Social media accounts
https://www.facebook.com/ClardyforMaine

Occupation:
Database Developer

Education:
Some (eight years-plus) of undergraduate courses

Community Organizations:
None currently

Personal information (hobbies, etc.):
I’m an Army veteran (technically, a retired first lieutenant) and a third-generation volunteer firefighter (when I’ve been living in places that have volunteer fire departments).
I have two grown sons (who currently live far from Maine) and one charming chihuahua who is a rescue from Georgia.
Recreational shooting is a favorite pastime of mine, and I enjoy science fiction as a genre because it’s predicated on “What if …” and the notion that there will always be a future worth thinking about.

Family status:
Divorced

Years in the Legislature: 0

Committee assignments (if elected):
N/A

Q&A

1) Are you satisfied with the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic? If yes, why? If not, what do you think should be done instead?
No. We need to take a longer-term view, choosing preventative measures that are sustainable for the next couple of years or more, not pretending that hiding at home will keep people safe.

2) As the state tries to balance its upcoming budget in light of the reduction in tax revenue because of the pandemic, how would you decrease expenses or increase revenues?
I will advocate for a holistic, zero-based budget review, triaging state expenditures and planning for the resources we have on hand – other, harder-hit states will be first in line for federal aid.

3) How does serving as a local politician in your respective party align with the larger goals of that party?
My goal is less to serve the “larger goals” of the national party than to be a source of upward pressure to realign those goals with the real needs of the people they’re nominally intended to serve.

4) What do you think is the most pressing matter that pertains to the next generation of Mainers who may be voting for the first time?
Thinking for themselves in an age when marketing has been automated and calibrated to seduce with manipulative affirmation. Remember to look for the inconvenient facts along with the feel-good ones.

5) Are you frustrated by the political sniping, exaggeration and even lies between the parties and their supporters that have threatened progress usually reached through respect and reasoned compromise? If so, what will you personally do to make the situation better?
I’ll follow a few rules: 1) It never hurts to be polite. 2) Criticize ideas and acts before people. 3) Always remember that, given a choice, people will choose good – let’s make it an informed choice.

6) If you are elected, is there anything in particular that you hope to accomplish? And briefly, why?
Some small but fundamental changes: make health-care costs more manageable by making providers and insurance companies provide cost estimates so people can know their out-of-pocket costs when deciding.