I am running for mayor to keep Tumwater the first and best small town in Washington.  I bring two decades of leadership and public service as a retired Army officer, plus seven years of small business ownership on both sides of the state, to the work of creating affordable housing, sustainability, equality, locally-owned businesses, and outstanding schools.  I support the right of every citizen to have their voice heard in city hall, prosperous job opportunities for our workers, the unshakable place of women in government and the workforce, and the protection of old-growth heritage sites.  I have worked tirelessly for the nation in uniform, and I bring that same energy,  focus, and dedication to city hall. 

And there is a lot of work to be done.  Buildings like the Olympia Brewery and the Terrace Falls have sat vacant for years, with “experts” saying there’s nothing we can do.  Tumwater police are only staffed to 75% and our firefighters need a station to cover the southern third of the city.  Current city policies only require new housing developments to have 10% green space.  Current taxes provide no incentives for landlords to make housing available to those least able to pay.  Finally, the healthy 400-year old Davis-Meeker tree was nearly cut down in spite of the clear will of the public. 

All these reasons are why Tumwater needs a fresh voice.  Someone who instead of doing more of what created these issues will bring together private enterprise, local activism, government policy, and the doggedness to get these tasks done.  Tumwater needs a fresh start, and I will provide it. 

More about me

I retired in the winter of 2025 from the United States Army after twenty years of service.  I have fought as a platoon leader in Iraq during “the surge” (earning a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart); led as a company commander in the Republic of Korea, ten miles from the ironically-named demilitarized zone; and finished my uniformed service as chief of staff and second-in-command of a cavalry squadron at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA. 

I have lived in Tumwater since 2017, but grew up in beautiful Cashmere, WA, where I am a descendant of its first permanent settler and the second-generation owner of our family orchard (and my son Jasper, a Tumwater high schooler, will be the third).  I am also a local landlord, providing affordable, high-quality housing to three families on both sides of the state.   

I have served in a variety of volunteer leadership positions for over 25 years, particularly with the Cascadia Conservation District, Oxford Winter Nights Shelter, the Olympia Union Gospel Mission, the Catholic Church’s Shelter of Hope, Wenatchee Valley College’s scholarship board, and the Seattle chapter of the CS Lewis Institute, among many others. 

My education includes an associate’s of arts from Wenatchee Valley College, a bachelor’s of business administration from Pacific Lutheran University, a master’s of military arts and sciences from the US Army Command and General Staff College, and most recently I have returned from the University of Oxford where I served as a post-graduate researcher for the Department of Phonetics, Philology, and Linguistics.