My Story

---

When I ran for Select Board in 2021, I was asked by more than a few people to tell them everything about myself, starting from my upbringing. I was honestly surprised by the curiosity, but have come to understand that in a Town such as Plymouth which so values its history, a person's past can be of interest to a segment of the population. I am also very proud of where I come from and who I became as a result,   So, for those who want to know, here is my story:

My parents were both first generation Americans who met in high school in Brooklyn. I was born in Staten Island Hospital, and spent my first years living in Queens, New York. When I reached school age, my family moved out to Long Island.

I spent what some like to call my ‘formative years’ living in the Town of Brookhaven, a town very much like Plymouth. It is the largest town in New York state by square mileage, with a large coastal area on Long Island Sound and pine barrens in the interior. It has a rich colonial and revolutionary war history, serving as the headquarters for George Washington’s spy ring during the British occupation of New York. 

Communities in Brookhaven were centered around villages, some centuries old others newly created during the multiple post-war housing booms. My parents chose our home based on the schools. They wanted me to attend school in a particular district, rated one of the best in the state. 

Education was everything to my parents. My father was raised by his mother, a widow. She was unable to work, so as a child they often relied on charity to get by. My father escaped poverty through education. Grateful for the opportunities schooling afforded him, he chose that as his profession. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, and became a social studies teacher, then a guidance counselor.

My mother was not allowed to pursue education beyond high school. Despite having the opportunity to go to college, her father insisted that she remain home to work in the family grocery store and help raise her two younger siblings. Not  experiencing college and getting a degree was something she always regretted.

Together, my parents did everything possible to ensure that their children (myself and my younger sister) would have every educational opportunity possible. In addition to schooling, they encouraged music lessons and extracurricular activities such as sports and theater. To pay for these things, my father worked two and sometimes three jobs.

My parents’ work ethic was instilled in me from an early age. The phrase ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’ was a regular refrain in my house. If you wanted something, you worked for it. I started working doing odd jobs (cutting lawns, shoveling snow) when I was 13. After I turned 15, I began to be formally employed by others (busboy, housepainter, construction worker, etc.), working to make money for college.

I graduated high school and left for college in upstate New York. I returned home two years later, transferring to Stony Brook University where I completed my undergraduate degree in political science. During my last two years of college, I worked for the next town over, starting as a planning intern, becoming a code enforcement officer, and then being attached to the Town Attorney’s office to help with a re-write of the Town Code. 

After college I moved to Washington, D.C. to attend law school. I worked as a law clerk part-time during the school year, and full-time in New York during the summer. After graduation, I went on to obtain a further degree, a Master of Laws, in international law and finance.

I started my legal career in Washington, D.C., working for a law firm that handled environmental claims around the country. That led to an opportunity to work for environmental engineering trade associations, handling government contracts and lobbying for funds for clean-up of hazardous waste sites. I then moved to Massachusetts, where for over 25-years I represented businesses, professionals, and municipalities.  

I became a senior partner in a large Boston-based law firm, managing a group of over a dozen attorneys and serving as the Chair of the firm's hiring committee. In my practice, I worked with literally dozens of cities and towns, addressing almost every aspect of local government. Just some examples are:

Handling bidding challenges

Conducting contract negotiations

Litigating, arbitrating, and mediating construction claims

Addressing zoning determinations

Defending regulations challenges

I was also retained to represent municipal employees such as police officers, teachers, and bus drivers in work related claims against them, handling everything from auto accidents to complex civil rights and ethics matters. I retired in 2020.

I have been married to my wife, Andra, since 1995, without whose love and support so much of what I have achieved, and still hope to achieve, would not be possible. We moved to Plymouth in 2005, and enjoy so much of what Plymouth has to offer, including golf, biking, and hiking.