Candidate for
County Commissioner; County of Hamilton

I am 42 years old and the younger of two boys. I was born in Hamilton, Ohio, in 1968, and was raised in Loveland, Ohio. There I attended St. Columban Grade School and later graduated Valedictorian from Moeller High School in 1986. My passion for public service was first sparked while at Moeller when I took part in student government, the American Legion's Buckeye Boys State, and the Cincinnati City Council's Youth in City Government Program.

I graduated from Purdue University in 1990 with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. At Purdue, I was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity and was elected to various offices including both vice-president and president. Upon graduation, General Electric Aircraft Engines hired me for its Edison Engineering Development Program in Cincinnati. While working for the General Electric Company, I attended University of Cincinnati at night and received the degree of Masters of Science in Engineering.

In 1993, I decided to pursue public service by accepting a position with the Marianist Volunteer Service Community in Queens, New York where I worked for a year at the Angel Guardian Home Foster Care Agency in Brooklyn, New York. While there, I worked with teenage boys and girls helping them to develop independent living skills for when they left the foster care system. Following this, I became the acting Director of a homeless shelter in Oakland, California, where I gained a greater understanding of the many housing and health care issues facing the inner city community. In 1995, I accepted a teaching assignment at Minsk State Linguistic University in Minsk, Belarus where I taught American Studies. This assignment provided me the opportunity to learn about the difficult environmental and political issues facing the people of Belarus. While in Minsk, I pursued fundraising grants for the Children of Chernobyl Organization and pro-democracy groups. Upon my return from Belarus, I returned to the classroom to broaden my field of studies and received a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1998.

I have spent years, serving the communities in which I lived. I held the position of trustee for the Mt. Adams Civic Association and served as vice-president of the Winton Community Council, now known as Spring Grove Village. While serving my community, I learned neighborhood issues first-hand and came to understand the problems facing Cincinnati.

On Cincinnati City Council I currently serve on the Budget and Finance Committee, Government Operations Committee, Livable Communities Committee, and the Quality of Life Committee. I previously served as Chairman of the Arts, Culture, Tourism and Marketing & Technology Committee and held the position of Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Health, Environmental Education Committee as well as a member of Law and Public Safety Committee.

My many years of council service have earned me a reputation for reducing taxes, curtailing City spending and fighting crime. I understand that Hamilton County needs to take major steps in order to attract and maintain homeowners and each year, I have fought to maintain a property tax rollback that prevents homeowners from facing increased property taxes due to rising property values.

During my time on council, I also took the lead in going after Cincinnati's worst slumlords. I was instrumental in the creation of Hamilton County's Housing Docket. Instead of facing civil fines for building violations, slumlords are sent to the Housing docket to face criminal penalties. The docket was established at no extra expense to taxpayers.

I am presently employed by General Electric Aviation as the Repair Technology Center of Excellence Department Six Sigma Black Belt and GE90 Business Program Manager. I will bring my GE real world business experience as an engineer and a manger to the Hamilton County Commission. As a Six Sigma Black Belt, I work for increased productivity and lean processes to provide repairs faster, better, and cheaper. Being responsible for a $6.2M individual budget, which is part of a Department Budget of $128M; I understand the necessity of balancing budgets and living within ones means.

My wife, Jana, and our three children, reside in Spring Grove Village where we are very involved with our children's activities. I am a former President of the St. Vivian's PTA and I am a basketball coach for St. Vivian. In addition, I also help coach baseball for College Hill/North Hills Knothole Baseball and am an active member of Spring Grove Village's Citizens on Patrol group.