Why John?

My Values

I believe South Carolina’s representatives should reflect the values of our community.

As a Christian, I know we are called to help the poor, feed the hungry, cure the sick, house the homeless, and protect the weak.

We are taught to respect others and treat them as we would want to be treated (if we were in their shoes).

We are called to give people a hand up and NOT to self-righteously condemn them for the situation in which they find themselves.

We need to focus on helping the middle class and poor to improve their quality of life, and NOT on benefiting the wealthy and protecting special interests.

As an American, I believe true patriotism consists of working to protect and defend our Constitution, our personal freedoms, and our democratic institutions. I believe we practice our patriotism by serving our communities and finding ways to unite one another as a nation, and not by sowing seeds of fear, division, distrust, and violence that break us apart and undermine our democracy.

As a scientist and engineer, I value truth. Public policy needs to be based on shared values and supported by data, and not based on opinion or what is politically expedient.

We need to make sure that state programs are effective in achieving their goals, and if they are not, we need to find and implement changes that will make them effective.

As a teacher, I believe it is critically important for us to have a public education system that successfully prepares our children to find and pursue their dreams and to be responsible and knowledgeable members of our society.

Finally, I know the importance of respectfully listening to all affected parties to ensure a solution meets everyone’s needs.

We need to be responsive to people’s concerns and develop policies that address them.

My Background and Skills

I earned a doctorate in biophysics, spent 23 years as a systems engineer that included five years as a senior technical and policy advisor to a high-level Pentagon official, and then four years working for a defense-related think tank. During this time, I also served as an adjunct professor of systems engineering in a graduate program, and then completed my career as the director of the University of Maryland’s systems engineering program.

As a scientist and engineer, I am a problem solver that knows how to do research, evaluate models and statistics, prioritize challenges, find potential solutions, evaluate the effectiveness of proposed solutions and programs, perform life cycle cost analysis, and perform root cause analyses. As a systems engineer, I am proficient in a wide variety of technical disciplines and have learned the importance of listening to and working with diverse groups of people to find the best solutions to complex problems. I am keenly aware of the need to make decisions based on objective data, not opinion.

Over the course of my career, I have learned and taught graduate courses on decision analysis, modeling and simulation, testing, and in many of the techniques used in artificial intelligence (AI). I also understand the potential benefits, shortfalls, and environmental impacts of AI.

Most recently, I led a group of Wofford undergraduates in a National Science Foundation (NSF) Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCOR) research project that developed a model for the Upstate electrical energy grid. In the course of this research, I have become familiar with the associated current and potential future technologies, how they work, and some of their benefits and shortcomings.

My training in biophysics provides the background required to understand a broad range of health and environmental issues and to evaluate associated proposed policies.

Unlike my opponent, I have the background and skills to independently identify and prioritize the state’s most pressing problems and to find and evaluate potential solutions to find those that will best meet the needs and interests of the people of South Carolina. As such, I think for myself and will not blindly follow the direction of party bosses.

My Legislative Priorities

Families:

We need to have policies that improve the lives of families. We need to identify the principal challenges faced by families and develop policies that effectively address these.

We need to address the root causes of poverty in this state. We need to fully fund programs that effectively address these, and establish programs that effectively address the highest priority causes not covered by current programs. Reducing poverty will have an added benefit of increasing student performance in public schools and reducing crime.

The challenges facing single mothers is of particular importance to me. We need to have policies that provide an effective hand up.

The problem of the availability and affordability of child care is one that affects both the middle class and the poor. We need to implement policies that effectively address this problem. Fully funding the SC ABC Quality Child Care Scholarship program would be a good start.

We need to find and implement cost-effective policies that address affordability.

We need to address the root causes of poor performance in our public schools and we need to have policies that permit us to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of subsidies to private schools.

Public Safety

We need to fully fund road improvement in this state, and it needs to focus on the roads with the highest number of accidents and deaths.

We need to address the root causes of crime in this state. Simply punishing criminals does not reduce crime.

Provide the police and other emergency responders the training and resources required to better meet the needs of their communities.

We need to prioritize and address environmental issues that affect the heath of South Carolinians.

Small Business

Small business is the cornerstone of our economy, especially here in Simpsonville, Mauldin, and Fountain Inn. We need to ensure that public policy provides a level playing field for small businesses and that it does not unfairly support special interests.

Young Adults and Seniors

We need to find and implement effective policies to help young adults find satisfying jobs.

We also need to find and implement effective policies to reduce costs associated with senior living.

Energy

We need to more fairly distribute energy costs between residential, commercial, and industrial users.

We need to identify the most effective ways to increase the capacity and cost-effectiveness of our electrical energy grid, and our measures of effectiveness need to include the associated social and environmental impacts. This will require an understanding of both existing and new energy-related technologies.

Science-based policy and accountability

We need to base public policy on shared values, supported by data and not on political opinion. I will research solutions myself and seek out and listen to the advice of experts in engineering and the physical, biological, and social sciences regarding the impact of proposed legislation on people, businesses, the environment, and our State’s economy.

We need to have periodic data-based reviews of how effectively current state programs are achieving their goals and whether the goals are still relevant. If the goals are still relevant, but the existing programs are falling short of those goals, we need to look for changes in funding or policy that will make them more effective.

Integrity

We need state representatives who work for all South Carolinians. Unlike many in the State House, I have no interest in making policies and connections that advance the interests of a law firm, a construction company, or other special interest.

Over 60% of my opponent’s funding comes from special interest groups.