All Writings

I lived in Volgograd, Russia, once Stalingrad, and saw firsthand the quiet fear left behind by authoritarian rule. Today, I see echoes of that in Donald Trump’s war on truth, loyalty to self over country, and threats against democratic institutions. He’s not Stalin, but the tactics are familiar. If we want to preserve what makes America worth fighting for, we need to name the threat and stand up to it.

Pennsylvania is aging, shrinking, and stretched thin. We can’t tax-cut our way to growth or wait for federal rescue. The only way forward is to build: more housing, stronger schools, smarter transit, and real regional collaboration. We still have the people and the tools—we just need the courage to act. Let’s stop managing decline and start shaping a future worth staying for.

Leadership isn’t a performance or a brand. It’s a practice rooted in clarity, humility, and service. In a democracy, real leadership means building trust, casting a vision others can see themselves in, and helping people rise to meet it—not for recognition, but for the common good.

We often talk about the American experiment as though it were born of a single idea, freedom. But that’s only a part of the story. The...

Local governments must become sites of innovation and resilience. They must prepare not only to endure the coming years but to use them as a crucible for reform. We can, and must, emerge from this moment with a more honest politics, a more realistic planning discipline, and a more grounded sense of the work ahead. The era of inherited security is over. The age of adaptive government has begun. We did not choose this moment. But we do get to choose how we meet it.

If we gut Medicaid, we don’t just cut a budget line — we cut through the care that holds our communities together. In Allegheny County, more than 250,000 people rely on Medicaid. It supports our seniors, our EMS response, our rural hospitals, and our children’s access to mental health care. The proposed cuts out of Washington would shift the burden to local governments, strain our emergency services, and force impossible choices.

On a 350,000-acre ranch in Montana, there was no manual, no backup, and no time to dwell — just seven of us and whatever the day threw our way. You learned to stay calm under pressure, take responsibility, and get the job done right. That same ethic guides me today, whether I’m in turnout gear or sitting in a budget meeting. Public service isn’t about being in control, it’s about being ready when it counts.

A call to reimagine local government in Western Pennsylvania, not as a patchwork of siloed jurisdictions, but as a network of communities building shared solutions for a changing world.

The First Amendment is only 45 words long. But those 45 words contain the essence of American liberty: freedom of religion, freedom of...