About Me - 
 My Candidate Statement 

Prior to being elected in 2020 as your current Pinal County Supervisor for District 4, I was elected to the Oracle School Governance Board, and selected by my peers to be President for five of the eight years, after having retired from decades of business management in a variety of small and large entrepreneurial ventures. Living in unincorporated Pinal since 2008, I have served as a PC in my local community, been the County District PC representing the neighborhoods around me, supporting my fellow PCs, and continue volunteering for a social service nonprofit serving Pima and eastern Pinal. Being involved at the grassroots level to be sure people have accurate reliable information and access to resources, is very important to me. Having lived in large urban areas prior to moving to Arizona, I also understand the needs of cities, their residents, and how they integrate with County services. My wife and I inherited a small section of a family farm in the Midwest that was homesteaded by her family many generations ago, and our family has supported Native land projects in the Pacific Northwest. It is easy for me to relate to, and represent, the many different types of communities in Pinal County.

​

People always ask me what a County Supervisor’s role is. It is limited, and defined in Arizona Revised Statues. In general, it boils down to the following:

• Define the Vision for the County’s future/set related Policy

• Determine the Annual Primary Property Tax Rate/Approving the Budget

• Supervise the County Manager, to whom the responsibility of management of County Departments has been delegated.

​

For the first hundred years, Pinal County experienced very slow, steady growth. Less than 68,000 people lived in our County in 1970. In the 2000 Census 179,727 residents were reported; and today, we are at nearly 500,000 residents, growing exponentially. We are currently one of the top ten growth Counties in the Nation, and the only one west of the Mississippi! Our growth projection is to double population over the next 25 years; so, electing a County Supervisor who has a history of successful long-term vision and strategic planning experience is especially critical at this point in time.

​

For many residents, the speed of our rapid growth can be uncomfortable, yet it is inevitable; so, we must look forward in terms of infrastructure investments such as roads, energy, transportation, water, economic development, etc.., while also remembering and embracing our small-town cultural history, and finding the balance. While serving the Oracle School District community, we modernized the educational experience while keeping true to our small-town roots, and having global expectations. Today, I focus on Pinal County needs by sitting on the Pinal Regional Transportation Authority Board, the Governor’s Workforce Arizona Council, Pinal Partnership Water Resource Committee, engaging with various water management boards, and tracking utility company projections of future energy demand.

​

One positive with regard to our rapid County growth is that development of many new commercial and residential properties, needed to meet the demand, has greatly increased property values and the number of taxable entities, boosting our overall property tax revenue. Therefore, our Board has been able to reduce the property tax rate considerably over the past few years, moving Pinal from one of the top taxing counties in the state to one of the lowest, while also setting aside limited reserves to balance the budget in times of unexpected economic downturn, and taking the opportunity now to build new debt free facilities geared for current and future needs. 

Our new Election Building is a prime example of our facility investment; providing ample needed space to facilitate all the new and improved processes put in place the past two years, space for staff materials and equipment, and a glass public viewing room, 'the fish bowl', from which visitors can watch, firsthand, ballots move through the system including receipt and separation from the envelope, signature verification, sorting, and tabulation. The public is welcome to join staff on a Tuesday Tour or set up a personalized tour by contacting me through the Contact tab on this website. 

Improving and assuring election integrity is of the utmost importance to me.

​

As an entrepreneur for 30 years, I have been through economic upsides and downturns. I understand the importance of long-term financial strategies, the value of having detailed processes and records in place; and I have the experience it takes to bring a corporation from start up to sustainable growth, through operational capacity building. 

In my last 3 and a half years I have worked on reforms to the Pinal County budget processes to ensure we have adequate funding for all departments to operate effectively and efficiently in service to our residents, while being able to offer competitive compensation to retain quality employees. In 2022 I asked our Board to lead by example by defining reasonable, relatively equal budgets for all District Supervisor Offices. We represent the same number of people; and though some geographical differences, percentage of incorporated vs unincorporated areas, and Supervisor time spent away from the office on other Board and committee appointments may require some spending differences, we should be able to do our jobs without the wide ranges of spending seen in the past. Every dollar we manage must be spent responsibly, while insuring quality customer service. Government is a service industry; and you, our constituents, are our customers.

​

In my next term I look forward to continued involvement in supporting and encouraging work on the vision of revamping our Planning and Development process; learning from past experiences and feedback of staff, residents and other stakeholders, to make it a shining example of what it can be. This is often the first face of the County people experience. We created and filled new County job positions this year that will significantly improve the customer experience: District liaisons now help residents connect with the P&D Department and track their projects from start to finish.

​

Re-Entry. This is near and dear to my heart; helping folks transition out of jail back into society successfully. It is one of the things I ran on in my first term. Connecting people who have been incarcerated with resource providers improves their ability to do this; and it is better for our community as a whole because the rate of return to jail drops significantly, eliminating those costs. This program helps folks in situations of substance abuse to recover. It helps with job programs, and other needs. It is a program that received little traction before my term in office. Now, we are one of the premier Re-Entry programs in the nation. I would like to continue supporting staff to see this project through.

​

People say one of the things they most appreciate about having me as their representative is my accessibility; my passion to bring people and new ideas together, and the way I listen and connect residents with staff who can answer their questions and solve their challenges directly. My proven leadership and experience will help continue to improve our government, and move Pinal County forward into a vibrant economic and sustainable future.

This County Supervisor race is determined in the July 30th Primary Election.

I humbly ask for your vote.

If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to me through my Contact tab on this website.

Thank you for your consideration.