I am your new Oregon State House Representative for District 51, Representative James Hieb. (R-Canby).
I was sworn into office February 8th as the replacement for former House Representative Christine Drazan (R-Canby).
I am a husband and father. All aspects of my life revolve around this absolute. I have structured my life in a way that my family is always a priority. For work, I am the Director at Building Blocks Early Learning Center where I care for over a hundred children a day. I employ around twenty full time employees, at any one time, between our two facilities. I am also business partners with my mother and my wife, who support me in my desire to serve as a Representative of our community.
My desire to serve is not new. My service to our community began at the age of seventeen, when I swore an oath to our nation, and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. I subsequently deployed to Fallujah Iraq, as an infantryman, on two separate combat tours. I fought in the largest battle since the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, known as Operation Phantom Fury, serving under both General Mattis and General Kelly.
After receiving an Honorable Discharge, I moved back home to Clackamas County, where I have been a legal resident for my entire life. It was 2008, my wife and I had our first child, and my job constructing homes ended, I used this opportunity to attend college part time, while working for Building Blocks and Hoffman Family Farms.
In 2014 my father passed away and I began to work with my mom full time at Building Blocks ELC, while it was still an in-home preschool and childcare. We decided that it was time to expand and settled on a commercial building to lease. Since then, we have grown our program from sixteen children to over one hundred twenty kids. Over this time period, my role has taken many forms. I do everything from work in the classroom, address parents' concerns, set policy, work with the State and ESD providing services for children, securing business capital, permitting, incorporation and forecasting for the future. We are fortunate to be doing very well and provide a high level of care for the diverse families in our community.
I have a very broad range of experiences, serving people from many different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. I want to serve as House Representative because I genuinely care about all people and because this is where I feel that I can have a positive impact on the greatest number of people.
Public safety is at the top of my list of priorities. Whether it be the uptick in violent crime or the amount of homelessness we see currently, I want everyone to feel safe and secure.
Getting our kids back in school is of big concern. Over the last couple years, our kids have suffered greatly with the pandemic, and we need to give them some sort of normalcy.
Helping our small business community is an urgent need too. There are many small business owners in our community who have lost their lives work or are on the brink of doing so. I want to do what I can to keep our local companies prospering.
Don't hesitate to reach out to me, if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for taking the time to get to know me.
Semper Fidelis,
James Hieb