You Will Like Mike

Find out why you want him to represent you.
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http://www.mikehennefer.com/

Mike Hennefer for Carrollton City Council

  Mike Hennefer is a grown-up boy scout. No, make that an Eagle Scout. He has lived his whole life with a heart of gold. He is a man of the people. A champion for all. He has led when he needed to and served when the call came.
  He has never smoked, drank alcohol, or used an illegal drug.

  Vali will tell you. She knows Mike better than he does.  Vali met Mike when they were 12 years old. She’s the tigress and he is the loveable panda who can't turn down an opportunity to lift people's spirits and come to the rescue. 

He just can't help it. 

  I am sitting across from the two and am being entertained by a 43 year marriage between a pair that would always rather be together than apart.

 

  When Mike Hennefer met this gangly girl with pin curls, for some reason, a thought, a voice, a premonition told him “that’s your wife!”

  Vali was struck by the handsome blonde boy that everyone liked.

  Throughout their childhood, the two were around each other more than weekly with their youth groups and various church activities.

  When they were 16, Mike made his move. “You are going to be my girl!”

  Vali’s answer was, “Good luck with that!”

  
  With a driver’s license in hand Mike would pick Vali up every weekday morning for early Bible Study before school. They would do this throughout high school.

“Mike was the class president his Freshman, Sophomore, and Senior years. He was the star athlete, captain of the varsity football team, and student body president.”

  Mike and Vali sit close enough to be able to lean into each other often as we talk. He’s the funny one. It’s one of his ways of being optimistic. She is practical and sensible and centered. This is what best friends for life sound like. I am enjoying it.

  Before us are two albums. Mike’s and Vali’s

  Each are filled with letters, cards, notes, scraps of paper, and envelopes with many, many postmarks.

  After graduation Mike took up his Mormon mission service and was directed to South Florida and Puerto Rico.  Over the next two years, they wrote weekly journals to each other. Humor, sadness, love, lots of love, growing pains, and future hopes and dreams are poured into the pages.

  This is their diary of young love preserved and cherished. We should all be so lucky.

Their 43^rd wedding anniversary is here!

 

  At age 21 the two marry and the Brigham Young University Marketing Department becomes Mike’s new direction. Four children and 11 grandchildren later, I start thinking of Mike with a white beard with his twinkling eyes and rosy cheeks.

  The oldest, Camee lives nearby. She arrived during the Hennefer’s first year of marriage. Mike is a pilot and father of five. Jaimee married a 12 year Pittsburgh Steeler lineman, Chris Hoke, and added five more grandchildren. The youngest is Jaquee. She and her Korean husband, Hyun Sik Cho, presented Zoee to the family.

  As Mike and Vali talk about their family I am imagining Christmas in the Hennefer home.

What do you think Santa would be doing when it’s not Christmas?

Mike Hennefer is a successful businessman, church leader, family man, and fiscal conservative seeking election to the Carrollton City Council, Place 2.

He is president of Corporate USA, Asset Management, Leasing & Investments, which he established in 1991. For the past 20 years the entrepreneur has bought, sold and operated several commercial real estate businesses and leased millions of square feet of office space to dozens of companies, including some of the largest commercial developers and investors across the US.

Using his forte of analyzing business financials and assessing risk, he has specialized in making the tough financial decisions which have turned around dozens of under-performing lease properties and earned a handsome profit for his company.

Besides his success in business, Mike has voluntarily served in a number of leadership positions in his church and community in which has helped hundreds of teens, adults and families to solve a wide variety of problems.

For seven years he served as the Bishop, or ecclesiastical leader, of a 400 member Carrollton congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 
Besides directing Sunday and weekday youth meetings, he listened to and counseled youth and adults on a weekly basis about everything from having faith in the teachings of God and Jesus Christ, to improving family relationships to overcoming financial, gambling, drug, and pornography addictions.

Mike and Vali serve currently as program coordinators of 50 addiction recovery groups in the DFW area.  They are responsible for supervision, training and support of each group’s leaders and facilitators.  
Together they have spent many hours helping men and women to recover from a broad range of addictions like pornography, drugs, alcohol, illicit drugs and other addictions which are ruining their lives and ripping their families apart.  Several groups help families, friends and spouses affected by the addiction of another. They have a completely different path to recovery.

As a High Council member of the his church, he traveled weekly for several years to other area congregations to speak from the pulpit to members, trained leaders and assisted in strengthening followers.

After Hurricane Katrina destroyed portions of the Gulf Coast, Mike served as a liaison to the Red Cross.  Asked by the Red Cross to provide shelter management and support personnel, with the support of local churches, Mike lead the process of securing 300 volunteers who were trained and served in multiple locations.

A licensed HAM radio operator, he served as the Emergency Coordinator for Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) in Carrollton. He also has served as the Radio Officer for Carrollton Radio Amateur Radio Emergency Services (RACES). RACES receives its authority from Part 97 of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). 
Both positions are appointed by the City of Carrollton, ARES and RACES provide emergency back up communications and storm spotter services for the cities of Carrollton, Farmers Branch, and the National Weather Service in Fort Worth.

Mike brought his young family to Carrollton in 1985 when he was transferred to the Dallas area. He and Vali, raised four now grown children in the Carollton-Lewisville school district.

He is a huge football and basketball fan. His son and son-in-law both played football for BYU. His son-in-law also went on to play nose tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers -winners of two Super Bowls. Because he played there, the Steelers are a favorite pro team, in addition to our Dallas Cowboys, of course. He also loves cheering for our world champion Dallas Mavericks.

A Christian and a grateful believer in Jesus Christ as his personal Savior, his three most important priorities are God, family and country.

A sincere believer in American exceptionalism. Mike considers the United States of America the greatest nation in the history of the world. He believes the future is bright and that we should all stand tall and have a positive view of where we can take our great nation, or state and our great city.

- J.B. Blocker is a media consultant based in Collin County in North Texas. Advertise with J.B. by calling 469-334-9962.