I was born in Eugene, Oregon in 1957. I visited Colorado on a family road trip in the early 1970s and knew I would someday live here. I graduated from the University of Washington in 1983. During college, I served as student body president, wrote for the college paper, and was involved in many political causes. I moved to Sun Valley, Idaho for a job as a newspaper reporter. I was quickly named editor, then joined with two other employees to buy the paper, which had been losing $100,000 a year. We turned a profit in our first month and [...]

It took me nearly a year from the time I started thinking about running for assessor until the time I filed. It was a year of research. I spent countless hours on the Jefferson County Assessor’s website. I spent time on every County Assessor’s website in Colorado. I interviewed assessors, just picking their brains on what it means to be the best possible assessor. I drove across the state to meet twice with one particular assessor who spent hours walking me through the ins and outs of the job. I joined the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO), and began poring over their website, their magazine, and their reference [...]

When I introduce myself to people as a candidate for Jefferson County Assessor, I can count on the same question from almost everyone: What does the assessor do? One thing the assessor doesn’t do is set your taxes. The assessor cannot raise or lower anyone’s taxes. Taxes are set by the taxing entities themselves—the government agencies that provide services in exchange for tax dollars. In Jefferson County there are more than 200 taxing entities. Most people only pay taxes to a half dozen or so: Jefferson County itself, the school district, the city the property is in (if it is in a city), the library [...]