What’s your best definition of what the Creek County Treasurer actually does?
The Treasurer is responsible for the collection of taxes owed to the county and also for a full accounting of the monies received and dispersed by the various departments. The Treasurer also holds a tax sale annually to collect delinquent taxes on properties.
Tell me a bit about your personal and work history that you feel qualifies you to be Treasurer.
I have lived in Creek County since 1998. I moved here after graduating HS from Bartlesville, OK. I met my wife Kristy a short time later and we married in 2000. We have three boys, Brendan 16, Jaxson 13, and Dexter 6. I am a member of the Sapulpa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission. I am a Board Member for Eagle Point Christian Academy. I am a Board Member for the Sapulpa USBC. I have been a volunteer Bowling coach for Oklahoma High School Bowling for 7 years. I have a B.S. Degree in Network Administration, I currently own and operate my own small business, Elite Systems, Inc. I am also a partner in another small business Sandlot, LLC where my primary role is managing the finances. The largest part of my work experience has dealt with customer service and I have kept in direct contact with customers from all walks of life. Prior to opening my own business I was with Pendergraph Systems for 12 years, my last 7 years I served as a manager in Tulsa OK, as a part of my management duties I managed technicians for both service and new projects in not only the Tulsa Metro area but also across the country.
What makes you a better candidate than your opponents?
I don’t know that I am any better than anyone else. The one thing that I am is driven to be the best at what I do. I am also driven to serve our community and treat each and every Creek County Citizen with the dignity and respect that they deserve. I know for a fact that there will not be a harder working individual that has ever held this office with a desire to bring complete and total transparency to County spending.
Why did you decide to run for this position in the first place?
I have always had a desire to serve. I was told that there was a need four years ago and I ran for County Assessor unsuccessfully. My intention this year was to run again as a candidate for Assessor. I did first register as a candidate for Assessor and was approached by several people in the community within just a few hours that there was a greater need for change in the Treasurer’s office. I started to talk to people outside of those that contacted me and they confirmed that a change needed to be made. I then changed my candidacy to run for Treasurer.
Is there anything else that you feel Creek County should know about you or your campaign?
The only thing that I would really like to get out to the people of Creek County is that if elected first and foremost I understand that I am their employee. I will do everything within the laws and statutes that govern the office to make sure that I disseminate as much information as I can as it pertains to the finances of the county. My goal is to have an interactive website that allows the citizen easy access to see where each and every dollar is received and spent by any county office. I know as treasurer I don’t have the ability to make change independently on how money is spent by departments but with the transparency on spending this will give the citizens of Creek County the knowledge of what is being spent where, which can allow them to contact their county commissioners to help push change through. I believe that with my background in Information Technology I can make this new and open access possible, and maybe even set a precedent that can be followed in the future.
