Running For: First District (Three Year Term)
Running Against: Phyllis Choy, Teri Grooms
Tell Us a Little About Yourself
4th (or more) Generation Floridian. A child of a career military officer (USAF) who moved every one to three years and we lived in different places within the Continental US up to Alaska, after Ft. Wayne Indiana, Ft. Walton Beach then from Alaska to England and back to Ft. Thomas KY where by father retired and we moved back “home” to Coral Gables FL. It was our first permanent home. I went to Ponce de Leon which used to be the high school and was now the Jr. High then on to Coral Gables High School. Graduating I was admitted to University of South Florida (USF) where after one semester, I enlisted in the United States Air Force for four years. During my active duty I spent 365 days in Vietnam spending 6 months at Da Nang AB and then six months at Phu Cat AB.
Final rank as Sgt I left active duty with an honorable discharge and the GI Bill to pay for me to go back to USF – 3 years to a BA – double major Management (Labor relations) and Accounting. Having another year of GI Bill I stayed to earn an MBA. Also lucky to come away with my wife… married 1974…for 50 years. Started my working career, passed the CPA exam while working at Southeast Banks, moved on to Deloitte Haskins + Sells (Big 8 accounting firm), then to my major client Wometco (Fortune 500 NYSE publicly traded diversified Company), then moved to my own public accounting firm with a partner then back to Wometco, then for the last 30 years Chief Financial Officer and partner at Cobb Partners. In 2011 moved to Jupiter and left as a partner but continued remote work and consulting with my former partners.
What Inspired You to Run for Office in Jupiter?
The discord and confusion (mischaracterization of facts and legal rights) of the opponents to forming JFRD, a decision that I watched from the beginning and concur with.
What Do You Love Most About Jupiter, and What’s One Thing You’d Like to Improve?
Love most: Weather and nearby access to water and beaches.
Improvement: Dolphin Roadway existing Town Road is 16’ roadway should be code compliant at 20’ and the Town owns the road and should pay to fix its own road(s). Applies to everywhere this condition exists.
Describe Your Leadership Style in Three Words
Informed. Intelligent. Action.
What Experience or Skills Make You the Best Candidate for This Role?
Studied for two years with my neighbors and developed plan for forming a municipality in Dade County and Commission vote was a tie thus did not allow us to do – I understand municipal finances and operations from that and my varied work experience. I had an active CPA license from 1975 to 2017. Real estate license since 1989, my Broker’s license is current but inactive. BA, MBA from University of South Florida. Can hold my own speaking in public.
What Is Your Top Priority for the Town If Elected, and How Do You Plan to Accomplish It?
Work with the Council to get things done…most importantly JFRD Operational and resolve the Suni Sands issue without having to “take” it costing the Town and its residents $50 Million or more.
How Do You Plan to Keep Jupiter’s Small-Town Charm While Supporting Responsible Growth?
At a population of 60,000 The “Town” is really a “City” it has almost reached inclusion in the top 10% of municipalities in Florida…and it is substantially fully built out. It would take some exceptional reasoning to convince me to permit “more” entitlement (number of units) than a property is zoned or allowed by the current status of the property. More on the Small Town charm… where a small town is generally considered to have one traffic signal and a train horn sounding as the train passes through. Certainly more than one traffic signal now and the train horn is being worked on the be silenced.
What’s One Local Issue That Residents Talk to You About the Most, and What’s Your Stance on It?
JFRD and I support Jupiter having its own Fire Department and Suni Sands and I am opposed to paying the developer $50 million. This owner has property rights and this issue needs to be resolved with a satisfactory resolution that does not require the Town to buy it.
If You Had to Explain Your Vision for Jupiter in a Single Sentence, What Would It Be?
What do you want it to be? Seems ok to me right now. Rule: Leave something in better condition than you found it.
How Do You Plan to Engage and Communicate With Residents?
Best by email and text. Then we all know what each other said. “The moving finger having writ, nor all your piety or wit, can cancel half a line of it…” Got that from the Miami Herald when I was finishing high school. Cut it out and carried that around forever was lost somewhere along the way but I never forgot it.
What’s a Fun Fact About You That People Might Not Know?
Me finding that quote and never figuring out who wrote it.
