Name: Al Bischoff

Age: 58

Office: Beaufort County Board of Education, District 8

Number of years living in the area you seek to represent: 6-plus years

Family: Wife Angela; three children in graduate school or college, Amelia, Alexander and Austin

Education: University of Pittsburgh, Asian studies; University of Maryland, business ethics; University of Maryland, master's degree in history of ethics

Current occupation/employer: Professional consulting group for nine years

Employment, military and volunteer history: AT&T/Lucent for 23 years

Please list all public offices to which you've been elected, when and where: Elected to two board of director positions, one in New Jersey and one locally at Windmill Harbor

Please list any unsuccessful runs for public office and when: None

Other prior political and government experience: Government contractor both currently and in the past

Key endorsements you've received:

Contributions: No campaign contributions or expenditures reported as of Oct. 12.

Expenditures: No campaign contributions or expenditures reported as of Oct. 12.

Highest contributor: No campaign contributions or expenditures reported as of Oct. 12.

Why should people vote for you? What separates you from your opponent(s)?

I would fully support open meetings acts and other requirements to be as transparent as possible. But I also feel we need to be more communicative on why there might be times where information may need to be kept private, at least until the reasons for keeping it away from the public go away (personnel issues as an example as these often involve government and legal issues). The bottom line is that I do not believe in keeping embarrassing things out of the public eye. People need to be accountable for their mistakes.

Have you ever been convicted of a crime (felony), been disciplined by a professional licensing board or organization or had an ethics violation filed against you? If so, please give the details.

No

Have you ever filed for bankruptcy, been delinquent on your federal, state or local taxes? If so, please give the details.

I've never filed for bankruptcy. We did have an issue with the tax court that was ultimately resolved in my favor, in which a lien was placed on our home in South Carolina in 2006 and cleared up quickly in 2006. It was an issue around 401(k) money movements from one company to another when we were laid off and the company's plans were not compliant on all fronts.

Are there any personal details about yourself that voters would be interested in knowing?

I have extensive international experience, so I have a very good understanding of different cultures and how to succeed in the global market. The opportunity to live in and experience different cultural systems including educational systems gave me valuable insight into what it takes to communicate with different types of people and cultures.