By MIKE LATHROP
Retired LANL
I believe James Robinson would excel as a member of the County Council. My beliefs are based on extensive hours of personal contact, rather than touted credentials or experience that can be found elsewhere (http://www.vote-robinson.com/).
In 2009 I became James’ LANL Student Intern Mentor. My mentorship strategy, be it for post graduates or under graduates, has always been “sink or swim”. By assigning unfamiliar tasks, that should be obtainable, I assess my intern’s problem solving abilities. To my delight James, my only undergraduate intern ever, was a “swimmer”. James never “sat on his hands”, as I have seen so many LANL students do. James’ problem solving abilities matured rapidly during our mentoring. The mentoring involved solving complex analytics, data mining, development of software code, decision tree impacts and timely delivery of LANL financial reporting.
Simultaneous with James’ financial reporting mentoring he was also mentored in construction estimating; where James successfully developed and issued construction estimates.
When James became a LANL employee, my role changed from mentor to colleague. James’ LANL career within the construction estimating group provided new challenges and the problem solving skills developed as a Student Intern allowed him to become a successful LANL estimator.
I believe it is James’ dynamic perspective, which allows him to see beyond the task at hand along with his superb problem solving skills make him an excellent candidate for County Councillor. His youth will also bring much needed diversity to the County Council.
