Recently elected to the Corvallis, Oregon, City Council, my journey to public service has led me to this work. I have always naturally been a peacemaker, but with widely varying degrees of success. My sincere desire is to positively affect the discourse in our community, which has been severely eroded, primarily due to the actions of one City Councilor and her community allies. I will be walking a fine line between calling out unacceptable behavior, and trying to heal the divides that drive it. Also, establishing policies which encourage accountability for unacceptable actions. We have grown from a small, sleepy city, to a mid-sized city and our governance has not evolved with that growth.

I have a lot to learn, but am very motivated. I believe that a sustainable future for our community depends in no small part on this effort being successful.