My wife, Patty and I, built our retirement home in Anacortes when I retired at the end of 2019. Prior to that, I spent my entire life in King County. We have two grown daughters who live in the Seattle area and one grandson.

For over 30 years, I owned and published community newspapers in the greater Seattle area. These were weekly newspapers (similar to the Anacortes American). My former partner and I sold our Seattle company in 1990 and I started a new publishing company in Renton in 1994, which included newspapers, a community magazine and business publication.

In 2003, I was elected to the Renton City Council, and I ran for mayor four years later. I was elected in 2007 and served 12 years as the mayor. We had a city staff of approximately 750 people serving a population of over 100,000 people. During my time as mayor, I served two terms as president of the Sound Cities Association, which represented 39 cities in King County. I was a member of Renton Rotary for 25 years.

I served on many boards over the years including the Renton Community Foundation and Renton Technical College Foundation.