I am a candidate for Ingham County Commissioner, District 14 which includes the cities of Mason and Leslie, the village of Dansville, and the townships of Bunker Hill, Ingham, Leslie, and Vevay.

I live in Mason with my wife and four children.  I am a native Michigander.  I served for two years in West Africa with Peace Corps, where my wife and I met.  I attended Vermont Law School.  I now work for the Michigan Environmental Council which is a non-profit made up of about 65 environmental, health, and conservation groups from around the state.  I work mainly on state transportation policy issues with the legislature and MDOT.  I focus on transportation funding and finance.

I’m running for county commissioner because I think that my experience and judgment will be a strong addition to the commission’s deliberations on a variety of topics.  I have held positions in leadership and on boards where I have had to make tough decisions on funding and policy.  I have held positions outside of my areas of expertise where I have contributed well and collaboratively.  For example, I was appointed to the Michigan Department of Community of Health Community Values Advisory Board.  I served with stakeholders who represented hospitals, academia, researchers, non-profits, and others.  During my tenure on the board we created educational materials now used in hospitals and birth centers across the state regarding blood banking.  Our work on the board was to guide the department in opening up the state’s blood bank for research access and making sure that the public is aware of it.  While bio-medical research was and is beyond my professional competencies, I was a valued board member because of my insights, tough questioning, and reasoning.  I helped steer this particular board to more productive meetings and better outcomes.  I intend to bring this same approach to the Ingham County Board of Commissioners.