My public career highlights and education:
I graduated from the University of Santa Clara back in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management, Commerce, and Administration. And my jumping into the public sector is actually my third career. I started out in the Private sector, then became an overpriced executive consultant, and then became a public servant as the division head of IT for the Police Department in the City of Concord, California. After 6 years, I became the CIO for the City of Modesto in the Central Valley of California where we built an award-winning IT department . I did that for a couple of years and was contacted by an executive recruiter who informed me the city of Mesa, Arizona had an opening for a new CIO. I always loved the Mesa area and had life-long friends there. So, I decided to throw my hat in the ring and low and behold, they selected me as their next CIO. I started in January of 2024 and I’ve been enjoying myself ever since. My Mesa IT team won 8 major awards in 2024 and we are on a pace to break that mark in 2025. Throughout my public sector journey I was very involved with the Municipal Information Systems Association of California as Vice President then President of their Northern CA Chapter, and continue to serve on some of their committees to this day.
What I like best about public service:
Being a public servant is a truly tangible way of giving back to your community and delivers on a daily basis the opportunity to make people’s lives better. And at Mesa, we pride ourselves on being the City that others strive to emulate. It is a tremendous environment where you can see the impact your and your team’s efforts have on the residents. It is a great feeling to know you are helping others.
The best advice I’ve ever received:
I have several pieces of advice that have stuck with me throughout my three careers: 1) When two people in the same room always agree – one of them is unnecessary. Do not surround yourself with “Yes” people. Seek out the opinions that may run counter to your own and you will find the truth is somewhere in between. 2) Don’t wait for the storm to pass. Instead, learn how to dance in the rain. Make it happen now – waiting is overrated. And 3) Good news will always wait and bad news will refuse to leave. So, deliver the bad news first – face the music, then pick the right time to share the good news.
Something I wish more people knew about my division of government:
We are the information technology arm of the City. We call ourselves the Department of Innovation and Technology otherwise known as “DoIT”. In today’s world, technology is the foundation that drives all significant improvement in the human condition. Whether it is new medical devices or treatments or the measurement of climate impacts, technology helps make things better, faster, smaller, more efficient, and more helpful. This is very true for local government and how services are delivered to a city’s residents. While we have minimal face-to-face interaction with the public, everything we do enables other city departments to provide ever-improving services. Whether its trash pickup, wastewater cleansing, Police and Fire dispatching, traffic light timing, art and culture program delivery, or provision of power to homes and businesses – technology is the base upon which these things are built and made operational. That makes working as a member of DoIT special and exciting!
Current project or initiative I’m working on:
We currently have over 80 projects being managed by our DoIT Program Management Office and all will be highly positive and impactful for the City of Mesa and its residents. But the one we are especially proud of is our founding (along with several other government agencies) of a new non-profit organization known as the Western Regional Innovation and Technology Alliance or WRITA. This is a group of state, county, city, and special district government IT organizations who have come together across seven states in order to share technology experiences and project success information with each other to help make all agencies more effective for their respective constituencies. The seven states include Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. As a member of WRITA (https://writa.us), every IT person in the various agencies can ask their peers in other locations if they’ve ever done project A or B and what they learned. By sharing this information, no one has to reinvent the wheel every time they undertake a new task. This is still a work in progress but has already been extremely valuable for all involved and continues to grow in membership at a fast pace.
One thing people may not know about me:
During my overpriced executive consulting career (which lasted 20 years), I was able to be a very successful Head Coach of Varsity Football for many years at Incline High School in Incline Village, Nevada. My daughter was the kicker on the team as we didn’t have a young man who could put the ball through the uprights and my soccer-playing daughter had the leg for doing just that! I also was the Head Coach of Women’s Varsity Basketball at North Tahoe High School in Tahoe City, CA for many years. Those opportunities helped me learn how to form successful teams while still rewarding and recognizing individuals for their contributions to the team. It has served me well in the business world and I would recommend everyone give it a try as some point in their life. Working with young people and teaching them life-lessons is extremely gratifying and rewarding.
