fighter; he understands the many threats to eastern Washington farms and forests.
Andy has the experience and leadership to represent the 14th district and Washington . Andy's been told, "you can't push a rope uphill" and he's ready to pull the rope uphill to make things better for all Washingtonians.
Andy is dedicated to service. If elected, Andy will donate 10% of the legislative salary each month to charities that serve our citizens: Tunnels to Towers, March of Dimes, Yakama Indian Health Services, and the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic
We call our federal and state legislators "law makers" because that's exactly what they're supposed to do. The people of Washington need legislators that can understand what the laws will do and won't do in order to mitigate unintended consequences when legislation is being considered.
When police reform was sought in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, Washington needed legislators that could see through the emotion of the time, to predict the fallout when police weren't allowed to chase criminals and droves of offenders were released from jails and prisons in the name of COVID safety. Then they exacerbated the problem forcing people to take insufficiently tested experimental vaccines and allowed thousands of critical workers to be fired for standing up for their rights. This included scores of our state troopers that continue to leave us critically short, unable to recruit sufficient numbers and struggling to retain the ones we have. Andy studied undergraduate law, has spent decades reading, interpreting and enforcing the law. In 2016, Andy helped draft HB 2765 that became law.
Famed psychologist Abraham Maslow put forth his theory in the model of a pyramid to illustrate his hierarchy of needs that drive us as human beings. The base of the pyramid upon which everything else depends is our basic physical needs such as food, water, air, shelter and health. Once we have our basic physical needs, we have to keep them met. To do that, we need safety and security which is the second step in his model. If we are not safe and secure in our homes, employment, and lives we will constantly fall back to struggle to maintain the base of the pyramid, trying to keep others from harming us and stealing from us in order preserve our possessions, food, and shelter. Without maintaining safety/security, we struggle to reach the higher human needs of love, relationships, and family that give our lives meaning beyond mere existing. While many of us can secure those things and have fantastic lives, too many aren't. Our society is a sum of its parts. If too many in our society are struggling just to live and protect their basic needs then the community as a whole cannot meet its higher needs. If society can't protect its people it can't focus on better schools, better roads, better community relationships.
While investigating a stolen vehicle near Wapato a few years ago, Andy met an immigrant farmer who had come to the country legally, worked on a farm, learned the crop and the business. He saved his money and bought his own farm. He was married, had kids, and was raising his family to run the farm. This farmer had one of the family members truck stolen from their home on the farm. Andy expressed that he was sorry the farmer had been the victim of such an impactful property crime and was stunned when the farmer shrugged it off with "you get used to it". Only knowing a few people that had been a victim of such a crime, Andy asked what he meant. The farmer indicated that it was the 4th vehicle stolen from his family and farm in the past couple years. Andy thought once in a lifetime should be rare for most but to hear twice a year for multiple years was astonishing. People should not be forced to just get used to crime. Crime shouldn't pay and law abiding people deserve better.