Tell me about you and your family.

I am married to Kerri Vincent, and we have a daughter, Katie, and a son, Ryan. Katie is a professional firefighter/paramedic in Fort Worth, TX, and Ryan works as a physicist in the Boston, MA area. I grew up in New Jersey with my parents and my 5 siblings. During my high school years, due to downsizing and the eventual closing of the town's factory and largest employer, my father was laid off from his job, where he had worked for 25 years. I was very fortunate to receive a fully paid Air Force ROTC scholarship to attend Lehigh University, where I earned a bachelor's degree in engineering. I then served on active duty in the Air Force, assigned to Civil Engineering units at Edwards AFB, CA, Korea, and Andrews AFB. After my Air Force service obligation was complete, I was appointed as a Special Agent in the FBI, where I investigated violent crime matters, gang violence, civil rights matters, and counterterrorism. I received a Master's Degree in Education from Temple University, and after retiring, I became a public high school science teacher and coach. After I retired from teaching, and our children had finished their educations and moved out into the world, Kerri and I chose to move to Annapolis, where I am now a part-time Assistant Water Polo Coach at the US Naval Academy. My move to Annapolis is the first time that I was able to choose where we would live, as for the entire time of my government service, the military or the government assigned me where I was to live. We consider Annapolis to be our forever home! I am a man of faith, and I don't apologize or hide that. Kerri and I are active in our local church, EP Annapolis. I am not a politician, but I would like to lead and serve this community as a true public servant with integrity, common sense, open ears, transparency, and faithfulness!

How will you approach the planned construction at City Dock?

 Unfortunately, we may be past the point of no return regarding some aspects of the City Dock project, as buildings have been demolished, a historic building is up on blocks, and construction is moving forward every day, even before we have secured funding! I have significant concerns about the scope of this project, which I believe is in part a "monument" to a select few in our community. I will continue to monitor and review it actively. While I am told by the project supporters that this project was reviewed by a plethora of committees, I have concerns that these committees were established and appointed by the promoters of the project. 

 I strongly support the construction of sea walls and/or other ocean engineering measures to protect our homes and businesses from flood waters. I also support reasonable City Dock area improvements such as an outdoor event/band shelter, landscaping improvements, new public restrooms, and a new Harbor Master operations facility. However, I don't support the $8.6 million (or greater with change orders) Harbor Master building and visitors center, nor do I support an expensive fountain, which is pictured in the promotional literature as a children's water park. I don't support the devastating removal of parking at City Dock. I would support the removal of some parking if it is for a purpose, but the total removal of parking will hurt small businesses as well as residents visiting the City Dock area. This is not who we are!

 I would support the project staying in budget with FEMA, state, and county funds. Our taxpayers don't need the "fluff" that will cost us millions. I do realize that some of this funding is being presented as bond funding, but bond funding is a community and tax base financial anchor that gets heavier each year. We are simply kicking the proverbial ball down the road, and the ball gets bigger each year! I believe that we need to have common-sense spending, utilize funding from our federal, state, and county sources, and make our City Dock area safe, attractive, and functional.

 In summary, I believe that the City Dock Project, as it stands now, is more about creating a monument to the project creators than it is about mitigating the issues that we have due to flooding. The extra funds that would be required for the resort-style elements of the project would be better used to improve public safety, repair our streets and sidewalks, create business and housing opportunities for our residents, and make Annapolis more affordable for everyone. 

I do not support the City Dock Project as has been approved by the current administration.

How will you address crime in Annapolis?

ALL people in our community deserve to feel safe in their homes and the community. I will address our neighborhood and business crime problem, seeking to support the implementation of the following ideas. I will use my decades of experience working with cities like Annapolis to address their overall and most serious crime problems

• More neighborhood visible patrols throughout our city and in all neighborhoods.

• Consider an extra patrol shift (4th shift) that overlaps the existing evening and night shifts.

• Ensure that our law enforcement and their partners in city government enforce all laws and ordinances. (If a law or ordinance is not enforced, it should be removed from the books. I will work to have our law enforcement enforce minor crimes (scofflaws). As national research has clearly shown, not enforcing minor laws leads to greater lawlessness with greater criminal activity. 

• Increase the use of technology, including CCTV in public areas of concern, license plate readers in crime areas of concern, appropriate use of speed enforcement cameras, police drone operations to investigate crime and criminal activity, and explore the opportunities to cooperate with the county at their Police Fusion Center. Technology should be used as a force multiplier for our men and women in blue!

• Increase community involvement and awareness in crime prevention.

• Increase opportunities for youth to engage in positive activities and career opportunities to address the root cause of some crime.

• Further utilize county, state, and federal law enforcement partners and task forces to address our most significant crime problems.

• Increase cooperation and mutual aid with the Sheriff's Department as well as the adjacent law enforcement agencies.

How will you address affordable housing and public housing in Annapolis?

 I will address two different sub-issues to this question.

 In public housing:

• I will address the issue of maintenance and new construction that has been neglected over the years by the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis (HACA).

• I will support our continued partnership with federal agencies to ensure that we get the necessary funds to address the standard of living in public housing.

• I will hold the HACA leadership and management accountable to ensure that it offers safe and livable housing for residents.

In affordable housing:

• I will explore a city-sponsored or partnered program to provide a pathway to home ownership for our disadvantaged community and those who continue to be adversely affected by displacement from their Old Ward 4 homes in the last century. 

• I will work with non-profit and government partnerships to promote the availability of dignified and affordable housing. I will ensure that our city Department of Inspections and Permits is instructed to partner with these projects to assure effective and efficient construction projects. The Willow Project is an example of one of these projects.

• I will ensure that our city Department of Inspections and Permits is staffed with sufficient qualified staffers to hold landlords accountable for contractual and statutory requirements for safe and livable rental housing.

• I will consider a city system to prevent rent from increasing at rates that are not affordable to our residents.