About Stephen
My wife Ava and I moved our family to Monmouth in 2009 so she could teach at WOU. I am a self-employed software developer and graphic designer, and have been creating software for nonprofits and businesses large and small for nearly twenty years. In that time I have come to appreciate the listening skills, empathy, and collaboration necessary to be an effective problem solver.
My parents met while serving in the Air Force, and after several moves I and my siblings did most of our growing up in the Northeast. I attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute first for architecture, and then ultimately for computer science. My time at college coincided with the dot-com boom and bust, and opened my eyes to the promises and perils of entrepreneurship. It also gave me my first exposure to the Northwest, when a friend and I spent a week in Portland pitching startup ideas to potential investors. I enjoyed it immediately, and am happy how natural and at-home I feel in this corner of the country.
Ava and I met towards the end of college. We married shortly before moving to Georgia so she could earn her PhD at UGA’s plant biology department.
After moving to Monmouth, my interest in city planning brought me to an open house for a downtown envisioning exercise. My comments and questions led one of the city councilors there to invite me to volunteer on Monmouth's planning commission. My application was accepted and I have served for seven years. Some notable issues I have weighed in on include the local wetland inventory, marijuana legislation, regulations around keeping chickens, short-term rental policies, and the city’s ongoing housing needs analysis.