My Charleston Peninsula roots run deep. Over 100 years ago, my great-grandparents started our family on Addison Street in North Central.

My grandmother graduated from Avery Institute, and my parents, siblings, and most of my aunts, uncles, and cousins went to Burke High. Both my grandmother and mother taught at Sanders-Clyde Elementary.

I was born and raised in Wagener Terrace and my first job was at the corner of King and Queen. Having attended Buist Academy and Burke Magnet in the 80s and 90s and started my career in the mid 2000s living and working in Mazyck-Wraggborough as a young lawyer, I remember what made Charleston special back when Sonny Goldberg was on King Street.

The Holy City is now home for thousands of newer neighbors who contribute so much to our potential and vitality. Our quality of life is better and the City is prospering.

But way too many haven’t been part of this prosperity. As one glaring example, the workers who sustain our local economy can’t afford to live anywhere near their jobs.

As an attorney and non-profit executive, I’m a national expert on solving our community’s greatest challenges. Over the last 20 years, I’ve executed sustainable solutions to preserve safe and affordable housing, mitigate violence, extend opportunity to young people, and more.

For older and newer Charlestonians alike, our residential livability, economic and environmental sustainability, and unique cultural fabric are at existential risk.

As an old school Charlestonian with an eye for the future, I’m grounded in the highs and lows of our past, experienced in solving today’s challenges, and deeply vested in my hometown’s social cohesion and future prosperity.

That’s why I’m running for City Council. Together let’s preserve our quality of life, protect what makes us unique, and prepare a prosperous future for all Charlestonians.