About Me

I am a forty-seven-year-old single father raising young children.  I’ve lived in Clyde Hill since 1988, volunteering at Clyde Hill Elementary the last six years. We also have an Australian Labradoodle named Biscuit and a Turtle with a rotating name.

My political experience started twenty-five years ago at the University of Oregon.  I was elected to be a part of the most powerful student government in the nation managing a budget larger than ours.  At twenty-two I was negotiating million-dollar purchase contracts on behalf of the student body.  My efforts there gained national recognition for developing new policies to protect equal justice.  I decided to become a Public Defender.  

I went to law school at American University in Washington DC and returned home to work as a public defender for the next ten years.  First as a caseload attorney and then as management and training coordinator.  Along with jury trials and jail visits, I was on both labor and management collective bargaining teams.  

My passion then and still today is equal treatment under the law.  That career also gave me a deep respect for those who were fighting on the other side, the police, and the prosecutors many I consider friends today. 

I am comfortable reading, drafting, and interpreting the law.  Through the law I honed, de-escalation, negotiation, and compromise techniques.  Over twenty jury trials trained me to translate the law into plain language.  

After having children, I left the law and focused on starting a real estate investment company which I own and run today.  This work has brought me additional background in zoning laws, construction, and finance.