I've grown up in Maungakiekie-Tamaki, in the land between and around the maunga of Maungarei / Mt Wellington and Maungakiekie / One Tree Hill. I went to school at Bailey Rd Primary School and later Selwyn College, before studying at the University of Auckland in Psychology and Geology. My wife Vanessa and I, met while she was visiting New Zealand from the States, and we married each other in Hawaii as the halfway point between our two homelands (we had our first date, our engagement, and our marriage all on volcanos!). Vanessa and I now live in Onehunga and love the community, it's environment, and the central location to our family and our jobs.

I’ve served the public for ten years as an official in Auckland's local government, working on improving buildings, implementing civil defence programmes, undertaking engineering and geological research, and policy development.

For the same number of years, in my free time I also serve as a volunteer ambulance officer with St John Ambulance, providing medical assistance at community events, and going out on our frontline ambulances on occasion to keep up my clinical experience and assist my full-time colleagues. and enjoy a range of creative and outdoor pursuits made possible by our amazing regional environment.

My passion lies in encouraging collaboration, creative-thinking, forward planning, and the use of best scientific principles. I am an avid student of history and watcher of cutting-edge research and development, for I believe that those who understand the past and look to our future can achieve far greater things in the present for us all. I firmly believe that Auckland Council can build for the future and serve its citizens better than any other local authority in the world if we follow this principle and and work better with the people around us and the technology in front of us. My vision is that Auckland can become not only a great place for our citizens to live in, but a model for others to look up to and emulate the world over.