There is no single moment I can point to.
No story about a broken road that finally pushed me over the edge. No council meeting where I watched a terrible decision get made and thought I could do better. People expect candidates to have that kind of origin story, but I simply don't.
What I have is a pattern. A long one.
That pattern goes back further than Maricopa. I graduated from Virginia Military Institute, one of the few schools in the country that still operates under a single sanction honor court. There are no second chances there. You lie, you cheat, you steal, or you tolerate those who do, and you are gone. Four years in that environment shapes how you approach everything that comes after it. Public service included.
I moved to Maricopa in 2021 with my wife. We chose this city on purpose. We liked what it was and we believed in what it could become. And pretty quickly I started looking for ways to contribute to building it.
When Councilmember Nancy Smith was elevated to Mayor, her seat came open. The City Council accepted applications from residents to fill it. I applied. I was one of four people interviewed. They selected Eric Goettl.
A couple of years later, Councilmember Rich Vitiello stepped down to run for Pinal County Supervisor. Same process. I applied again. I was one of three people interviewed. They appointed AnnaMarie Knorr.
Twice I raised my hand to serve. Twice I was not selected.
A lot of people encouraged me to run in the 2024 election. I had just gotten married. My first year of marriage mattered more to me than a campaign schedule and I was honest about that with everyone who asked. The timing was not right.
But I was not sitting still.
I joined the Maricopa Planning and Zoning Commission in 2023. I became Vice Chair in 2024 and Chair in 2025. Over those years I reviewed hundreds of development applications. I worked through the technical debates about setbacks, traffic studies, drainage plans, and land use compatibility. I learned how decisions that feel abstract at the commission level end up shaping the daily lives of residents for decades.
During that same stretch I was part of the group that built 347facts.com, which mobilized more than 120,000 resident emails and helped get SR-347 onto ADOT's 5-year plan. Construction starts this summer.
All of that was volunteer work. No salary. No ballot line. Just a conviction that this city deserves people who show up and do, not just watch and wait.
Here's a little-known fact: Arizona is a "by right" state. That means if a property is zoned for apartments, the developer has a legal right to build apartments there. The city cannot simply say no because of opposition to increased density or a contrary view of what residents want or don't want. Zoning decides. By the time a project comes before the Planning and Zoning Commission, the window to change direction is often already closed or open just a crack.
If I had a vote for every time I had to explain that at public hearings, my being a candidate would be moot. Residents would show up expecting the commission to block something they did not like, and I had to walk them through our legal as well as procedural limitations. It was never a fun conversation.
But it taught me something important. If you want to shape what Maricopa looks like ten years from now, don't wait. Be proactive, engaged, and ultimately informed. Be part of the solution or the plan by being there at the start. That is what I want to do as your Councilmember.
My priorities are public safety, transportation, and quality of life. That means competitive pay and real career support for our first responders. It means finishing what we started on SR-347 and building infrastructure that keeps pace with, or stays ahead of, our growth. It means parks, opportunities for youth, and a local business environment where people succeed and traffic equates to customers.
None of those things happen on their own. They happen because someone at the table did the homework, understands how the process works, and is willing to push.
I have been doing that homework for years. Now I am ready to do something more with it.
That is why I am running for City Council.