Wow, what a whirlwind! 

While I love our Lakewood community and have spent over half my life working hard to improve the world around me, I’ll be honest, having this job was not something that I had on my radar…until 2020. 

I’ll be candid, my decision to run for this role was incredibly hard to make.  I’ve seen the stark realities of our present-day lack of trust in our government & leadership, the division, and the spite that is often unjustly directed at people that are truly in good faith working on our behalf. 

Did I really want to become part of that fray?

Did I want to put my own mental health on the line?

And subject my family to it?

It was hard to get to yes. But as you know now, I did.

I did because we all deserve good human beings that are working hard to make sure our city is moving in the right direction. In the end, while there were some hard times and critical voices, I felt so blessed last year during my campaign to come across so much humanity:

People who thanked me over and over for putting myself out there.

People who offered me water at their door.

People who opened up and shared their stories, their challenges, and their love for our Lakewood community.

These are the stories that do and will continue to come into my mind as I vote on the issues that are presented to me this year. 

In my term on council, I look forward to continuing to proactively reach out to members of our community to learn not just the opinion of the very vocal few, but also the opinions and the needs of those of you that may not as actively reach out to let me know how you are feeling. As residents and small businesses, you are the backbone of our community. 

I believe each and every one of you have the right to know the truth, and about the people who are up there on that desk voting on topics that will inevitably at times affect your everyday life. 

So, with that in mind, it is my intention to use this blog so you can learn more about me, more about the challenges of the job and more about the people and goings on here in Lakewood.  I know this may be a heavy lift at times on top of the responsibilities of this already big role but my hope that with this, that you as voters and residents can feel comfortable that I have our community’s best interests at heart, and that I’m in this role for the reasons that you want me to be. 

I would also like to extend an invitation to you to please reach out to share your thoughts. My work here is to serve as a funnel, a collection point of information, the feelings, and the thoughts of the people. Its listening to multiple perspectives, researching each topic and then voting my conscience.

As we enter 2022, and the first full year in my term, I am beyond excited to meet you and to represent  you who live here in Lakewood, and most especially those of you in Ward 5.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity you have given me to serve our community, thank you so much and I look forward to keeping you all updated on the workings we have yet to come.