My Story — Qualifications
I grew up in a small village called Greendale which is on the outskirts of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1936, as a part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began construction of three planned communities in the US known as Greenbelt Towns and Greendale was one of them. These planned towns were built so that housing was situated within easy walking distance of gardens, employment, parks and the town center with uniform streets, sidewalks, driveways and underground utilities – all of which were unusual at the time. This upbringing had a profound effect on my view of communities.
From a love of the great outdoors, I decided to leave Texas in 1993 to run a small contract electronics firm in Hood River, Oregon. Transitioning from a large corporation to a small company of 120 employees was personally formative and invaluable as I saw the worth of doing more with less and what matters most in building community and contributing to the welfare of others. In 1995, I left the wind Surfing, hiking, skiing, and rock climbing of Hood River behind and moved to Sammamish to join a boutique consulting firm based in Bellevue. My consulting practice focused on strategy development and deployment. The change from operations leadership to having influence without authority was developmental. My curiosity to learn about various diverse industries and the challenges they face, reinforced my affinity for servant leadership in helping them achieve their goals.
After receiving my BS in Industrial Engineering from LSU in Baton Rouge, I began my career in 1983 with Texas Instruments in Dallas, Texas leading a photolithography team in their semi-conductor division followed by a position in the Missile Systems Division optimizing factory operations. Pursuing growth opportunities, I joined the Boeing Company in 1986 as an automation / robotics engineer within the company’s avionics division. While at Boeing, I held leadership positions in engineering, quality, human resources, finance, and eventually managed the division’s Electronic Control Module facility and earned my MBA from the University of Dallas with an emphasis in engineering management.
During this time, I met an amazing woman named Alison. We married in 1999 and have two remarkable sons that live nearby. I earned my Ph.D. in Organization / Management from Capella University in MN while building my consultancy. After almost 50 years of work in the small business, corporate and consulting world, I decided to retire but with a different view of helping others. With this election, I hope to start a new chapter of public service and give back to the community that has provided so much for me and my family. I believe that my years of work and life experience has prepared me well for the Sammamish City Council.
