We moved to Villa Park in 1993, after having lived in Brandywine for roughly two years. In Villa Park we found a larger residence and fell in love with the home-town feeling. The schools were great and neighbors awesome, some of whom are still living here.

I was a heavy-equipment construction repair mechanic in the field for 18 years. This was my profession until I had a construction accident; now I spend my time working within the village—making it a better place to live.

Politics was never really in my future. However, when my daughter lost a second friend to a train incident, it prompted me to get involved. I was talking with senators and state representatives before I met our local village president. My work continued to make areas around railroad tracks safer. As I had a better understanding of how local government works, I began helping residents in Lombard get fencing on their side of the tracks. President Stupegia then formed the Presidents Committee on Safety and invited me to join. Since that time I have worked on several projects, all of them relating to public safety. I was appointed to the Village Board in November 2006. I then won the 2007 election for a two-year term as Village Trustee. I am still very persistent in finding new ways for public safety, including the funding for the projects noted above. The most recent initiative has been our new Police Department K9 Unit and working on red-light cameras at rail crossings and major intersections in town.