Why I’m Running
Put simply, I see the Community being ignored and diminished to benefit developers and selfish interests. We can change that, working together. We can change that by getting our voices heard and concerns addressed. We can change that by making officials accountable and responsive.
The best government is of, by, and for the people – not just those with the most money or property or power or contacts. We are a community of oldtimers and newcomers that needs to listen and hear all voices. We need to build a vision and consensus together with an action plan to make it happen.
We need right-sized government – not too big and not too small. We need government that stays in touch, that keeps us informed, that makes it easy to find answers and information, and doesn’t put muzzles on people. We need government that works in the sunshine and doesn’t litigate when it can communicate. And we need government to stand up to bullies who would ruin what we value for their selfish gain and private benefit at public expense.
Putting Community First is my priority. We need to build resiliency, not more paved surfaces. We need to protect our people, planet, and prosperity for all, not private profit for the powerful and few. We need to value our young and our old in year-round families and households able to live, work, and learn here in affordable housing with available medical and human services.
We need to have streets safe for pedestrians and ways to move around for residents without being mowed down by vehicles. We need our beaches secure, accessible, maintained for marine and shore life with good hygiene and parking for residents that also accommodates visitors. We need to keep our heritage, scenery, woodlands, wetlands, wildlife, wilderness, and open spaces viable for the future.
There is a cost to everything we do, but funding needs to be fair, equitable, and sustainable. The public needs to be given a choice and informed ahead so it can decide its budget priorities by a referendum to show what it does or doesn’t want.
Then we need to work together with others in all sectors and allied communities and governments on our common good, common wealth, and shared concerns and interests. We need to plan together when and where we can from the Local to the County, Regional, State, Federal, and Planetary level. And we need to act to implement and assure those plans are carried out to the best and fullest extent we can – not ignore and defeat them by incompetence, neglect, or intent.
I’m running so we can Put Community First together.
Family Life
My wife of 28 years, Kathy, and I moved to Lewes in 2011 from Baltimore where we raised five kids, Taj, Will, Ned, Clare, and Zac. We live in Pilottown Village with our dog, Khush (the unofficial Mayor of Lewes) and our cat, Ninja, and love nothing more than enjoying the Lewes lifestyle with our friends and family, which now includes two amazing grandsons.
Born into a family tradition of public service and civic engagement, I pursued a lifelong career of government and community service, which has prepared me to serve as your Mayor. Here are a few highlights:
Government Service
Retired from the federal government after 37 years of service, 31 of which were spent at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), where I managed budgets up to $250 million and 100 staff, in a variety of projects and programs:
- Team Leader for the International Renewable Energy Program in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy
- DOE Associate Professor for behavioral science and strategy, Industrial College of the Armed Forces (Eisenhower Institute), National Defense University
- Loaned Executive, Mayor’s Office City of Baltimore, community development, brownfields reclamation
- Executive Officer for the Office of Science Education & Technical Information
- Planning, evaluation, internal controls and audit liaison for the Energy Information Administration
- Coordinator for a DOE AmeriCorps program, Salmon Corps, working with Native American members of the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission in the Pacific Northwest
- Vice President of the DOE Secretary’s Diversity Council
- Executive Vice President of the DOE Headquarters Chapter, NTEU
- Coordinator of the DOE Council of Employee Organizations
Community Service
Over many years, my community service in Delaware and Maryland has included:
- Pro bono mediator for the Center for Community Justice in Milford (2016 Volunteer of the Year Award)
- Member – by Governor appointment – on the Oversight Board, Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility
- President of the Board for Delaware Interfaith Power & Light
- Facilitator for the Alternatives to Violence Project working in the Delaware Correctional System
- Coordinator of the Lewes Community Partnership, working to prevent destructive development
- Member – by Governor Appointment – of the Maryland Commission for Women
- President of the Board of Directors for the Baltimore Experimental High School
- Co-founder and member of the Board of Sojourner-Douglass College in Baltimore
Education
- BA, Antioch College
- EdM, Harvard Graduate School of Education
- MBA, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- Doctoral work in management studies, University of Maryland Global Campus
- Three-year Management Development Program, U.S. Department of Health, Education & Welfare