About Joel

How I came to Oregon...

I grew up in Northern Minnesota, the youngest son of three children in a Scandinavian family of modest means, strong on the teaching of principles of honesty, integrity and patriotism. These core ideals were reinforced during my earliest employment, when I was fortunate enough to spend my high school years working for an extraordinary Minnesota legislator by the name of John McKee. John, who always insisted that I call him by his first name, consistently approached both life and politics with honesty, integrity and humility. One of John's pages was Wendell Anderson, who served in the Minnesota legislature and later married John's daughter Mary. Wendell subsequently served first in the Minnesota legislature, and then as governor, finally ending his political career as a U.S. Senator from Minnesota.

Governor Anderson was featured on the cover of Time Magazine in August 1973, and the accompanying article included the excerpted quotation below, which reflects to me the nature of my experience growing up in Minnesota.

“Politics is almost unnaturally clean—no patronage, virtually no corruption. The citizens are well educated; the high school dropout rate, 7.6%, is the nation's lowest. Minnesotans are remarkably civil; their crime rate is the third lowest in the nation (after Iowa and Maine). By a combination of political and cultural tradition, geography and sheer luck, Minnesota nurtures an extraordinarily successful society.”

These early experiences likely combined to influence my decision to volunteer for the draft in 1968, at the height of Vietnam War. While it took me several years to recover from my bumpy experience in the U.S. Army, I am a passionate proponent of compulsory national service in some form, whether military or social service, to both educate our youth and invest them in our nation.

Had I not successfully completed my military service, I am not sure that I would have continued my education past high school. Fortunately, I did earn a bachelors degree by utilizing the GI Bill and working part-time, and then went on to complete a master’s degree through a teaching assistantship and what I had remaining of my GI Bill. Once finished with the school work, my adventurous wife Judy and I concluded that Oregon was the best place on the planet for us to pursue our dreams, and in 1976 we hitched up our Chevrolet wagon and ventured westward to roost in this marvelous state.

Personal Stats
Born: November 19, 1949
Education: Bemidji State University- BA in Geography/Geology (1974); Western Illinois University- MA in Geography (1980); Portland State University- Teaching certification (1984)
Family: Married over 30 years to wife Judy; sons AF 2nd LT Michael (24), and college sr. Andy (22)

Work Experience
Port of Portland
Middle school science teacher in
Washington County
Saturday Academy/OGI consultant
Bonneville Power Administration
Small business owner/operator

Elected/Volunteer Work
Scappoose Planning Committee Chair; Scappoose Park & Recreation District Commissioner; County Planning Advisory Committee; Youth coaching & education

Interests
Hiking, fishing, flying, cycling, kayaking,
jogging (as long
as my knees will
let me), GIS, and building our
family home from scratch!