Paul Choinere, former Editorial Page Editor, may have forgot the first time he ever called me. But I remember it vividly. I was driving a tractor mowing hay in a rocky 7-acre field. Far from the road and anyone else, I felt vibration in my pocket. Shut down the diesel engine and picked up the phone. The well-known name, but unfamiliar voice on the other end of the line told me The Day was going to run my op-ed “Fortify against sea rise and benefit farms.”

I was excited. It was like being picked for the team. Or winning a contest. Getting my idea, in the paper and on the minds of the public was the first step in a project I expected would take 10 years to complete. Five years, two arrests, about 6,000 man-hours later, in the midst of an unexpected run for Congress, I’m half way there, and picking up speed.

My op-ed helped me find Matt Staebner, President of New London County Farm Bureau. He was the first person (outside my family) to show enough confidence in me to take action. Helping me propose internal policy and go through the process to get the 2,500-member organization to support and advocate for my idea. Farm Bureau gave me experience speaking publicly. Initially I was so nervous speaking in front of 25 people at their events that my hands shook and I sweat heavily and I couldn’t control the volume of my voice or remember what to say. But the practice and the kindness the people there showed me gave me a little more confidence.

By working hard and helping people, an opportunity presented itself. A friend got Lee Elci to give me a chance. He let me come into his studio with the American Flag hanging on his wall. And speak to his couple hundred thousand listeners. He reminded me of my older cousin. Treated me very fair and matter of fact. “You ever do this before? Go on live radio? I’ll give you 20 minutes, but if you start flubbering, we’re done, I’ll end the interview.”

I knew if my rock project was going to become a reality people needed to know about it. So I’d read the newspaper, find out about meetings, and just go. Once there I’d look for opportunities to draw attention to my idea. I took risks. Took action. Made sacrifices. And when fate dealt me an opportunity I didn’t hesitate. An hour after one meeting about State Pier at City Hall I was on one the corner in front of the church and a man was on the corner in front of City Hall. When the cross walk light signaled we both started our opposite ways. Looking up in the middle I recognized David Collins from his picture in the paper. I said, "excuse me, are you David Collins.” Months later, I was walking down the street at the Mystic Irish Parade. 30,000 people there. Crossing the bascule bridge out on the road deck because the sidewalks were so crammed. Center bridge, I turned my head, and there was David Collins. I went over and we talked State Pier. David, Brian Scott Smith, Greg Stroud. Honest journalists. The best cards in the American deck. The amplifiers. The equalizers.

In the midst of the work on m rock project I kind of stumbled through the swinging doors half sideways off the street. Right into the middle of the major heist that was going down at State Pier. One New London lawyer put it best when he said, "You. You’re going to make a difference at State Pier? These guys are on third base getting ready to steal home while you’re trying to get out of the dugout. You’re never going to make a difference and if you do they’ll f-ing kill you." Out of the dugout and on the field, the press and I now have the Port Authority and Lamont Administration in a pickle on the third base line.

A lot of people have asked what is driving me. Journalists, friends, family, the FBI. Why I’m so committed. A best friend’s father from high school once told me proudly - without boasting - how his daughter was doing meaningful work to cure cancer. He said, “we like to see that type of productivity.” I took it as a loving challenge to make a positive impact. All my friends, including myself, that are in farming, have to work too hard and not make enough money. Shouldn’t have to work like an addict just to get by. We need access to tools like State Pier. We need honest government. We need to get all these friggin rocks out of our way. I don’t like the way the state treated Steve and Michelle Farrelly, the ILA 1411 longshoremen, New London, the fishermen, and the general public. I refuse to accept it.

The Green Party was aware of my work and lent me their ballot line. I’ve got a responsibility to return it to them. Please vote for me in the 2nd Congressional District.