Welcome and introduction

Thank you for visiting my blog. This is where I plan to share updates on items coming before the Appleton Common Council. I'll discuss that a little more in-depth below.

But for those who don't know me, I have been a resident of District 15 for 15 years. I am married and my wife and I have five children and a dog. As I begin my tenure as a Common Council member, I bring six years of experience for the City of Appleton as the communications coordinator. I started with the city in 2014 when then Mayor Tim Hanna created what was the first municipal communications position in the state at the time. I came to the city having spent 14 years in TV news as a photographer and reporter, working at stations in Davenport, IA, Madison and Green Bay. 

While I was with the city, I worked with all of the city's departments and staff on a regular basis. The position I held gave me the opportunity to learn a tremendous amount about the city's operations. In my role with the city I created several programs that won Appleton national recognition, including the Appycademy citizens academy and being named the most engaging and best overall local government on social media in the country. 

I now work as the district and communications director for the 19th State Senate district here in Wisconsin. The seat is currently held by Senator Roger Roth and covers parts of Outagamie and Winnebago counties and the majority of Appleton.  

I am excited to continue my passion for public service on the Appleton Common Council and to serve my neighbors here on the south/southeast side of the city. 

Now as I said at the beginning, this blog will generally give updates on the items coming before the Common Council. I and my colleagues on the council will be assigned to several committees by the mayor. There are seven standing committees of the Common Council:

• Community & Economic Development Committee
• Finance Committee
• Human Resources & Information Technology Committee
• Municipal Services Committee
• Parks & Recreation Committee
• Safety & Licensing Committee
• Utilities Committee

These committees meet on the second and fourth weeks of the month. The days and times will be set later in April. The first and third weeks of the month usually have just a meeting of the full council at 7 p.m. on the Wednesdays of those weeks. 

All meetings of the committees and council are open to the public. You can attend in person at City Hall on the 6th floor. Due to the ongoing pandemic, at this time council meetings are also being held virtually and residents can participate that way as well. All meetings are broadcast live on the city's website, appleton.org, as well as archived there for replay anytime. 

You can sign up to have my weekly summary emailed directly to your inbox, by clicking the signup tab at the top of the blog.