About Me

I am a businessman, an avid cyclist, hiker, and kayaker, and believe in a balanced approach to city leadership – protecting open spaces while ensuring smart growth and economic stability. A lifelong fan of the Beatles, I understand the need for harmony in all things, including governance.

My early years were shaped by an upbringing in which we moved often, residing in several states and even a stint in Indonesia, where we had a pet monkey and lived directly across the street from the jungle. Experiencing different cultures and environments gave me a broad perspective and a deep appreciation for diverse communities.

I attended Strake Jesuit College Preparatory for high school, where I learned in the Ignatian tradition – emphasizing character, integrity, and a commitment to service. In fact, one of the Jesuit mottos is “be a man for others”. Those values continue to guide my decision-making and leadership traits.

After moving to Colorado Springs in 2013, I quickly fell in love with mountain biking, hiking, and all of the trails and open spaces Colorado Springs offers. I knew I wanted to get involved in protecting those public lands, advocate for responsible development, and push for greater accountability in government. I joined the fight to keep Strawberry Field a part of the historic North Cheyenne Canon Park because it was added by a vote of the people. I respect the wisdom and will of the electorate.

Additionally, as a member of the Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services Citizen Advisory Board, I have advocated for continued purchases of land for open spaces and parks. That being said, I was the only member of the Parks Board to vote against the Blodgett Master Plan. I didn’t think a plan was necessary with so many unknowns regarding the adjacent Quarry property and am not afraid to stand alone on principles.

Vision

I fell in love with Colorado Springs well before I moved here as I visited my brother here since the 1980’s. I’ve seen it jump into the list of best cities to live in while I’ve been here and want to stay on that list. One of the best things about Colorado Springs is the parks, trails, and open spaces we have, knowing those features contribute to happiness, increased property values, and better health. I would ensure we keep investing in our parks system and add much needed maintenance to our current portfolio.

There has also been a lot of discussion within City Council regarding their integrity, especially pertaining to campaign contributions from the developers here. I will NOT accept donations from developers as they are often the largest issues to come before Council regarding land, money involved, and the entire direction the City takes. No Council member should be recusing themselves from those debates because they took money from the developer whose land deal is before them. The way to ensure all 9 Council members are a part of those decisions is to not accept developer money. I call on all candidates for City Council to reject contributions from developers to ensure integrity in our decision-making.

Hot Topics

Voter Esteem

City Council recently completed two actions that I am very uncomfortable with. The citizens voted to allow recreational marijuana on two separate measures last November. Council states the ballot language confused citizens and they were not sure if people actually got the result they wanted. Thus, they have put on the April 1st ballot another obtusely written measure to make sure the electorate knew what they were doing in November. I have more faith in the electorate than that. They voted twice in November: case closed. The people spoke!

On top of that, Council decided not to put the controversial 27- 35 story building downtown to the people for a vote. Knowing that the aesthetic beauty of Colorado Springs is an important issue to the voters, along with density, environmental, and infrastructure issues, this question about height restrictions of buildings should go to the electorate. If Council members respect the voters who vote them into office, they should respect them enough to allow them to make vitally important issues that affect and concern us all. Then, when the votes are counted, honor them and don’t try to subvert the will of the voters who put you in office.

Fire Mitigation and Growth Concerns

Based on growth projections, we will have a set of new challenges. First and foremost, we need to grow strategically and avoid creating a dense downtown, as density has wrought bad consequences in cities across the nation. We need to ensure our police and fire departments grow accordingly to maintain public safety.
I think the biggest threat to Colorado Springs would be a catastrophic fire as seen in Los Angeles. We need to increase and improve our mitigation efforts.

Stop Over-Development

Unchecked development is harming our city, increasing congestion, and straining our resources. I refuse to accept developer donations to ensure City Council makes decisions for the people, not for profit-driven interests.

No Developer Money: Unlike some candidates, I will refuse contributions from developers who seek to influence policy and control leadership.

Anti-Skyscrapers and Density on the Westside: The charm and character of our neighborhoods must be preserved, not overshadowed by towering high-rises and dense development. I support building height limits and allowing the people to vote on such a critical policy that impacts both public health and our majestic views.

Smart Growth Over Sprawl: Development should align with infrastructure capacity, public safety, and long-term sustainability. Smart growth includes not trapping people on the Westside. I believe we have surpassed smart density levels on the Westside of Colorado Springs and additional density threatens the public safety of citizens.

Evacuation Modeling

Recent studies show it will take 8.5 hours to evacuate residents in a best-case scenario. That is unacceptable! I will fight for finally passing the Clearance Evacuation Time & Life Safety Ordinance that Westside neighborhoods have long fought to implement that mandates the SCIENCE of evacuation modeling, reporting of times with evacuation road maps with safe areas identified and the impact of development on evacuation times.

Protect Parks

Colorado Springs’ parks and open spaces are what makes this city special! I believe our Parks must be protected from overdevelopment and neglect. We need to do the following:

Prioritize Park Maintenance: we have a $250 million maintenance backlog in our park system. I know that can’t be solved overnight, but we need to address it immediately.

Expand and Improve Open Spaces: I support increasing park land and ensuring sustainable access. Our park protection ordinances (POPS) and the language in TOPS need to be strengthened to protect our parks like most cities in Colorado do. Once they are gone, they are gone forever.

Strong Neighborhoods

Strong communities make a strong city. I will fight against policies that erode the character of our neighborhoods. We need to stop overdevelopment in our established communities. Neighborhoods should not be forced to accommodate reckless, high-density projects. Colorado Springs should enforce our Home Rule Authority and challenge the dystopian housing bills being passed by our state legislature that threaten citizens’ public safety like the upcoming ADU Ordinance which removes zoning restrictions that exist to protect a neighborhood and its’ character.

Preserve the Westside’s Character: the Westside should remain a beautiful, livable part of our city- not a hub for overcrowding and congestion. I believe Old Colorado City , the Broadmoor, and Skyway should all be under the Historic Neighborhood Overlay and will work to achieve that. We need to retain the historic character of these neighborhoods.