Marvin hopes to use ingenuity in district seat

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BY NANCY HICKS / Lincoln Journal Star

When he was a kid, Dan Marvin and some friends bought contact paper, stencils and started a custom bumper sticker business.

“But we didn’t perfect the way to get the ink to stay on,” he said. “It wore off pretty quickly.”

Dismal results didn’t deter Marvin from this early fascination with selling stuff or helping others.

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State legislative candidate Dan Marvin with daughter, Emily Marvin (right), and their neighbor Layla Nguyen at the new Trago spash park in Lincoln. (Eva Barajas)

State legislative candidate Dan Marvin with daughter, Emily Marvin (right), and their neighbor Layla Nguyen at the new Trago spash park in Lincoln. (Eva Barajas)

Young Marvin and associates borrowed a wheelbarrow and rescued beer cans from a ditch. They solicited money door to door to help out the financially troubled (and now defunct) Pershing College in his hometown of Beatrice.

And they tried to sell an assortment of products: itching powder (basically nettles to harass friends and siblings); a gross of pocket combs; Mason Shoes; La Petite Fleur (“kind of a smelly flower in a glass bowl”); and hand shake buzzers.

“When you don’t have a Nintendo, you come up with some wacky ideas,” says  Marvin.

No, none of these businesses took off, he says. “They were all miserable failures.”

As a grown man, Marvin’s been more successful, using his ingenuity to be of service and make a living.

Marvin, currently on the Lincoln City Council, is running for the 27th Legislative District seat, now held by Sen. DiAnna Schimek, who is term-limited from office.

“I liked being a problem solver,” he said.

“I think elected people serve as kind of an intermediary between the bureaucracy and the public.”

Marvin’s first foray into politics was unsuccessful.

He was an avid base drum player. “I really liked band. It (early practice hours) gives you a choice parking slot.”

Marvin was part of a small group of band members who went to a school board meeting to ask for another music instructor.

The board was going to hire more football coaches. The band was growing. “We thought if they could hire more people for football, they could hire someone else for band.”

But band director Bob Person didn’t get any help.

Marvin majored in philosophy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln but has built his career as a financial adviser.

That interest started early, after his father gave him some Benjamin Graham books to read when he was 13 or 14. (Warren Buffet credits Graham,  an economist, for giving him his investment framework).

When Marvin was 15, he started buying and selling securities with the money he made as a bus boy.

His first purchase, Uniroyal stock. A Uniroyal store opened in Beatrice, so Marvin thought it must be a good business. He made money on the investment.

After college, Marvin worked as a stockbroker for Shearson (now Smith Barney) for 10 years before staring his own business, where he provides financial advice, does some accounting, some tax filings and occasional consulting work related to financial issues.

For example, he was a hired by a bank that wanted to move to another town and needed to understand banking laws.

Marvin got into politics the traditional Lincoln way, through involvement in a neighborhood association. (He was made treasurer of the Country Club Neighborhood Association at his first meeting in 1992.)

Former Mayor Don Wesely appointed him to a neighborhood spot on an infrastructure task force. Then Former Mayor Coleen Seng named him to the Planning Commission. And he won a seat on the City Council in 2005.

Marvin’s experience in finance is an asset, Wesely said. Marvin has proposed innovative solutions to various budget and finance issues facing the city, Wesely said.

His temperament is also a strong asset, Wesely said. “He is very calm and thoughtful and tries to work with everybody.”

If elected, Marvin would replace retiring Sen. Schimek, who was a strong voice for Lincoln, Marvin says.

Because of his experience with local issues, Marvin says he could continue that tradition.

He’s also interested in a number of areas the Legislature handles.

Farm issues: Marvin’s wife, Donna, grew up on a farm and the farm economy drives the economy of his hometown, Beatrice.

“When it’s (the farm economy) good, Beatrice does well. When it’s not doing good, it’s tough in town.”

Education: With three children, one still in Lincoln Public Schools, he has a natural interest in education.

Health care:  This is  a big issue for taxpayers and citizens, Marvin says.

“For citizens, because insurance costs are crippling. And for taxpayers, because of the rising costs of Medicare and Medicaid,” he says.

Reach Nancy Hicks at 473-7250 or nhicks@journalstar.com.