I am a Colorado local government attorney with Collins, Cole, Flynn & Ulmer, PLLC, in Lakewood , Colorado. From 1985 to 2016 I was an attorney with the Colorado Office of Legislative Legal Services (OLLS), a nonpartisan staff agency that functions as the in-house legal counsel for the Colorado General Assembly (state legislature). Because of my extensive knowledge of government, I became involved in many community activities where I was able to help my family, friends, and neighbors. I was president of my neighborhood homeowners' association, the Cherry Park Owners' Association, from 1994-1998. In 1998, I became involved with Arapahoe Citizens for Self-Determination (ACSD), advocating for the creation of the City of Centennial in a portion of unincorporated Arapahoe County, Colorado, with a population in excess of 100,000. This effort began in 1998 with the filing of incorporation petitions in state court and culminated in the creation of the City of Centennial in 2001, at the time the largest municipal incorporation in the United States. The process involved extensive public and court proceedings. I acted as "volunteer" attorney assisting ACSD's attorneys of record in developing our legal arguments, researching, and presenting court arguments in Colorado District Court, the Colorado Court of Appeals, and ultimately the Colorado Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of allowing the citizens of Centennial to vote on forming a new city in the case of Greenwood Village v. Petitioners for Proposed City of Centennial, 3 P.3d 427 (Colo. 2000). After this court decision, I was appointed to head the Election Commission for the new city and was elected to Centennial's first City Council. I served on the Centennial City Council from 2001 - 2008. I was Mayor Pro Tem from 2003 - 2007. I have also served on the Board of the Urban Drainage Flood Control District, Willows Water District, Arapahoe County Water and Wastewater Authority, Southeast Metro Stormwater Authority.