Dennis's Life History

   Adopt-A-Horse is a micro enterprise nonprofit.  The organization learned early that it would not survive long hoping for a steady stream of donations.  We survived by offering tours with our horses.

  We eventually started receiving donations equaling 25% of our annual revenue.  These donations came to us to benefit the care and maintenance of the horses.  Our horses raised all the money to remain open over the last 19 years.

  We helped victims of child sex crimes regularly.  The types of service offered varied with the needs of every survivor.  We still offer advocacy services with horses.

  Private Wardrobers offered custom made men's garments for twenty years.  We went to customers homes and offices to service clients interested in high quality suits, shirts, outer wear, and sleep wear.

  We sold shoes, ties, and hats to properly accessorize our finely tailored garments.   My clothing business was closed to focus on my nonprofit Foundation.

  This business operated in Morfelden, Germany.  We offered a variety of products to the US Military in Germany.  The military was our sole customer.

  The products sold were office equipment, wired intercom systems, and sound systems.  We installed large systems in office buildings and night clubs on US Military bases throughout southern Germany.

  We represented large firms like LM Ericsson, Panasonic, Dictaphone, TOA Sound System, and a variety of smaller firms.  We contracted electrical firms to install our products. 

  This company was very successful at serving the US Military Forces in Germany.  Our company worked exclusively with local German firms.  I was forced to become conversationally fluent in the German language.  I provided translation capability between my subcontractors and the US Military personnel supervising the work. 

  I worked as a traveling adjunct professor for a number of colleges.  I traveled to a number of education centers teaching a wide variety of courses to US Military personnel and their families. 

  US Colleges contracted teachers to offer higher education courses to soldiers stationed in Germany.  I was cleared to teach a total of forty courses to my students.

  I worked at the City of LaVerne starting a new department for the city.  Central Stores was tasked with purchasing, building maintenance, vehicle maintenance including police vehicles, and the sale of all outdated equipment.

  We organized men on federal employment opportunity grants to rehabilitate an old factory site into a city yard complex.  The work was done with unskilled laborers that went to school part time to develop the skills necessary for the more skilled work. The City yard was our base of operation for the entire time.  

 Southeast Animal Control was a special district operation started to provide shelter and animal control operations to four contiguous cities.   The cities took over a humane society operation and converted it to a public agency.  I was hired as the first operations supervisor to manage the 24/ 7 dispatch operation and the shelter operation with a population of 350 animals.

  The operation had 25 employees split between dispatching service calls to field animal control officers and caring for the animals brought into the shelter.  We were open 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

  We provided our law enforcement officers with the communications between our citizens, police partners, and veterinary services.  This law enforcement position is located in Los Angeles County, California.

  Temple City hired me for my first professional job in city management.  I was a staff administrator in the City Manager's office.  This job gave me the opportunity to see all aspects of a contract City operation.

  My main task as an administrator was to set up a local Los Angeles County Sheriff Volunteer Patrol Unit.  I was going to use my Criminal Justice degree to set up a law enforcement effort by the community.

  After months of research and hard work to make the process legal and operational, the City Manager told me he was wasting my time.  One of the City Council members was a lawyer determined to be able to carry a law enforcement badge legally.  Eight months of my life was wasted on a vanity project that was designed to fail.

  I began looking for a new job right away.  I  learned a valuable lesson in public administration.   Managers wasted your time since they were not paying for your time out of their personal funds.   

  A graduate student at California State University at Los Angeles was required to work as an intern to receive a Masters Degree.  After an exhaustive effort, I received an internship that was a paying position.  I took the bus one hour each way to my new job.

  The City of Walnut was just formed.  As a new City, we had four administrators and a maintenance crew to perform all the functions of a real City.  It was the perfect opportunity to learn all the various obligations every City must incorporate in their routine operations.  It was complex and eye opening to see the formation of a new contract City.

  The goal of the City was simple.  The select group of Council people wanted to take their taxes paid to Los Angeles County and redirect them to their small wealthy community.  The Council was concerned with their taxes being lowered and directed towards their self serving needs.

  My first job as an intern allowed my to understand the true nature of local government.  Wealthy residents wanted quick access to meeting their needs with no regard to their larger place in the community.  The main priority was making the government responsive to their needs.  Welcome to the real world!

  I was receiving federal Law Enforcement Assistance Administration Grants to finance my education after the first year of school at ST. Anselm's college.  I had the opportunity to erase this student debt by working in the law enforcement field.

  One of my instructors was the Superintendent at the NH State Industrial School.  I asked for his assistance in getting a job to pay off my loans. He helped my get this job.

  This institution was the only juvenile detention facility for the entire State of New Hampshire.  I was hired as the Transportation officer.

  I transported the inmates to their outside appointments.  I worked as a substitute guard in every building in the complex.  This job gave me a detailed look at working in a prison setting.  

  The experience was a valuable learning lesson.  Most of the students sentenced were there due to bad parenting.  Students came with few skills and left with virtually no education or work skills for their years in incarceration.  Very few students received visitors at all.  The students were destined to  fail.

  In most housing units the older students were relied on to keep the place running.  Sexual assault was routine and the staff did nothing to bring any predator to justice.  It was a place of organized child abuse.

  My cousin, the predator Priest, was  the Chaplain for years.  The Church paid numerous students for the abuse by this low life.

  The worst mistake of my life was not reporting his proclivity for sexually assaulting young boys.  I hope my Foundation has begun to compensate for this failure on my part.

  The Cities of Pomona, LaVerne, Claremont, San Dimas, and Walnut were asked to subsidize the local Humane Society Branch providing Animal Control services to their communities.  After receiving a request for money, the cities reached out to me to conduct a study to investigate the option of forming an animal control Special District.

  The final study ended up as a front page feature of the LA Times in the San Gabriel section.  The report concluded that the the Board of Directors had members with a conflict of interest.  The Director was converting funds to his home improvements. The animals were not being cared for properly.  Sick animals were held with healthy animals resulting in dire consequences for animals being placed in homes with other pets.

  The Cities involved took my recommendation and required a complete change of leadership.  The organization was allowed to continue to perform with new leadership.

  This consulting contract resulted in my being recruited to join the staff as a new  Department head at the City of LaVerne.

Private Consulting

  I was hired to look into a family business by one of my customers from my tailoring business.  I worked to understand the reason his loans to the business were not making a difference in their bottom line.  After eight weeks of investigation, he decided to stop funding this failure.

  The State of California offered virtually free tuition for both undergraduate and graduate school education in the 70's.  Once you had lived in California for one year with a valid drivers license, you were considered a resident and eligible for this educational opportunity..

  After receiving an associates degree from St. Anselm's College, I moved to California to go to a real College.  I worked menial jobs for a year while waiting for my residency in California.  This move was the best academic experience of my life.  I was being educated by high quality Professors while learning next to highly motivated students.

  I studied and completed for my undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice.

  I completed all the course work for two Masters degrees.  One Masters Program was in Criminal Justice while the Second Masters Program was in Public Administration.  I have been fortunate to use this education to prepare me for competing in the market place for the balance of my life.

  After high school, my parents offered to pay for my education at this college in my hometown of Manchester, NH.  This school required religious courses as a part of their studies.  It was a small time school with a repressive Catholic environment.  

  The school was the biggest waste of time in my life.  The classes were taught by marginally qualified instructors.  Most of the classes were larger than those at Cal State LA.  The social oversight was conducted with a religious fervor by sexually repressed closeted gay men.

  I was fortunate to seek other academic horizons from this awful place.

  I played tennis for fun and exercise.  I never tried to be the best.  I enjoyed the sport, and it gave me an opportunity to have a great physical outlet.  It was the beginning of a lifetime of exercise for my own enjoyment. After High School, I never played tennis again.

  I learned to ski when I was in College in New Hampshire, I routinely traveled to Waterville Valley (pictured above), Pat's Peak, and Mt. Snow in Vermont.  I took day trips alone to enjoy the speed and thrill of going fast on treacherous terrain.  

  I enjoyed skiing in Austria when I lived in Europe.  I have not been skiing since my time in Europe.  I have not been skiing in 35 years. 

 I enjoy the sport, but I have not been near any real ski resorts since moving to Atlanta.  Once I began riding horses, they consumed my time and disposable income.

  I was exposed to canoeing on trips in northern New Hampshire.  I enjoyed rowing down rivers and streams by myself or with company.  I found it to be a fun way to enjoy the water with a fun and simple watercraft.

  I started doing distance swimming in Europe.  It was a great exercise in easily accessible public pools in every major German City.  I continued to swim long distances when I moved to Atlanta.

  My best time to swim at Lake Lanier was after dark.  I bought the canoe pictured above twenty years ago.  I bought it to haul behind me for my safety when I was swimming.  Boaters had a difficulty seeing me in the dark until I began towing a boat with lights.

  I continue to enjoy taking out my boat with an electric motor and Coral as a beautiful companion. 

  Roller skating in Los Angeles in the 70's was the most fun least expensive sport for a student.  The cement walkway from Santa Monica and Marina Del Rey is the most beautiful tour in the city.  Venice Beach was the center of this magical journey.  It took a little gas and some time to see the beautiful people in their swim wear.

  I started on my roller-skating journey at the beach.  I graduated to touring cities by roller skate.  I traveled with a backpack with my shoes and stopped when I saw something interesting to explore.  You can cover a lot of ground and see places and people that you will miss from your car.

  I have roller skated Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Munich, Berlin, Paris (pictured above), Amsterdam, Brussels, Luxembourg, and numerous small cities along the way.  This sport has been the longest running adventure sport of all.

  I joined a sailing club located at Redondo Beach near Los Angeles.  I became proficient enough to sail a 30' Newport rig by myself (pictured above).  I frequently rented a boat to go from Redondo Beach to Santa Monica on a beautiful day sail.

  My friends would pay the rental fees and expenses to take the trip.  I would have a great time enjoying the journey regularly. I learned to sail in good weather and bad over the years.  I sailed in Coronado Bay in San Diego due to an agreement my sailing club had with a companion club in San Diego.

  My sailing time gave me a great skill that has given me access to beautiful boats over the years.  Sailors have offered me numerous opportunities to sail on their boats in return for help crewing. I have regularly enjoyed sailing on Lake Lanier. I still have opportunities to enjoy this sport with other sailors to this day.

  Frankfurt Germany was too far from the sea to sail.  I found an alternative to sailing in windsurfing.  Both sports look alike but they are very different in many ways.  I enjoyed windsurfing enough to bring my board and gear back to Atlanta.

  I spent a lot of time at Van Pugh on Lake Lanier.  The picture above shows me in a wet suit sailing in very cold weather.  I suffered the cold for the speed.  I would routinely get a camp site for weeks at a time in the summer for distance swimming or windsurfing.  

  Horses are a very consuming high maintenance sport.  I have been into horses for 33 years.  My windsurfing took an immediate back seat to horses.  A friend on of mine traded sailing time in exchange for riding time.  It was a great time for both of us.

  Lake Jackson is very narrow with high trees lining the lake.  I am giving my rig to an old friend who lives on a sailboat on the ocean.  I look forward to sailing and windsurfing with him at some point in the future.