Candidate for
Council Member, Council; City of Redondo Beach; District 2

As you will see, I have the experience necessary to be a great Representative for District 2 of Redondo Beach. 

Since a young boy I have been interested in science and the environment. My grandfather would take us on hikes and my family would go camping every Memorial and Labor Day weekend. Because of these experiences as a young man I have the passion and the skills needed to deal with the environmental issues facing our community.

In the fall of 2003 I became a member of the Redondo Beach Harbor Commission. During my time on the Harbor Commission and various other City sponsored organizations, I have been intimately involved with many issues facing the City of Redondo Beach.  Many of these issues continue to involve environmental concerns. My tenure on the Harbor Commission will expire at the end of this term and I am unable to serve another term, yet I still want to continue to serve the people of Redondo Beach. 

In my professional and Harbor Commission career I have provided advisory input to environmental Public Policy and as a member of the City Council I will create new Public Policy that draws on my vast environmental experience.

While on the Environmental Subcommittee of the Harbor Commission I examined environmental issues within the Harbor Enterprise Zone.  In 2005, I was appointed the Water Quality Task Force as the Harbor Commission representative where we examined the occurrence of the "red tides" that caused massive fish kills within the Harbor.  As a result of my involvement on the Water Quality Task Force, in October 2006 the Harbor Commission voted me as Chairperson of the Harbor Commission.  I was also a member of the Long Term Solution subcommittee and the Education Subcommittee, were we developed Public Policy recommendations to the Redondo Beach City Council.  The City Council subsequently passed the recommendations and the Harbor Commission was tasked in 2006 with ensuring implementation of various Best Management Practices.  In 2007 I helped to found the non-profit group Clean Waterfront Redondo, which raises and provides funding for various projects along the Redondo Beach waterfront to improve the quality of the water.

In addition to working with the current City Council on important local issues, I am currently working as a lead engineer with the Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, California.  I manage four engineers (mechanical, electrical, civil, and environmental) and two construction inspectors to design and construct projects for Department of Defense Facilities in California.  I am currently scheduled to take the United States Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accreditation Professional exam in the spring.

My educational background includes an Industrial Engineering degree in 1989 from The Pennsylvania State University.  This degree provided me the opportunity to work as an Environmental Engineer with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.  Through this position I was able to apply engineering solutions to mitigate and remediate the contaminated groundwater, surface water, surface soils, and subsurface soils that the manufacturing industry had polluted.  As I progressed through this position my leadership qualities became apparent, and I received greater responsibilities in an advisory capacity to developing Public Policy both within local municipalities, regional conservation groups, and statewide programs.

This work in the environmental field encouraged me to apply to Carnegie Mellon University for graduate studies where I studied water chemistry, air pollution and atmospheric chemistry, landfill design, wastewater treatment, business aspects of environmental planning (i.e. lifecycle analysis, etc), groundwater movement, and environmental public policy.  At Carnegie Mellon I was a member of the Green Design Initiative Group that conceptually examined various aspects of Sustainable and Renewable policies.

After obtaining a Masters in Civil Engineering with an emphasis in Environmental Policy, I accepted an air pollution and air chemistry research position with Haagen-Smit Laboratories in El Monte, California.  During my time with this laboratory our team studied and examined motor vehicle emissions, alternative fueled vehicle performance, various computer controlled vehicle management (i.e. fuel delivery, catalytic converter efficiencies, engine functions, etc) systems, and atmospheric composition and chemistry of the Los Angeles Basin.  These studies were conducted in conjunction with universities including the University of California system, motor vehicle manufacturers, motor vehicle component manufactures, and the California Air Resource Board.  The studies resulted, in most cases, in a peer reviewed journal published paper and/or the basis for public policy development.   As I progressed through this position, I was afforded the opportunity to work on the grass roots stage of creating statewide public policy for alternative fueled vehicles.  I provided professional advisory opinion as Licensed Civil Engineer as a member of a multi-disciplined team to develop the "California Hydrogen Highway Network Blueprint Plan" initiated by Governor Schwarzenegger.  I received the Silver Superior Achievement award from the California Air Resources Board for this effort.  During the last few months of my tenure at Haagen-Smit Laboratories, I worked with the California Air Resources Board to develop a legal case to get the major automotive manufacturers to comply with AB 1493 (Greenhouse Gas Law + in which I attended the signing of the bill in Los Angeles).

At this point in my professional career I felt that my knowledge of the environmental field warranted the creation of my own business.  In 2000 I created a Sole Proprietorship, SDM Environmental, to supply services and products within the environmental field.  I worked with clients on a variety of environmental and civil engineering issues.  I operated this business until the acceptance of my current contract.