“Right out of high school, I moved to Florida to race jet skis. It was fun and I was good at it, but it’s a physically demanding sport, especially after the accident. We had just spent the entire day out fishing for steelhead in Manistee during spring break when we heard that some friends were hanging out in Caseville, so we said, ‘Oh man, let’s go.’ We stayed up all night but had to come back to Bay City for work, so we hopped in the car. My friend was driving, fell asleep at the wheel, and hit another car head on. I woke up seven or eight days later with a broken back, a broken neck, and both feet were broken.
I recovered quickly, but I realized I didn’t want to put that strain on my body for years and years. I came home and enrolled in Delta College and changed my major two or three times. I want kids to know that you may start at one thing and finish at another. Just be proud of your accomplishments. A career is anything that you are passionate about that pays the bills and you can switch as many times as you want.
But it wasn’t until I was at SVSU that I found out I was dyslexic. I went all the way through private school, all the way through high school without knowing that. I was great with math, but my reading was terrible. When I go into schools now and talk to kids, I ask who likes picture books. Two or three will shyly put their hands up, and I tell them, ‘You guys are like me! You can be a state rep! Don’t let anyone tell you differently. There’s a way you can get there, you just have to figure it out.’
And that's the thing, trying to find how you get through life. I was raised that you can get anything you want, you just have to get there before anybody else, and stay later. Nothing is out of reach if you do that.”
“My start in politics came out of necessity. In 2019, the government passed new license requirements for food establishments. A person from the USDA came into my store and said ‘You're going to do this or else we'll shut you down’. They act like the business was just me, but it wasn’t: I had a $300,000 payroll to cover and there's people in the community that depend on me to stay open.
When this guy came through I thought, ‘You know what, it's time’. So then I went down to Lansing to talk about it. I’ve never cared about whether you're a democrat or republican. I think we’re really good about that in Bay County–we value a person's actions over their party. We care if you have our back and if we can talk to you when we need help. So in that moment, a switch flipped inside of me. I came home and told my wife ‘I'm going to do this’ and that’s when I decided to run for State Representative.
The problem is that regulation is good, as long as it's beneficial. The minute you regulate something just to regulate it is when people leave our state because it's easier to do business somewhere else; especially with the internet. We've made it so that our system is kind of broken.
Owning my own business for 20 years, I got to see the hardship of running a business. It’s hard to make a business successful. Your employees shouldn’t have to worry about getting the paycheck they earned. Sometimes I had to use my credit card to make payroll. But guess what, whether you're in business or you're living paycheck to paycheck, you can always figure out a better way. I don't like to be told what I can't do. Just show me what I need to do and I will show you that we can get it done.”
“I represent 90,000 people in Bay County. Many requests I receive are actually handled at the local level or through a different department, so I’ll help people get in touch with those resources. For example, in my role in the House of Representatives, I’m not really the guy to call when the snow isn’t removed from your street, but if you need help getting meals for a senior relative, or you aren’t getting movement on a license you applied for six months ago, I can help with all of that. Just call my office! I can listen first and then see if I can help—for example, finding funds to help in some areas that are really lacking—but that will always be an ask at the state level. We can’t fix everything, but we can pinpoint where we're hurting as a state and try to help, and that's what a state rep does.
I'm only one person, but I can probably see eye to eye with 95% of the people here in our beautiful county. I grew up here. I love Bay County. I can tell you all the stories and experiences I remember: going fishing with my friends, hunting with my family, getting out in the snow and all the best spots.
As a state rep, I love to go and see what’s going on. I try to get out as much as possible. I want to see the new manufacturing, anything new. I usually bring sausage, because I’d rather make a first impression as ‘Beson, the meat guy’ and not as a State Representative. I don’t want people to hold back or act differently. A state rep is just a person, just as you’re a person. At the end of the day, I’m just a dad trying to figure out how to raise three kids while helping the community.
The toughest part of being a legislator for me is being away from my family. But I’m excited about this job, love doing it, and I will do it for Bay County as long as they keep me elected. I'll take a call from anybody. I feel like I've been blessed. Everybody in Lansing, whether Democrat or Republican, knows I'm a straight shooter.
And they know that there's a good chance I'll bring food—so ‘let's have a meeting with Timmy’.”
—Representative Timmy Beson, 96th House District
