Candidate for
Board Member; Sycamore Community School District

Please visit http://www.mercurio4sycamore.com for more details.

My Story...

Most analytical experts will tell you - you can't make sound decisions without sound data. Nobody is more convinced of that than I am.

Just prior to the school levy request in August of 2004, a consultant hired by the school board produced a report that claimed enrollment in the school district was declining. That message soon spread throughout the community and was blindly accepted by most, aiding in the failure of the August 2004 levy. This was the first levy failure in 34 years!

There was something about the data-gathering methods and results that didn't sit well with me. As a professional in civil and environmental engineering, my experience in compiling and presenting data led me to suspect that the analysis was flawed.

And around my community, I saw numerous families of young children grabbing up aging houses in order to ensure spots for their kids in this stellar school system. Mine was one of those families. This observation was in stark contrast to the consultant's projections, which failed to account for local housing and employment trends, as well as the age, income and other characteristics of the people moving into our district.

I approached the board and school administration and offered further analysis of the numbers using my expertise in data collection and geographic information systems. Working out of my home office, I was able to prove that enrollment in the school district was not declining, but rather holding steady and possibly facing a slight increase.

Once this was presented to the school board, board members used this information to design a "data-driven" approach to financial decision-making, which lay at the heart of the board's "Commitment to the Community," adopted in 2004. This helped lay the groundwork for a successful levy vote in November of 2004.

Through these efforts, and as a member of the Sycamore Planning Commission, I also:

• Produced and presented numerous, objective graphs and figures detailing the ongoing trends in academic and economic benchmarks that affect voter attitudes.

• Convinced the district to invest in a demographic tracking system that would enable it to assess, and hence better prepare for, future enrollment numbers. This system can be used to:

• Forecast enrollment at the district's schools by monitoring parameters such as births and home sales, and

• Assist school administration in making financially efficient decisions for a variety of school-related topics.

• Analyzed and communicated the school district's financial, academic and demographic data for six years, making several presentations to the Board of Education.

• Developed the concept of the "Value Equation" to demonstrate what homeowners actually pay into the school district and what they get in return, as compared to all other districts.

Here are a few more facts about me:

• A native of northeast Ohio, where I attended public schools

• Hold a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and master's in environmental engineering from the University of Cincinnati

• An independent environmental engineering consultant since 1997

• Member of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

• Member of National Ground Water Association - Scientists and Engineers

• Member of the Sycamore Planning Commission for six years

• Led data collection, analysis and management for the May 2009 Sycamore Levy Committee

• Married to Kathy for 10 years

• Father of five current and future Aviators, ranging in age from seven years to four months

• Active as a coach in Sycamore youth sports

• Moved to Montgomery seven years ago for the area's outstanding schools.