Candidate for
Council Member; City of Alameda

I grew up in Redondo Beach, Calif. which is in Southern Los Angeles County not far from the Palos Verdes Peninsula. When not in school, I could pretty much be found on the beach or the baseball field as a kid. I had a great childhood with warm and supportive parents and lived in a great, kid-friendly community. Like many families in the area, my dad worked in the aerospace industry and my mom was a housewife and teaching assistant at our local schools. I am the youngest of three brothers. While my folks have now passed on, my eldest brother, Steve, is a research librarian for UC Riverside and lives in Temecula. My next-eldest brother, Cliff, is a jazz guitarist and lives in Berkeley. I have two nieces who are both attending UCLA. While in high school I came across a great teacher who opened the doors to me about what a great thing it would be to become a journalist. She was right, too. Journalism is a great job. It's also a tough job and not one for the feint of heart. You have to be willing to question authority, ask tough questions and stand there until you get an answer.

I studied the craft at Long Beach State University where I served as editor in chief of the campus daily. I got my first job as a night-shift police reporter for the Pasadena Star-News in the summer of 1990. Since then I have worked at a number of papers both large and small including the Los Angeles Daily News, the Los Angeles Times, the Contra Costa Times and the Oakland Tribune. Currently, I am a correspondent for the Sacramento Bee newspaper. Journalism has allowed me to experience places and things that few will ever see or know -- at least not in person. And even in these dark days of media retrenchment, the job remains as important as ever in keeping our democracy a democracy. I am proud to say that I have been honored periodically for the quality of my reporting and writing. I just recently won coveted 1st Place Awards from both the San Francisco and East Bay press clubs for my news reporting.

I am also proud to say that was also editor-in-chief of the Alameda Journal from 2005 to 2007 and it was a wonderful experience. It was while editor of the AJ that I discovered what a special place Alameda is. It was also during my editorship that my staff and I uncovered what I call a "culture of secrecy" at our City Hall. That first-hand knowledge of how closed our City Hall is to you the citizen is what prompted my run for council this year. We can and we must do better. We need to return City Hall to its rightful owners - you, the great people of Alameda.