About John
Family & Erie
Susanne and I moved to Erie 23 years ago, with our pups. We have been married for 31 years. We love Erie, for its beauty, community engagement, and it's ideal location. We have seen Erie grow from 7,000 to over 38,000. Susanne was born into a military family and moved 27 times before we met. I had moved twice. Susanne after high school became a travel agent, years later she went back to school for her BS in IT management and is now a life coach. I became a customer development automotive engineer and completed my career as a director of global product cost engineering and capital management.
Early Life: I come from a small city, between Buffalo and Rochester, New York in Western New York. My grandfather started a small onion farm and we lived in the city, about 8 miles south of the farm. My dad ran the business and built it into a larger farm plus a brokerage, and packaging house. That is where I learned about business, building relationships, and how to work with and treat people with respect. The other farmers and his employees loved my dad because he was always there for them and treated everyone fairly. I started working on the farm at age 9 and was leading crews at 15. After high school, I went to Alfred State and RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) for my Mechanical Engineering Degree.
Career: My first corporate job was with Borg Warne Automotive as a Jr. Automotive Engineer. Over the next 16 years, I was a supervisor and then Engineering Manager, managing projects for Ford, Dodge Truck, Honda, and Nissan in Detroit, Europe, and Japan. During my professional career, I managed a $500M capital budget to a capital want of $1B. I have led team members from 12 countries and several states, we launched over 20 automotive systems and 6 hard drive products and transformed the culture of global product cost. Of my 37 years, working in corporate America, 33 have been in leadership and team-building positions. The secret to my success and the success of my teams has been cross-functional relationships, empowering my team, and global transparency.
How I Enjoy Spending My Free Time
LightShine Canine: A Rez Dog Rescue
Susanne and I have had the honor to volunteer and be foster parents for LightShine Canine Rescue for the past nine years. It is pure joy. Both of our pups are adopted from LightShine. This is Khiel, we fostered him and his 2 sisters. They had a severe case of mange, then shortly after we started fostering them, they all came down with Parvo. Fortunately, they all survived. Thanks to the great teamwork at LightShine, he and his sisters were adopted once they were healthy and strong. His sisters live in Erie!
Big Brother for BBBS of Colorado
I became Dominic's Big Brother when he was 8 years old, and we graduated from BBBS when Dominic graduated from high school. We are the longest-running match for BBBS of Colorado Sports Buddies. Dominic and I are still brothers.
- 2012: I was awarded Big Brother of the Year
- 2016: I was Colorado's nominee for National Big Brother of the Year
National Ski Patrol
I am an avid skier, my Dad taught me from the time I was 8 years old, he learned from a book in the library at age 22. Growing up back east I learned how to ski on ice. Dad brought my family skiing every Saturday, and when I was 18, he brought us to Colorado for a ski trip, I fell in love with Colorado. I joined the National Ski Patrol at Greek Peak, in Central New York State, to give back to the sport I love. I later earned my Senior Alpine Patroller rank and, Outdoor Emergency Care Instructor rating.
Faith
About 21 years ago, I had a significant life-changing event that brought me back to my faith. As challenging as that day was, I see it as a blessing. I have been a devoted Christian ever since, and I am a former volunteer in student ministry at my church.
Love for the Outdoors
I love spending my free time enjoying the beauty Erie and Colorado have to offer. This is a picture of my team on a team-building hike. Together we transformed the culture of product and competitive cost, through collaboration and transparency.
WHY IS JOHN QUALIFIED TO REPRESENT HIS ERIE NEIGHBORS?
Recent Win!
A small group and I led the opposition to rezone the property on 111th and Arapahoe to high-density residential. We were successful through hard work, communication with our neighbors, and working together to build a large informed team that stood up to the Town Council during several meetings. If elected, I would continue to work for District 1 and all of Erie on the many complex issues that face a rapidly growing community. I would be honored to receive your vote and become your next District 1 Town Council representative.