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What is your educational and career background?
I was born and raised in Indianapolis, attended K through 12 at IPS, and did a year at IUPUI after serving active duty for four years. I finished my degree at Harrison College and got my bachelor’s degree in information technology. My career outside of the Army is all information technology focused. I work for a contract company, and we contract for the federal government.
Tell us about your family.
We are a blended family. Between us, my wife and I have four daughters between the ages of 8 and 25, with one 2-year-old grandchild. I choose to believe I am very blessed. We also have the house filled with furry animals and have five dogs.
What brought you to Avon?
Honestly, all of it. I grew up on the west side of Indianapolis, just outside of Speedway. For me, growing up, Avon was the suburb that you wanted to raise your family in. Avon was where you wanted to be. My wife is from California, and I’m from Indianapolis. Avon’s always been the place. Of course, the top of our list was the schools for the kids – how do you argue with Avon schools? That, with the housing market, made it a no-brainer. Avon was the place to go.
Tell us about your hobbies.
I’m a geek through and through. I like to tinker. I’m a licensed commercial drone pilot, so I like to fly drones. On the rare occasion that I have time, like any millennial I like to play video games. I also enjoy 3D printing.
What do you love about Avon?
The community. It sounds so clichéd. I don’t think you’ll find a person who doesn’t have the experience you need or are looking for. It’s a very loving community. People are willing to help, not just direct neighbors but anyone. Because they live here, they want to help. It’s a very compassionate community. Also, this community is rather diverse for Hendricks County, which I love. The kids here are getting a great experience with that.
What’s your favorite restaurant in Avon and why?
Pho 36 is our favorite. Outside of COVID, my wife and I had a standing weekly lunch date there. It’s delicious, of course, but if I can throw two in there, I’ll add Cabin Coffee. Their food is fantastic, and their white coffee palomino is unbeatable.
What are your favorite things to do or traditions in Avon?
I love meeting the people in the community, and we love the parks. I’ve really enjoyed using the mountain bike trail at Washington Township Park. I also want to try disc golf, once summer comes back. I’m looking forward to our amazing disc golf course and hope to add that to my repertoire.
Tell us how you came to be on the Town Council.
I was seated in January of 2020. I volunteered for a campaign back in 2018. Helping them win was important, but for me, I had a personal goal of wanting to learn how a campaign is run. During that process, I was confronted by a couple people saying, “Have you considered running for an office yourself?” I was finally talked into it. I lost by 56 votes out of 7,000 cast. I decided it was too much work and impossibly challenging, but people were coming out of the woodwork telling me to run again. After a couple months of consideration, my wife finally talked me into it. I ran again last year and won. It’s evidently possible.
What is your vision for Avon?
First and foremost, we have to solve some of the problems we have currently on our plate. Our most important problem to solve is our tax base. We are, last I heard, 86% residential in Washington Township in Avon. With the state constitution tax caps, we can’t grow with having a bedroom community. We can’t do anything extra. We really can only get by doing the bare minimum. First, for me, I’d like to see tax diversification. We’re getting there. We’re right on the edge of some greatness.
As far as a longer-term plan than that, I want to see Avon and Washington Township unifying. We have 20,000 in Avon proper, and 60,000 live in Washington Township. That’s a difference of 40,000. If I were to ask, 99% of them would say they live in Avon and 100% of them would be wrong. They don’t. To me, put aside any vision. For me that’s wrong because they are impacted by my decisions on council and have no say in what goes on. The bottom line is, that’s an American democracy issue that’s wrong and needs to be fixed. Those go hand in hand. Both of those are gravely important to what Avon will look like in the future.
What’s coming up for Avon?
The latest rumor is that Costco is in talks with Avon. That will be huge for Hendricks County. They believe this location draw will go from Zionsville to Mooresville with people traveling here just to go to Costco. This is going to be fantastic for the area. Also, there’s some truth to the rumors that we may be getting a Rural King. We are working with our staff to make sure both locations will fit the standards that we want to see here. We want to bring businesses here that have met high quality standards and that are going to live up to what we believe in and should be.
In 25 short years, this small, bedroom community has grown into the largest population center in Hendricks. Along the way, we’ve grown into a top-notch community to live and play while growing more diverse and stronger. Give us a few more years and it’s going to be a great place to work as well.
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