Mike Wismer is a resident of Los Alamos and an independent County Councilor who agrees with Thomas Jefferson when he wrote “the people [not government]... are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty.” In that sense, it’s the regular citizens who opt to seek election to our governing body that form the very core of the municipalities across our nation. He believes It is the sacred duty our forefathers imagined and one that calls for dedication of self and principles. Mike has spent a lifetime learning and preparing to participate in the governance process.

Mike selected Los Alamos as his choice for a home after serving in the U.S Air Force for 21 years. He initially worked for SOC Los Alamos and now is a group leader in the Safeguards and Security Directorate at Los Alamos National Laboratory. As resident, he has come to appreciate both the historical significance and the unique, small town character Los Alamos represents. His passion for the community has vectored him towards community service since the day he arrived. Mike’s involvement started with an acting stint with the Los Alamos Little Theater followed by selection as a member of the Board of Directors. He hasn’t looked back since the path to community involvement took him from the Los Alamos Hockey Association through the County’s Parks and Recreation and Personnel Boards to a prior term on the County Council, the UNM-LA Advisory Board and the current four-year term on Council.

As a representative of the people of Los Alamos County, Mike believes we have a hill top community unlike any other in the country; a unique intersection between culture and community accentuated by a vibrant mountain setting that is worth working hard to preserve and maintain. He also believes Counties are the primary service providers and have a responsibility to protect the health, welfare and safety of its citizens, and to maintain and improve their quality of life. As such, the role of the County Council is to ensure our municipal government remains focused on efficient and demand driven delivery of core services to its citizenry. In his view, each member of Council has a fundamental responsibility to provide for an open government that is focused on services and responsive to the needs and inputs of those who reside in Los Alamos.

During the time he has lived in Los Alamos, Mike has been an active and involved champion for our community. Mike was also fortunate enough to have the opportunity to take the lessons he had learned from government experience to a war zone in Baghdad, Iraq where he worked for a major university to help the Iraqi government stand up its staffing structure for the first democratically elected Iraqi Parliament. Mike also has experience working within our community either as a volunteer or as an elected official, worked with foreign governments and, has developed a strong appreciation for democratic principles as well as a passion for Los Alamos.

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." -- John Quincy Adams

Sharon has lived in White Rock for over 25 years and served on the County Council in 1996 by appointment and was elected in 1998-2002.  She currently serves on several boards and committees in our community including the Los Alamos School Foundation, Kiwanis, YMCA, and serves as an adult leader for JUNTOS and Los Alamos Youth Leadership (LAYL).  She is one of the founding members of Leadership Los Alamos and a graduate of Leadership New Mexico.  Sharon assisted in the development of the Juvenile Justice Advisory Board organization and serves as a part-time paid staff to the Board. 

Sharon grew up in the Pojoaque Valley and attended Santa Fe Business College.  She is married to Steven Girrens and they have two college age children, Quinn and Craig.

Nona was born in Kirksville, Missouri and moved when she was five to Roanoke, Virginia where she was raised. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from nearby Radford University, Women’s Division of Virginia Tech, and married her husband Charlie the year after graduation. She has pursued graduate studies at Duke University, California State University, Hayward, and New Mexico Highlands University. After 45 years of marriage, they have two children and two grandchildren. They have lived in Durham, NC, Livermore, CA, and Gaithersburg, MD, before settling in Los Alamos 20 years ago. She has taught full or part time most of her life in all of these communities in regular teaching, special reading for youth and adults, and teaching of the gifted, and is a member of the honorary teachers organization Delta Kappa Gamma. In Montgomery County, MD she was honored with the Broome Award as Outstanding Teacher.

She has also found time for participation in public life wherever she has lived. In Los Alamos she has served as Governor’s appointee to the New Mexico Youth Authority Advisory Board, Co-chair of the first Fuller Lodge Inside Renovation Committee, Chairperson and member of the Los Alamos Art in Public Places Board, Chairperson and member of the Casa Mesita Home for Girls, member of the United Way Board, and numerous positions at the United Church of Los Alamos. She resigned from her upcoming term as 2003 President of the Congregation to begin her term on the Los Alamos County Council.

Her previous experience in elective office was as member of the School Board in Livermore, CA where she finished first among six candidates. During her term there the primary issues were resolution of a threatened strike against the Livermore School District and controlling threatened runaway development over-flowing from the San Francisco Bay Area into the Livermore Valley. Constraints were established requiring that developers provide space and partial support for the new schools, parks, and bikeways to support the new families and prevent the inundation of the existing residents. Livermore is now a balanced full-service community surrounded by rolling hills preserved for farming and parkland.

She finished first out of six candidates in the Los Alamos 2002 election and was elected as Council Chair in 2004. Her objective as Councilor is to improve the quality of life in Los Alamos, to stabilize and grow its economy, and to work in a mutually supportive role with the Laboratory without either the Lab or town dominating the other. She is interested in all aspects of the Council’s business and believes that she can achieve her greatest effectiveness by listening to citizens and working cooperatively with the other Councilors and the County staff.

I feel privileged to be a part of the Los Alamos community and I own a new home on the North Mesa in the Hawks Landing development. New to politics and relatively new to Los Alamos, I am humbled and deeply honored to have been elected to serve a term on Council.

I am a native of New Jersey and I hold a Bachelor of Science, a Master of Arts, and a Ph.D. degree all in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton University, which I received in 1996, 1999, and 2003 respectively. As part of my Ph.D. thesis work I built a satellite propulsion system similar to an ion engine of the Star Trek variety and used laser diagnostics and computer simulations to quantify in detail the operation of this engine. After finishing my studies I moved to Los Alamos in 2003 to become a Technical Staff Member at LANL in the Applied Physics Division (X).

Los Alamos County is a special place, where three elements come together: a high powered and unique scientific research laboratory, a truly beautiful and spectacular natural environment, and a wholesome small town atmosphere.

One of the most important tasks of a public official is to look carefully and critically at public spending. We need to make investments in Los Alamos and White Rock that promote economic development. We must adopt the most efficient management for our capital projects. It is essential that we have an accurate representation of the cost up front and that we hold the line on capital spending.

I believe that County government should put the needs of working people, families and small businesses first. We are a small community and we are best served by frugal projects. My priorities include:

• Looking carefully and critically at public spending to ensure that our county government lives within its means.
• Bringing more high paying research jobs into the community, jobs that are less dependent on the laboratory.
• Promoting Los Alamos County as a gateway to nature and a premier destination for outdoor activities.
• Attracting more students into our community who will take advantage of opportunities for higher education in Los Alamos County and who will expand the workforce for our existing small businesses and restaurants.
• Helping to expand retail choices, encompassing goods and services that are not currently available, so that we keep more of our money within Los Alamos County.

Vision.  Robert believes “Los Alamos should strive to change the world in the 21st century as much as it did in the 20th. We must continue to make positive, important, relevant contributions while preserving the attributes and values that make this such a wonderful place to live: the intellectual vitality, economic well-being, safety, sense of community, and splendid physical environment.”

Goals.  Robert’s priorities include:

• Diversify our economic and intellectual base. Surround a strong LANL with other important, professional businesses and quality retail goods & services.
• Protect our physical environment. Use resources, particularly energy, wisely and sustainably.
• Assure quality services to meet basic needs, particularly for safety, health, energy, and water.     
• Run an effective, responsive, fiscally sustainable County government.  Make realistic decisions and execute them well. 

Experience.  This is Robert’s second Council term; his first was 1997-2000.  Between, he served on the Board of Public Utilities for 5-1/2 years, including two each as chair and vice-chair.  He was on the Transportation Board 1992-96, three of those years as chair, and chaired the 1994-95 Charter Review Committee.  He founded the Community Health Care Roundtable and Energy Independent Los Alamos and is a 2006 graduate of Leadership New Mexico.

Background.  The Michigan native holds S.B. degrees in Physics and EE and a Ph.D. in Physics, all from M.I.T. He supported much of his education as a guidance systems engineer and also served in the U.S. Navy. He moved to Los Alamos in 1979 to join LANL, from which he retired in 2007.  At LANL, he led several teams investigating thermonuclear fusion energy, very high power lasers, and laser-matter interactions.  

Robert is an active pilot, certified as an airline captain and flight instructor, with 8000 flying hours in aircraft ranging from jet transports to sailplanes. He also enjoys mountain hiking and outdoor photography. Robert and wife Lori, an educator and artist, live on North Mesa.

Ralph was selected in January, 2009 to fill a Council vacancy created by an unexpected resignation. It is Ralph's firm belief that the most effective performance of any diverse group, whether elected or appointed, is achieved when all members function as a team, with professional attitudes towards each other and with a focus on the best interests of the entire community. He also believes in open communication and holds a commitment to not only openly present information, but to also ensure the content of the information represents a broad and complete picture for each issue.

 This is Ralph's first public office and he brings to Council a background of extensive training in leadership, teamwork, management and communication skills honed over his career of 35 years working with electric utilities, specializing in nuclear power. He retired as Division Manager of Engineering from the Omaha Public Power District, and has held engineering management positions with Southern California Edison, Combustion Engineering and during his service in the US Air Force at Kirtland AFB. Ralph has most recently served as Chairman of the Board of Public Utilities for Los Alamos, and as Vice Chair of the Northern New Mexico Citizens Advisory Board. He is a registered Professional Engineer and has a Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Virginia.

Ralph understands the close relationships that exist between the County and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and intends to ensure that our long term strategic plans and goal-setting encourage using the strength of this relationship to benefit our community, especially as LANL transitions into more broad and beneficial applications of science. Ralph holds a vision for Los Alamos where we are a vibrant, modern community, with secure, state of the art infrastructure and appealing commercial and retail centers. To achieve this, he will focus on strategic planning which is based firmly on realistic goals and considers the feedback of county residents. "Planning must include options and alternatives, risk assessments, contingencies and cost/benefit evaluations including external events so that financial commitments are entered into with our eyes wide open".

Ralph and his wife Linda have been living in White Rock for about four and a half years. Linda is Director of Bereavement Services for an Albuquerque company, their daughter Jenny teaches fourth grade at Barranca Mesa Elementary and their son Josh is a chiropractor in Portland, Maine. They love hiking and camping and using the jeep for backcountry trips and think the wonderful parks and forests around Los Alamos are a real treasure.

Mike acted as Council Chair from January 6, 2009 until December 31, 2009, and as Vice-Chair from January 9, 2007 until December 31, 2007.  Prior to this term as Council Vice-Chair, Mike acted as Council Chair from January 10, 2006 until December 31, 2006 and as Council Vice-Chair from January 11, 2005 until December 31, 2005.

"I believe that community service is the most rewarding job that one can do. Los Alamos is an amazing community with enormous resources that directed constructively can achieve the community vision and council goals."

Mike is a retired technical staff member from Los Alamos National Laboratory and worked in various local, national, and international programs. Mike was born May 23, 1945, attended Colorado State University, and graduated with a BSME in 1969. He was a member of Pi Tau Sigma, ASME, SAE and NSPE, and received his Professional Engineers License in 1973.

Mike went to work at Hanford, Washington in 1969 and came to Los Alamos in 1976. He was engineering liaison with Rocky Flats, Kansas City, Pantex, and Oak Ridge. Mike served two years as Scientific Advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Military Applications at DOE headquarters in Washington. Mike was a member of the University Professional and Technical Employees Union, and served as secretary. 

Mike is a registered Democrat, and is active in the community. Mike chaired the Parks and Recreation Board, served on the Aquatic Center Advisory Board, held office with the Los Alamos Ski Club, and was President of the Los Alamos Ski Racing Club. He is currently an active swimmer with the Pajarito Aquatic Club Masters program, and active in the ski club. He is married with two grown children and three grandchildren.