To say my father, Cecil Yates, is good at what he does is a gross understatement. He’s won more awards than I’ve lost earbuds. He brings book and street smarts to the table. You may know this. What you may not know is the person behind the scenes.

While the attempted negative portrayal given by his opponents is funny at best, it couldn’t be further from the truth. One of the many things I thank my father for is teaching me the value of the dollar. He is not a frivolous spender, but works hard to earn a living.

When I was 9, my dad took me to buy a lemonade and Sprite, then we went to work on one of his projects. This wasn’t a huge construction site with us supervising, it was him and me in work clothes, getting dirty and working together.

As he has many projects going on, this continued. Recently, I helped out with a project he had in Pine. No giant worksite, just us, some sodas, pizza, and our work done to complete the project.

Physical labor is a lesson he taught me at an early age. As a result, I happily work hours at my part-time job bussing tables and use my money to pay my own way. I live by the ideology, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I like computers, but he has showed me how to purchase value equipment to save money. The money saved is used to buy something more needed, like gas.

If not for my father teaching me these values, I would not be saying these things. My dad is a hardworking family man who uses his experience to bring people together and make life a little better in our beautiful town called Fountain Hills.