With just weeks away from Election Day, a flier slinging mud at an Oregon School Board candidate is making the rounds.

The flier, distributed anonymously to the media and throughout the city, notes that P.J. Kapfhammer, one of three candidates vying for two board seats, has a criminal past.

Kapfhammer was convicted of various misdemeanors, such as criminal trespass and assault, over 20 years ago, when he was a teenager. Kapfhammer was also convicted of disorderly conduct, Driving Under the Influence, and resisting arrest in the early 1990s.

P.J. Kapfhammer

Kapfhammer, 39, chalked up his record to youthful indiscretions.

“It was a time in my life when I was just a dumb kid. I got in trouble, I paid for it, I learned from it. I’m not proud of my past,” said Kapfhammer. “But I don’t hide from it, either.”

Kapfhammer said his life has since changed for the better over the years. Just a week after his daughter was born 16-and- a-half years ago, he said he promised her he would turn his life around.

“I had a baby girl at home. I had to be a man. It was no longer about me anymore,” he said. I committed myself to being a better person from that day on. I was never in trouble again.”

From all appearances, Kapfhammer has moved forward. Today, he is co-owner of Maumee Bay Turf Center as well as owner of his own landscaping business, P&J Lawn Care. He has dedicated much of his time helping troubled youth, contributing tens of thousands of dollars to community programs and activities aimed at young people.

“We are a community based business. We have donated over $100,000 in the last five years to programs that directly help kids in Oregon. I would say it’s my purpose in life,” he said.

This year, he has donated $30,000 towards the construction of two soccer fields and two baseball fields in Jerusalem Township.

“Trustees put it out for bid, and we bid $30,000. Then we told them we would do it for free,” he said. “The township has no fields for kids.”

Jerusalem Township Trustee Joe Kiss confirmed that P.J. is building the fields at no charge.

“It was a good bid to begin with. Then he said he would donate the fields to the township,” said Kiss. The fields are currently being developed, he added.

Kapfhammer said he also spent $50,000 to develop a weight room for youths at the Maumee Bay Turf Center.

“Any kid in the community can come in for free and lift weights. We probably have 50-60 kids there that use it daily,” he said.

Adults also can use the weight room at no charge, he said.

“It’s geared towards kids, but anyone in the community can use it. We have firefighters and police going there. But the rule is, kids go first,” he said.

Last year, he bought 11 pairs of wrestling shoes for the wrestling team at Clay High School, and donated $3,000 to the Clay Boosters.

Kapfhammer said when he talks to troubled youths, he tells them he was just like them years ago and that they can change their lives.

“I was that kid. We didn’t have a lot of money. We didn’t own a house when I grew up. I went to Clay, but my parents rented houses. We moved three or four times. We never had anything. When I went to Clay High School, I worked Midnights at a nursing home, changing beds. From there, I went to school. So I see these kids who are struggling, and I think, `I know that feeling.’ I don’t want them to give up. I want them to see that if you work hard, you can get things,” he said.

“Once I turned things around, I was a success. When I got my energy directed toward good things, it was like magic,” said Kapfhammer, now a father of four. “Everything worked. Don’t get me wrong. For the first couple of years in the business, we struggled. I remember our gas being turned off. We didn’t have a lot of money. But it just got better and better every year.”

Dave Shafer, president of the Oregon City Federation of Teachers, said the organization is not endorsing  candidates for school board.

“I think we’ve all done things in the past that, if we had to do them over, we would. I think you have to look at any person, no matter who it is, but look at what they are doing now,” he said.

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