Wildfire Resilience & Disaster Preparedness
Our increasing wildfire threat requires proven leadership to keep our communities and homes safe. As a nationally-certified Type 1 Incident Commander, I bring decades of on-the-ground experience helping Oregon communities prepare for and respond to disasters, from toxic oil spill cleanup to wildfire recovery and the “big one” — a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake.
Wildfire and disaster preparedness transcends politics. It’s about protecting our homes, our community, and the way of life we love here in the High Desert. As a dad raising his son here, I feel that urgency every summer. I have dedicated my career to public service, providing steady leadership when it matters most. I’ve worked shoulder-to-shoulder with first responders here in Oregon and across the country, and I know what it takes for a community to be prepared.
My experience isn’t theoretical. I served as a Type 1 Incident Commander — the highest certification for disaster leadership in the United States. Governors, mayors, and federal agency heads have trusted me to lead during the most complex challenges. Right here in Central Oregon, I was the State On-Scene Coordinator for the Department of Environmental Quality, leading responses to over 300 incidents across 18 counties east of the Cascades. I know our landscape and our communities. As a U.S. Coast Guard officer, I’ve built the partnerships between local, state, tribal, and federal agencies that are essential for effective emergency management.
That direct experience has shaped my commonsense strategy for a safer Deschutes County:
- Tackling the Insurance Crisis. Too many of us — from Sisters and Newberry County to neighborhoods right in the city of Bend — have had our homeowner’s insurance dropped or have seen rates skyrocket. I will make our county a proactive partner in reducing risk, helping to keep insurance accessible and affordable.
- Prioritizing Smart Planning. We will use advanced hazard modeling in all new development decisions. We must be more deliberate about growth in fire-prone areas to protect our resources and the safety of our first responders.
- Strengthening Community Preparedness. With federal resources becoming less reliable, strong local leadership is more important than ever. I will ensure we reinvest in public preparedness education and create clear, integrated evacuation plans so every resident knows how to get to safety. I’ll champion public-private partnerships to make our county a testbed for new technologies that can help us prevent and respond to wildfires more effectively.
Affordability, Housing & Growth
Deschutes County is in an affordability crisis — affecting everything from the price of food to the price of housing. The widening gap between wages and housing costs is pushing out the teachers, nurses, skilled laborers, and families who are the backbone of our community. As a veteran and former union member, I bring a commonsense approach and a personal commitment to supporting our workforce and unhoused neighbors.
The simple idea that a fair day’s work deserves a decent place to call home is at the core of our community. But for too many of our neighbors — teachers, nurses, firefighters, and restaurant workers — that idea is slipping away. As the son of a union schoolteacher and a former union member myself, I know that an affordable home is the foundation for a stable life and a strong community.
The housing crisis is a complex problem, and it requires steady, compassionate leadership. As a veteran, I’ve seen firsthand the devastating impacts of PTSD and addiction, and I know that a home is more than just a roof: it’s a place of safety and healing. Nearly 100 veterans are unhoused right here in our county. We can and must do better for them and for everyone struggling to find a permanent home.
My leadership experience has been about bringing people together to solve our toughest challenges. That’s the approach I’ll take here:
- Build Housing Where We Need It: Working through our state’s existing land-use system, I will partner with our cities to build attainable workforce housing in our growing urban centers — annexing land into our cities when we need it, while preserving the rural character of our outlying County.
- Focus County Resources. The County’s most effective role is providing public health services. I will work to focus our existing mental health and addiction casework resources on the unhoused residents who need them most to find stability.
- Support Our Veterans. As a veteran, I feel a personal responsibility to our local veteran community. I will be a tireless advocate to ensure we are providing the wraparound support services they have earned.
- Be a Partner for Solutions. The County must be a strong partner to our cities and non-profits who are on the front lines of this issue, helping to clear roadblocks and support innovative solutions that work for our community.
Living-Wage Jobs, Clean Energy & Climate
We have a responsibility to protect our environment and an opportunity to turn our local climate challenges into economic strengths. I’m a climate scientist and former diplomat, and I’ve led multi-million dollar climate innovation programs, including in Sisters.
Protecting our environment for the next generation is one of our most important responsibilities. For me, this work is personal and professional. As a working, MIT-educated climate scientist, I have spent my career developing practical, data-driven solutions. I believe Deschutes County can be a leader, turning our unique geological and environmental assets into opportunities for both conservation and economic growth.
My experience has taken me from conducting research on climate change in Antarctica to advising international governments on climate resilience as a U.S. diplomat. I helped lead a $100M climate innovation program at a major environmental organization, and this background has shown me that local leadership is essential. We can’t wait for others to solve these problems for us.
My approach is about seizing local opportunities:
- Build Resilient Infrastructure and Shore Up Our Aging Electrical Grid. We must ensure our roads, bridges, and electrical grid are built to withstand the challenges of the future, supporting renewable energy while meeting our conservation goals. This means partnering with developers, our cities and our utilities.
- Leverage Our Natural Advantages. The same geography and geology that make our region special also give us abundant solar and geothermal energy resources. We can tap these resources to create union jobs, pioneer new technologies and deliver reliable, clean energy to our homes.
- Lead with Science on Water and Air. As a scientist, I will ensure our county’s policies are always grounded in the best available data to protect our clean air and water for generations to come.
- Turn Waste into Opportunity. Our ongoing fire mitigation efforts produce large volumes of woody debris. Instead of treating this as waste, we can use it to drive innovative biomass technologies, creating a new avenue for new County revenue while reducing risk and removing carbon from the atmosphere.
