Keirsten and I bought our first place, a condo on Army Navy Drive, in Arlington when we got married in early 2000. A year and a half later we moved into our house, so that we could start a family. We now have four children – our two daughters, Layne and Mia, and then our two sons, Luke and Jake. The oldest three attend Claremont Immersion elementary school.

Like you, we have put down our roots in this community and want to make it the best place possible for our children to grow up in. We enjoy neighborhood cookouts, a (relatively) convenient commute to my job, and events like the Arlington County Fair. When we can, we attend our Arlington Ridge Civic Association meetings.

Also, like most of you, we do not mind paying our fair share to live in this community. But, we have tightened the family budget over the last couple of years, and we expect our county government to do the same.

When I watched the County Board’s January 2nd Organizational Meeting, I decided I needed to challenge the status quo mentality that one-party rule brings to Arlington. Our newly elected Board Chairman, Mary Hynes, made her number one priority – defining what the Arlington Way is. Most Arlingtonians already know that our board ignores community input it does not like – take the recent decision on a new homeless shelter for instance. I think it’s safe to say that talking about how we talk about issues will do little to change how the County Board operates.

More importantly, it ignores some real challenges Arlington faces moving forward – like very real cuts coming to the federal government.  However, that did not stop Board Vice-Chairman Tejada from proudly announcing that allowing backyard chickens was one of his highest priorities for the year.

I hope to put my experience to work for you as a member of the Board. After law school and passing the Virginia Bar in 1996, I went to work on Capitol Hill. I gained executive experience from six years as a Chief of Staff to a Member of Congress, Jim Ryun, as well as coalition building experience from my role as Deputy Director of Coalitions at one of the world’s largest think tanks. I also served as an analyst on the federal budget for two members of Congress.

With all my time working on public policy, I have demonstrated an ability to quickly digest complicated issues and make recommendations for action. As a member of the County Board, I pledge to uphold the principles of accountability, transparency and responsiveness to neighborhood concerns. And, I will work to maximize the amount of money your family gets to keep when setting budget priorities.I look forward to meeting you on the campaign trail before we vote on March 27th. I hope  to earn your trust, support and vote.