Candidate for
State Representative; Pennsylvania State House of Representatives; District 39; Republican Party

A 33-year resident of the 39th Legislative District, I am running to make the 39th District a better place to live, work, and raise our families.

For the past 33 years as a CPA, I have spent my professional life helping small business owners grow their companies; create new jobs; meet their payrolls; balance their budgets; improve their bottom lines; and be fiscally responsible entrepreneurs. I would like to bring these developed skills and my professional experience to Harrisburg with the goal of improving state government so that it functions more effectively and efficiently.

As a community leader, I have served my local business community as the Treasurer of our local Chamber of Commerce. I have also served for 8+ years as a School Director for the West Jefferson Hills School District, where we have kept taxes low and educational quality high in spite of the reductions in education funding, because we have learned to do more with less. Our school district is one of the 16% of school districts named as "highly successful" districts.

When I was elected to the school board in 2003, our school district millage was the 14th lowest of the 43 districts in our county. As Chair of the Finance Committee, our millage rate is now the 11th lowest in Allegheny County with NO deficit spending over the past 8 budget cycles. As other school districts raised millage during 2011 to deal with the cuts in state funding, our district kept millage stable WITHOUT deficit spending and without eliminating programs for students.

I would like to take my professional and public service experience to Harrisburg to help PA grow private-sector jobs, reform and reduce taxes to encourage business development and job growth, and to work for high-quality, cost-effective public education for the students in the 5 school districts comprising the 39th District. Our leaders cannot be serious about growing jobs if they are not also serious about providing a thorough and efficient means of preparing our future workforce for college or career. Employers locate where there are qualified workers and a good quality of life. Good schools provide qualified workers and raise the quality of life of a community. That means more jobs. Good schools = Good sense.