FRANK BLAIR

 

  I was born and raised in Walla Walla, Wa.  My childhood was pretty good until my father had a brain injury and ended up in the hospital for 2 years. At 10 years old,, I took on multiple paper routes and various other work as we found ourselves very poor. We had now lost our family income, and were dependent on state aid. My father could not work anymore and required round the clock observation.  My mother worked when she could at seasonal jobs, but needless to say,  we were very poor and barely getting by.

 

In my mid teens .. I was fortunate enough to get work and mentoring which changed my life view of possible success.  We as a family took on a subdued mentality more of survival, rather than success and prosperity.  Over my life I have had some great co-workers, bosses, and outside family members that allowed me to see there is hope, and with hard work, you can achieve a good life.  This I believe is the largest asset I bring to this candidacy. The life experience from both sides of the economic spectrum,  what it took for me to move forward, and the desire to mentor young kids that are in the same situation I found myself, and sometimes worse.

 

Twelve years ago, we were handed our biggest challenge, and blessing in our lives. Our son was born with autism, and that sent our household for a loop. We had to learn new and inventive ways to care for a child. I watched the local school systems scramble in the Tri-City area to deal with this new epidemic... And we had to navigate problems we had not ever conceived, such as our health insurance not covering any therapy or procedures for our son due to the fact there is no known cause of Autism.  This was a new problem I had never knew of ,, and when I reached out to others... discovered this problem was very burdensome to thousands of local families. Some of these issues were resolved with the ACA, although I dont believe it to be a perfect solution, and would explore new ideas to improve the ACA issue.

 

I now am a small business owner and understand the challenges of small business, as well as the freedoms.  My business exists mostly from repeat ,loyal customers because we treat our customers with respect and honesty.  I am amazed by the high praise we receive from our clients and we truly appreciate them.

 

I have a wife and three daughters as well as our son,  My wife is an R.N. and has worked at a local hospital for many years.  She too is involved in helping with nurse -to -patient ratio staffing issues and working conditions.  We are both at a point in our lives where we realized we have something to offer to help our community, and we decided to get involved.

 

Here are a few ideas I have to help the disrict:

 

JOBS:  

         1. Promote local economy

         2. Develop alternative business models, to advance new business start-ups

         3. Promote solar retention grids and wind to continue our vast energy production

         4. Endorse the state bank Proposal in the state senate

         5. Promote agicultural growth

         6. Push for the completion of the highway 12 expansion

 

SCHOOLS: 

         1. I strongly support ( I1351 ) lower class sizes to provide all students the opportunity for a quality education

         2. Help rural schools through public and private donation improve their aid to afflicted children: handicapped, and autism spectrum learning

         3. Promote mentorship in the local business community to take on and mentor troubled youth to develop the future of our community

         4. Support  the healthier food mandate in public schools

HEALTH CARE:

         1. Continue to work with the WSNA and other groups to promote safe medical practices such as nurse to patient ratios

         2. Support a local effort for oversight in medical billing practices.

         3. Work with communities to expand cooperative medical clinics, and alternative options

 

GOVERNMENT: 

         1. Prioritize spending of tax dollars

         2. Promote proper funding for our law enforcement and prison employees

         3. Promote a balanced budget and prioritize cuts to spending where applicable

         4. Fair Treatment under the law as it pertains to all citizens guaranteed by the state and federal constitutions.

 

These are a few of the ideas I have been working on both independently, and with various groups. Our community is best when it works for everyone. Like a tribe, community members all have a role in its success or failure.

 

 

       Remember 

Write in : Frank Blair     16th dist. legislative rep. pos 2

 

 

 

  Thanks for looking.

 

Frank Blair