I am the daughter of second-generation Italian immigrants Wiliam and Louise Rondano who were raised during the depression and struggled to keep food on the table and a roof over the head of their growing family of four girls. Italians were the first immigrant community to be discriminated against, and my parents taught us to never treat others the way they had been treated.  As a small business owner my parents were finally able to provide a stable environment in which to raise their girls here in Minnesota.

At Hopkins Lindberg High School I worked hard to become a two-time state tennis champion and the recipient of a full ride scholarship to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. A career ending injury sent me back to the University of Minnesota to complete a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutrition Science and later a Registered Nursing degree at Century College.

While living in Roseville for 35 years, my husband Bill and I raised our 8 children. We noticed in the last decade that we have seen vandalism, car jackings and theft on the rise, our public school’s graduate lower proficiency students and taxes soar. Our once beautiful state of Minnesota has become unsafe and unaffordable.