{"id":29606,"date":"2021-03-05T13:40:35","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T19:40:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=29606"},"modified":"2021-03-05T13:40:35","modified_gmt":"2021-03-05T19:40:35","slug":"bostar-follows-own-path-to-the-capitol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/?p=29606","title":{"rendered":"Bostar follows own path to the Capitol"},"content":{"rendered":"

Above: Sen. Eliot Bostar with son, Dexter, and wife, Carrie.<\/em><\/p>\n

Before Lincoln Sen. Eliot Bostar decided to run for the Nebraska Legislature, he asked for guidance from an old friend: Bill Moyers.<\/p>\n

Moyers, a journalist who served as press secretary in the Johnson administration, is a family friend who Bostar said has played a \u201csignificant and deeply important role\u201d in his life. Moyers, an ordained Baptist minister, even officiated at Bostar\u2019s wedding. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was exceedingly supportive,\u201d Bostar said, \u201cand I\u2019m exceedingly grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bostar said his mentor has always encouraged him to work hard, learn as much as he can and help people whenever he can \u2014 to push himself. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a directive that Bostar followed as early as his high school days, when he chose to attend a military academy in Wisconsin. There he joined the flying program with the goal of becoming a naval aviator.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seemed like the most challenging,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve never been particularly good at trying to find the easy path.\u201d <\/p>\n

A failed eye exam ended that dream, but Bostar studied aerospace engineering and business at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida, where he met his wife, Carrie. <\/p>\n

After graduation, Bostar returned to New York, where he worked on infrastructure, homeland security and economic development projects \u2014 including reconstruction of the World Trade Center site \u2014 as a special advisor in the governor\u2019s office. <\/p>\n

As a state senator, Bostar\u2019s portfolio is even broader, which is good for someone who says he likes learning something new every day. Whenever he wonders how something works, Bostar said, he picks up the phone and asks. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are more than happy to tell you,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s the biggest perk of the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right now, Bostar said, he is trying to keep up with the bills that come before his committees \u2014 Revenue and Banking, Commerce and Insurance \u2014 a task made more difficult by the pace of all-day hearings. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou feel very fortunate to be in a position to do this work at all,\u201d he said. \u201cYou just want to do the best job you can, even on the hard days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back in 2013, Bostar brought that work ethic to Nebraska when he moved here to start his current job, as executive director of two conservation-related nonprofits.<\/p>\n

Although he was raised in Brooklyn, it was a homecoming of sorts. Every summer growing up, Bostar traded his \u201cfairly regimented\u201d life in the city for the freedom of his family\u2019s farm in southeastern Nebraska, where he built fences and carried irrigation pipes with his cousins. <\/p>\n

Bostar, whose son, Dexter, turns 2 in March, said most people \u2014 especially farmers like his family \u2014 care about the natural environment and want to conserve it for future generations. Although his fellow senators might disagree on how best to do that, he said, many of them will measure their success in the Legislature in the same way.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre we making a better place for our children and our grandchildren?\u201d Bostar said. \u201cLet\u2019s start from that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before Lincoln Sen. Eliot Bostar decided to run for the Nebraska Legislature, he asked for guidance from an old friend: Bill Moyers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29608,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[264],"class_list":["post-29606","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-senator-features","tag-sen-eliot-bostar"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/MeetBostar_blog.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29606"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29611,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29606\/revisions\/29611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29606"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29606"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/update.legislature.ne.gov\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}