Since the late 1990’s, I’ve called Wendell home.  The people that I knew here is what brought me to this community.  Wendell is where I raised my daughters, and they too became a part of this community. 

I have been a public servant since I was 18 years old. In my roles as a first responder, a government employee, or a member of an appointed board, I have committed myself to public service.

And by being committed, I was not just holding a seat, but being a leader and not a follower, being both a learner and a teacher, and always acting for my community and not in my own interest. 

Professionally, I currently work for the FirstNet Authority within the US Department of Commerce.  In my role, I engage with public safety entities throughout North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida on the use of the National Public Safety Broadband Network, known as FirstNet.  I also serve as the national lead on engagement and advocacy for the EMS community.  Prior to this, I served with Wake County EMS for 31 years in Wake County in a variety of roles that allowed me to work with municipal governments across Wake County to ensure that the EMS system continued to grow to meet the increased population.

For over 20 years now, I have answered the call as a volunteer with the Wendell Fire Department. Helping the community in their time of greatest need is truly a passion of mine and one that only gets stronger every day.  For the last 10 years, I have been humbled to serve as a Chief Officer on this fine department, not just participating on the team, but serving as the Incident Commander leading the effort in many emergency responses. Strong, effective leadership is the key to success in any situation.

Since 2017, I served as an appointed member of the Wendell Planning Board, the last several years as the Chairperson.  When I started in 2017, none of us really were expecting the challenges coming with the massive influx of development proposals. Nor were we prepared to manage that challenge in the face of a pandemic. Nor were we prepared to continue our progress under three different Planning Directors.  But we persevered and for that, we are a better community.  As the leader of the Planning Board, I had some basic rules that I held myself to.  We would ensure that proposed development was consistent not only with the UDO and other ordinances, but that it complied with adopted growth plans.  With the adoption of the Blueprint 2030 plan, the outline for growth and development came into focus and proposals soon met the intent of that plan.  Another rule I had was that I never wanted a citizen, applicant, or Board Member to leave a meeting having felt they were not given due time to express their opinions on an issue.  Conversations and collaboration are essential to finding consensus, and I saw the Planning Board meetings as the time and place for everyone to voice their desires and achieve a degree of consensus before the Board took action on an item.  Growth is here, but that does not mean plans cannot be altered to address citizen concerns. 

I know as a community where we have been, have been involved in defining where we are today, and have a sound perspective as to where the coming years should take us.  Today, Wendell finds itself at both and exciting and a challenging time.  Challenging times require leaders that can apply their knowledge and experience to transition issues into solutions. I have spent my life doing exactly that and have a strong sense of obligation to Wendell to apply myself as a Town Commissioner.  

I would appreciate your support this November. 

Sponsored by the Committee to Elect Jon Olson