Jim Moeller was born and raised in Vancouver, Washington. His mother and father moved here from Spokane in 1949 along with their first child, Jim’s older sister, Fae. The family soon joined St. Paul Lutheran Church on 13th and Franklin where Jim and his family still attend weekly services. Jim was born at the former Memorial Hospital on Main Street in 1955. He grew up on Vancouver’s west side on 21st Street in the Hough Neighborhood attending Hough Elementary. The family moved to the then east-end (McLoughlin Heights)of Vancouver in 1964.

Jim attended George C. Marshall Elementary, McLoughlin Jr. High (Mac Hi) and was in the first full graduating class from the “new” Fort Vancouver High School in the class of 1973. Also, Jim joined the Boy Scouts earning the rank of “Life Scout” “Order of the Arrow” and Senior Patrol Leader of Troop 402. Jim was a good student graduating with honors. Jim excelled in music. Singing in the swing and concert choirs, playing the piano and acting in the drama club; Jim appeared in all-city musicals and high school drama productions including Hello Dolly! and Fiddler on the Roof.

After graduation (with honors), Jim joined his older sister who was teaching in Australia. They spent six months working, living and touring there until the opportunity for the journey of a lifetime presented itself. Starting on a bus in Katmandu, Nepal, Jim and Fae travelled across the Asian continent and Europe all the way to London, England.

Upon returning home to Vancouver Jim started attending Clark Community College and eventually transferred to Washington State University in Pullman to complete his B.S. degree in Psychology with a minor in Social Work in 1978. He landed his first real job in John Day, Oregon in 1979 as a Halfway House Manager eventually working through other county programs to settle at Kaiser Permanente as a chemical dependency counselor a job he has held for the past 20 years. Jim has continued his education through the Portland State University School of Social Work in 1986 and the Mark Hatfield School of Government in 2000.

After serving as co-chair on the Clark County Chapter of Hands Off Washington in 1995 Jim first ran for public office in a race for a Vancouver City Council seat against a officer of the extremist right-wing organization, Citizens Alliance of Washington, a spin-off of Lon Mabon’s Oregon Citizens Alliance.  With this initial victory Jim became the first elected openly gay official in Washington State. He was easily re-elected in 1999.

In 2002 Jim ran for the State House of Representatives seat vacated by veteran legislator Val Ogden. Re-elected for a second and third term in ‘04 and ‘06 Jim welcomes the challenges of serving a diverse legislative district like the 49th as he seeks votes again in 2008.

In 1997 Jim’s dad passed away. His mother still lives in town and his sister works as an art teacher in the Vancouver School District.