Name: Allen Dreher

Position: Democratic Candidate for House District 43

Age: 61

Family: I have four children (three girls and a boy) and eight grandchildren.

What I do: I am a real estate broker

My favorite place in Douglas County to hang out: Civic Green Park and Southridge Recreation Center.

What I like most about living here: Highlands Ranch is a very vibrant community with many interesting residents. It is a great place to live and raise a family.

My interests and hobbies: Reading, photography, flower gardening and travel.

My favorite thing to cook: Anything that is edible.

People who inspired me: John and Bobby Kennedy for their intelligence, service, wit and williness to make a difference in their country.

How I have contributed to the community: I have been elected three times to the Highlands Ranch Metro Districts board of directors and was just elected to be one of the seven board members for the New Consolidated Board representing the southeast region of the community.

What are the biggest issues facing Douglas County now: Maintaining the high quality in our K-12 school system, working to make higher education affordable to our high school graduates, proper water management,the effects that tolling C-470 would have on Highlands Ranch in a negative way, securing open space to maintain the county's character, and mass transit extensions. All of this while maintaining a reasonable, low tax burden on our citizens.

What are the biggest issues facing the state right now: Full funding for higher education to guarantee opportunities for our children.Working to find solutions to lower health care costs, prescription drug costs, extreme fuel expenses.Another area of interest is developing personal saving and retirement incentives to get more people to secure their financial futures.

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