Listening, Learning and Engaging

My family loves to travel. Before having our first child just over 18 years ago, Amanda and I did a fair amount of international travel. A running joke was that I always grabbed real estate listings wherever we went, and we inevitably talked about the possibility of moving there full-time. Some locales would have been far more practical than others. 

With the arrival of our daughter and then our son a few years later, our travel destinations became less exotic but the running joke continued. Then we visited Sedona. We fell in love with this place and the rest, as they say, is history. The running joke came to an end in 2016. We'd found our home.

I was born and grew up in Phoenix, went to college and law school in Tucson, practiced law in Las Vegas for two years and then in Houston for many more, and returned to Arizona in 2016.

In terms of local politics, my initial participation involved campaigning to save the West Sedona School when it faced closure. Since then, I've fought for the school district budget override each time it has come up for a vote. I'm a fervent supporter of public education.  

I served on the Sedona Historic Preservation Commission from 2016 to 2022 and completed the Sedona Police Department's Community Academy in 2022. I know how municipalities operate.  I also understand the interrelations between federal and state laws, on the one hand, and municipal ordinances, on the other -- and recognize which has supremacy.  As a city councilor, I wouldn't vote for ordinances that I know would conflict with state or federal laws, or otherwise exceed the Council's authority.  Doing so just wastes time and taxpayer dollars that are better spent elsewhere. 

On a more personal level, I've been in Arizona for 34 out of my 53 years. I lived in Phoenix and Tucson for a total of around 26 years and have now lived in Sedona for eight with my wife of 25 years and our two teenage children. Both of my kids attend public school here so, although I recognize that the school system has its own governing body, I'm familiar with the successes and struggles of the district, its students, and their families.

I prosecuted misdemeanor criminal cases for the Pima County Attorney's Office during my third year of law school. I've been a real estate attorney for the past 26 years and have experience representing commercial, residential, and renewable energy project developers. More pertinently, I've represented municipalities, transit authorities, and utility providers on major sports, mass transit, and energy projects, often involving their exercise of the power of eminent domain. The light rail project in Houston and a park-n-ride in Austin are two such projects. I'm a partner in a law firm founded in Phoenix in 1885.

This is the only time that I've sought public office. 

Sedona is my home and I deeply care about its future. I'm seeking a seat on the City Council so that I can apply my voice, my ideas, my personal experience, and my professional expertise to helping Sedona live up to its potential and be a great place to live for all its residents.