My family moved to the Illinois Valley in 1980 when my dad, fresh out of the Navy, started a job with ComEd at the LaSalle County Nuclear Station. I attended St Patrick’s Grade School and in 1989 we moved to the West side of Ottawa; a stone’s throw from Handy Foods.

While growing up, I was a member of the Ottawa Boy Scouts and worked a paper route that stretched down Main Street. I spent my time playing youth sports and buying penny candies at the old Book Store on the corner of Main and Court Street.

As a teen, I was interested in the arts and music and was fortunate to have transformational teachers like Harry Adrian and Bill Myers. I graduated from Ottawa Township High School in 1994.

I met my wife, Amy, in 1993 working at Wendy’s on Columbus St and we married in 1998. A veterinarian from the University of Illinois, Amy has been the owner of Progress Park Veterinary Hospital in Peru for 11 years. I opened my Insurance Agency in 2006 and have built it into one of the leading agencies with Farmers Insurance Group. We purchased a 150 yr old building on Main Street and renovated it as a permanent home for my office, two apartments on the second floor, and finally finished our home on the third floor. Much of the work we did ourselves. Then we were fortunate to acquire the historic Knuessl building. It seemed like fate because I grew up in the family home of Maxmillion Knuessl, a German-born Ottawan who came to the city in 1855 and both buildings we renovated belonged to him. It was our dream to live downtown and having such a connection to the history of Ottawa made it even more special.

We have two amazingly talented daughters Eleanor and Iris, who are currently attending Ottawa Township High School and Central Intermediate Grade School. Iris spends her time creating and designing while hanging around Open Space Art Gallery or walking around downtown with our cat Hector in tow. Eleanor likes to read, do puzzles, and recently created “Chess n Checkers in the Park” which takes place in Washington Park every other Sunday. Her efforts resulted in two permanent concrete chess tables in the park.

We are an Ottawa family that believes in service to our community. I’ve been fortunate to have met and worked with so many talented people in this community. I’ve cultivated relationships and developed a reputation for honesty and believe I am fair-minded with an ability to get things done.

I encourage voters in Ottawa to consider me for Mayor and look forward to working with everyone in accomplishing our goals.