Shari Pollesch to run for State Senate in the 22nd District (Press Release)

"Brighton attorney Shari Pollesch is excited to announce that she is running for State Senate for the 22nd Senate District as a Democrat."

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Brighton attorney Shari Pollesch is excited to announce that she is running for State Senate for the 22^nd Senate District as a Democrat. This newly created district includes all of Livingston County and approximately two thirds of Washtenaw County, west of the city of Ann Arbor. (Lyndon, Webster, Northfield, Sylvan, Lima, Scio, Sharon, Freedom, Lodi, Saline and Bridgewater Townships, the Villages of Dexter and Manchester, and the city of Chelsea.)

Shari is committed to policies that put people before special interests, children’s education before political agendas, seniors before corporate tax cuts and a clean environment before big energy profits.   As a voice of reason in Lansing, Shari will work to reverse policies that are unfairly burdening the middle class and will fight for a smart government that puts people first.

“I am running because there has been no real progress in Lansing on issues that improve people’s lives. Unemployment in Michigan was 9% three years ago and it is 9% today. Instead of focusing on revitalizing our economy, protecting seniors or fairly funding our local schools, my opponent has been sponsoring regulations like whether the local pub can sell me a beer in a glass with a logo. Michigan needs a new direction that will only come through new leadership; leadership that can be trusted to work for people.”

Shari was raised by a single mother who often worked two jobs to support Shari, her two brothers and her sister. Ultimately, Shari’s mother went on to become a small business owner setting an example of hard work, courage and determination.

After receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree from Olivet College in 1981, Shari taught preschool in the Eaton/Ingham County Head Start program. Witnessing the hardships and inequality of poverty suffered by her students, Shari developed a passion for social justice, which led her to law school. She graduated from Thomas Cooley Law School with her Juris Doctorate and entered private practice in 1989.

As a partner with Ken Burchfield and David Park, Shari has used her strong listening, advocacy, and negotiating skills to help hundreds of Livingston County residents and small businesses resolve their legal issues.In addition to her busy law practice, Shari has served on the boards of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, the Key Development Center, which provides outpatient substance abuse treatment, and the Livingston County Concert Band. She helped found the Community Unitarian Universalists in Brighton, served as its second board president, and currently chairs its Social Justice Committee. She also chaired the health care reform initiative of the Michigan Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Network and served as a member on a coalition for implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

Shari and her husband, Rodger, live in Hartland Township where Shari raised her two daughters, both of whom graduated from Hartland Consolidated Schools and from Michigan colleges.

Shari will officially kick off her campaign on January 15, 2014 at Cleary’s Pub, 117 E. Grand River, Howell, Michigan from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. You can learn more about Shari’s campaign by visiting Shari’s web site, voteforshari.com, or by visiting her facebook page, Shari Pollesch for Senate. Or, you can contact the campaign by calling (810) 224-0560.

The NEW 22nd State Senate District as of the 2011 Reapportionment.

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by Fritz Swanson

Fritz Swanson has written for The Believer, the Christian Science Monitor, Print Magazine, McSweeney's, Esopus, LSA Magazine, and The Mid-American Review. He serves as a trustee on the Manchester District Library Board. He's the designer and publisher of The Manchester Mirror.

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