I was born at MacDill AFB and blessed with a passion to serve. From, MacDill - I went to local schools (albeit through Guam) - attended FSU where I earned a degree in Multi-national Business and a minor in Russian and later earned a Masters in Strategic Studies from USF.

From Tallahassee I would go directly to Aviation Officer Candidate School at Pensacola, FL - soon commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy and then assigned to Attack Squadron 176 and spending a year and a half at sea.

It was during this period that I was able play a very small role in the Reagan navy buildup. Where Carter had allowed our ship inventory to diminish - Reagan forged a strategic plan to build a 600 ship navy. It was costly - but the payoff is largely credited with bringing the cold war to an end.

My next 2 assignments - at Central Command and then the Pentagon - gave me a deep appreciation for the value of strategic planning and focused investments in both hardware and personnel.

I would end my active duty career in 92 - just in time to run for congress. I would not win, but the experience was invaluable - and would lead me to teaching, development work and a 2 year stint as a Practice Manager for a cardiology group.

The cardiology practice was doing well - but looking for a way to improve efficiency, patient care, profitability. I took to my new job with passion and within two years achieved most of what we had set out to do. Growth came through bringing billing in-house and building our own diagnostic center - instead of outsourcing patients. We had to make key strategic investments - but profits were not far behind. The practice had taken the long view - and for that reason it is now a thriving business.

Now I serve on the County Commission and the challenges we face demand a long view. My priority has been to grow our economy, creating a thriving life science industry, and dramatically improving the performance at County Center. The new management team is doing just that - taking the long view towards our core mission by re-appraising every process and determining what services are better suited for other agencies, while also seeking opportunities to consolidate. The challenge at CC was made worse as the old leadership resisted genuine efforts to re appraise our strategic mission and simply made a series of tiny steps to delay necessary, but gut wrenching changes in the way we do business.

Taking the long view - it is the course we need to chart for a distinctly different type of local government and a mission I am very much designed to pursue.