About me

John, Karen, and Jack

I’m running for Town Council because I love our town and want to give something back. I’ve been serving Portsmouth however I could for more than a decade. In January, I retired after a 22-year career at a management consulting firm in Boston, where I learned to solve problems, manage projects to time and budget constraints, and collaborate with teams to get things done. My retirement gave me the opportunity to put my skills to work for Portsmouth in a more formal capacity.

I'm a third-generation resident of Island Park, where I live with Karen, my wife of 29 years, and our son, Jack, a junior at PHS. We own the cottage my grandparents bought in 1925, and where they raised 4 children.

I learned the value of service from my late parents. My mother was a nurse (who claimed to have mixed the first dose of penicillin at Newport Hospital) and my father was an Irish immigrant who worked long hours at any job he could find to bring his sister, brother, and parents over to America.

Thanks to their hard work, I was able to get an education that equipped me for a challenging career. Over the years, I’ve tried to pitch in where I could, writing about Portsmouth news on my local web site harddeadlines.com and serving on committees, and now that I have more time, I feel strongly about offering to serve our town as an elected official. I will bring communications skills, business savvy, and a record of public service to this position.

I’ve spent 22 years as a software developer, IT project manager, and then communication technology specialist, running everything from small web projects to a million-dollar software development effort. Previously, I was a doctoral candidate in media studies and taught college communication and writing courses for 7 years.

I’m also a freelance journalist. For ten years, I've run harddeadlines.com, providing news and commentary on Portsmouth issues. I’ve done reporting for RIFuture.org, where I was credentialed to the UN 2014 Climate Summit and the Democratic National Conventions in 2012 and 2016. (You can find clips at http://bit.ly/RIFmcdaid)

I've been a volunteer member of the PSD technology committee for more than five years. I was an appointed member of the 2011 Charter Review Committee, the School Committee's Facilities Committee, and its Technology Subcommittee. In 2010, I wrote extensively about the school funding formula and its impact on Portsmouth and testified against the cuts at the House Finance committee.

Now that I'm retired, I want to take the next step in serving our town. As a proven communicator, I will work to strengthen the connections between our local government and community. My experience in business and education will help me analyze problems and make fact-based decisions. As a a parent and proud resident of Portsmouth, I will always be guided by what's right for our families and our town.