• Occupation:
Runs his own event planning business called Event Checkin.
• Political experience/qualifications for running in this election:
Being a community minded person, I was honoured to become the executive director of the Chamber of Commerce serving Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge in 2011. Up until this point, I was running my own event planning business, which was recently re-branded. My passion has always been in community, youth initiatives, and event planning, not necessarily in that order.
During that time, I became a director of the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows branch of KidSport, a national not-for-profit organization that provides support to children to remove financial barriers that prevent them from playing organized sport. I also served on the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Arts council from 2012-2014.
It wasn’t until becoming president of the Rotary Club of Haney in 2015 that really opened my eyes to some of the issues regarding our school system.
• Reason for running:
One of the best decisions we ever made was to move to Pitt Meadows in 2007 with our three boys, one has graduated, one attending PMSS in grade 11, and the other in Grade 3 at Edith Mcdermott elementary. I feel like I’ve been in the school system forever with at least another decade to go.
My goal is to collaborate with my fellow trustees, teachers, school administrators, mayor and council, parents, and most importantly, the students so everyone’s voice is heard and acted upon.
• What do you consider to be the top two issues this election and how would you address them?
After further consultation with educators, parents and students, it was evident to me that child hunger, lack of resources and training for teachers in regards to the new curriculum, financial literacy, and the need for additional specialty and education assistants need to be addressed and advocated for.