I grew up in Billings, MT. Two weeks after graduating from high school, I rode a bus for 24 hours to Portland, OR where I began working on land survey crews for the Bureau of Land Management—this job paid most of my way through the civil engineering program at Montana State University in Bozeman.
After graduation from MSU, I was working as the party chief for a land surveyor who began contracting my services as an engineer to the City of St. Helens, OR.
I was hired by the City in a permanent position in 1988, promoted to City Engineer in 1992. During my time in St. Helens, I began taking graduate studies at Portland State University in the evenings and on weekends. In 1995, I received my MPA.
In 1998, I left St. Helens to become the Director of Public Works/County Engineer for Pacific County, WA.
And in 2005, I was hired by the City of Mount Vernon as their Public Works Director.
In my personal life, I have an 18 year old daughter and a 15 year old son…it’s probably not very remarkable to mention that I love them more than my own life.