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ABOUT ME
Hi, I'm Dave
Personal Life
First and foremost I'm a husband and a father. I married my beautiful wife on a wintery New Year's Eve in 2012 with a small gathering in our apple orchard. We celebrated our day with a reception for family and friends in the rustic wedding barn on site, which I built for her over the prior few months. I just completed the project at 3pm, and we were married at 4pm (it was amazing)!
We welcomed our first child together in July of 2014, Donald. He shares the name with my maternal Grandfather. However, we felt it was also a clever combination of Dave and Connie, to be named Donnie. Our second son, Joseph, was named after my maternal Grandmother, Josephine. He arrived in the midst of the Covid pandemic in May of 2020. My wife, Connie a Registered Nurse of 14 years, continued to help her patients through the Covid ordeal at Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital, during her entire pregnancy.
We moved from downtown Royal Oak a week after Joey was born to our new home in Troy. We had purchased the home a few years prior from my grandmothers estate, the house my grandparents built in the 70's. I knew the house, and subdivision very well having basically grown up there, and I wanted my boys to have many of the same childhood experiences.
We also have our family cat name Skittles, who we rescued from the tiger lily cat rescue in 2013. Sadly our teacup Pomchi (Pomeranian-chihuahua), Charley had just passed away in January of this year due to complications from cushings disease and a weakened heart from the medication. But she will always be part of this family, so I had to include a photo with her in it.
Professional Experience
I've been a hands on self employed entrepreneur since age 18. That's 27 years of business creation, ownership, building, management and operation in various fields of industry including: restaurants, gaming, internet, graphic design, transportation, publishing, wedding services, agriculture, construction and manufacturing. For me, business has been a nonstop adventure. Around every turn and I find it fulfilling to see my ideas come to life with the right effort. My versatility comes from being a student of knowledge, mixed with ambition and tolerance for risk. My eagerness to learn new things has pushed me to pursue them to the fullest.
Halfway through my business career I decided to try college. Living a few blocks from OCC in Royal Oak, I would walk down and take some classes, then more. A few years later I graduated with honors and three associates degrees. From there, the momentum carried me to transfer into the U of M system where exactly 20 years after earning my high school diploma, I walked across the stage at the Big House and became a Michigan Alum, now a gold lifetime member!
Education and entrepreneurship aside, I've found interest in taking on many passion projects. I am currently serving in my 5th term as President of my subdivision HOA. It's been a pleasure to serving my neighborhood. We (the board), have kept the dues the same and stayed under budget every single year since I began. I know most of my neighbors and engage with them regularly. I never hesitate to get my hands dirty and take up tasks that need to be done.
In 2011, I started a Scholarship fund in the name of a fallen friend and former classmate, to honor him. The annual award continues on and helps a worthy student graduating my alma matter on Put in Bay High School, to pursue college. Then in 2017, when my best friend from childhood, Troy (from Troy), passed away; I wrote, produced and directed a film to raise awareness of the prescription drug & fentanyl crisis. The film was screened all over the world, earning several awards and nominations. More importantly, it helped his parents mourn the tragic loss and reached many people raising awareness of the fentanyl crisis. Last year I wrote and published a children's book for my son Donnie. His five year old cat, which he raised from birth had died suddenly and to help him cope with the sadness, we had the idea to write a book about his cat to raise money for the humane society.
About this Campaign
A Real Person - No Acting for Votes
Throughout this campaign you will get to know and see me as I am, a real person. I may share photos of myself, my family, and my home, all in their natural state with the things we are doing. We are a tight knit family, we work hard and often together. Sometimes this may not even look like a political campaign at all. There will be no writers, publicists, or make up; no putting on a show for the voters then becoming someone else after taking office. I don't like that and I refuse to do that. Maybe that's why we have so many of the problems we have in government is that we tend to elect the best actors and actresses playing politicians without really seeing the true people behind the performance.
Social media has taught us a lot about human nature. A wiser man than I told me you can learn about what a person values by what they choose to post on their online accounts. After hearing that, I looked through and realized most of my posts are of my wife and I with our kids and pets. So it makes sense, those are my priorities and it's for them why I am embarking on this journey.
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