Proven Leadership You Can Trust

What do you expect from your State House District Representative? It is a question I ask everyone I talk to on the campaign trail. Honesty, integrity, vision, personable, someone who represents the community, not dark money interests, someone who can work across the aisle for the betterment of the community, someone who is involved in the community are the top comments I have received. No matter what your political affiliation may be, I would ask that you take the time necessary to research all the candidates and choose that candidate who has actually made a positive impact on the community.

As a Jeffco native and a fifth generation Coloradoan, my roots and my commitment to our community run deep. Growing up in Arvada, I saw neighbors who worked together, their kids played together, they ate dinner together, and they overcame adversity together. They didn’t always agree on politics or religion, but they could have a respectful discussion without it devolving into name calling or personal attacks. We had local, state and federal elected officials who honorably represented their community and their constituents with good, honest public debate and discourse.

Having been married for over 31 years and with three grown children, I am concerned for what Colorado and this nation have become. Over 10 years ago, I looked in the mirror and said to myself, it is time to get off the sidelines and into the game. Keep in mind, I am a registered professional civil engineer, and engineers typically do not get into the political fray. But after a tremendous amount of work, early mornings and late nights, I won my election to be Jefferson County Commissioner. I was sworn in at the height of the Great Recession. County revenues were off by $18m and requests for services were skyrocketing. A difficult time for sure, however, I was able to utilize my real-world engineering and business background and experience to promptly ascertain the situation, develop a comprehensive plan to move forward, all while addressing the increased needs of our community. Balancing a half billion-dollar budget each year is not an easy task, but I took pride in the hard work and dedication it required. Working with department directors and other elected officials took a tremendous amount of diligence each year, but I did it because that was what voters deserved and what I was elected to do. We face the same challenges at the state level, and we need a representative who knows how to balance large budgets, who isn’t afraid of doing the required work, and who is willing to work across the aisle for the betterment of the community.

When wildfires and floods struck Jeffco in 2012 and 2013, respectively, it required strong leadership, and as such, I stepped up to coordinate the County’s response. I worked with local, state and federal response teams to make sure the citizens of Jeffco received the support and assistance for recovery from these devastating events. Responding to the needs of the community, I worked with numerous community stakeholders and established the first ever Jeffco Slash collection program. This extremely popular program has removed millions of pounds of highly combustible slash material from our community without imposing/requiring a fee or tax increase.