I am committed to improving our community and world through my personal, professional and civic activities.

Born in New York on March 22, 1966 to Victor and Sarah Segale, I moved to Shawnee in 1971 when my father was transferred by Trans World Airlines. My parents and my brother and his family still reside in Shawnee. 

I attended Shawnee Mission public schools, Johnson County Community College and graduated from the University of Kansas in 1990 with a degree in computer science. 

Growing up I had the opportunity to visit many places around the world including annual summer trips to my mother’s native Ireland.  The time my brother and I spent on my relatives farms in County Tyrone Northern Ireland gave a couple of suburban kids a great grounding in the importance and hard work of agriculture.  Additionally, my exposure to the social unrest and violence of The Troubles in Northern Ireland planted the seeds for my future political interests.  I learned about how dangerous politics can be if there is no measure of respect, humility or tolerance in its practice and also how important it is for citizens to be engaged in the affairs of their county.

After College, I began my career at Cerner which at that time employed about 400 people.  This year I celebrated my 20^th anniversary with Cerner.  I am as excited and committed as I was on day one to be a member of a successful team working to make healthcare more effective and efficient for everyone. 

In the early 90's I volunteered for a few political campaigns and learned that politicians are just like everyone else, flaws and all, except that they have decided to put themselves forth to help govern our society.

In 1992, I helped found the Kansas City Rowing club.  Rowing provided a great outlet for me as a student at KU where I competed as a member of the KU Crew sports club. I enjoyed the teamwork of pulling a boat through the water and worked to found the club here to share that great experience by starting the sport of rowing here in Kansas City.  Many hours were spent along the Kansas River in the west bottoms building docks and helping fund the purchase of rowing shells.  Today the club has relocated its activity to Wyandotte County lake were a number of high school students and adults participate.  I am especially proud of the scholarships won by members of the KCRC because taking advantage of those opportunities was one of main reasons that I helped create the club. 

1996 was a big year for me. I got married to Patty in April and threw my hat into the ring for an open seat on the Shawnee City Council.  I ran to help change our community for the better and to reign in our cities tax abatement policies.  I came in second in a four way primary and lost the general election to Vicki Truitt. 

An even bigger year came in 1997 with the birth of my daughter Fiona in June and my successful election to the Shawnee City Council where I served for three terms. 

As a member of the council I worked successfully with my colleagues on a number of initiatives which continue to positively mark our community.  For example, I helped lead or led our efforts to create Shawnee’s nationally recognized bicycle lane and recreational trail plan and our parkland acquisition plan.  I also initiated the current downtown Shawnee revitalization effort and convinced the council to seek professional advice on developing plans for our swimming pools.  Near the end of my term I worked with staff and K-DOT to craft a plan for K-7 that would return it to a divided highway through right of way protection and the installation of temporary traffic controls.  I also helped lead the council to take strong legislative positions supporting adequate school funding.  While serving on the council I was very active in the National League of Cities, serving as vice-chairman of the quality communities steering committee and as a member of the policy committee for Information Technology and Communications.  I also served on a number of committees at the Mid America Regional Council (MARC) and was a Johnson County Municipalities representative on the Total Transportation Policy Committee.  Through my work on the council I focused on making sure that the community we helped construct would positively serve the generations to come as well as the residents of today.

While serving on the city council I joined a citizens committee to save the Shawnee Day’s festival from disappearing from the Shawnee social scene.  I served as the booth chair from 1998-2003.  Through our work began in late 1997 until today the Old Shawnee Days festival has become a premiere family social activity in the community.

In 2003 I was recognized as an emerging leader by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and was awarded a 3-week fellowship to learn about the nations of the European Union.  During my European fellowship I met with political, community and business leaders in five different European nations.  The purpose of the fellowship program is to strengthen the transatlantic relationship and it provided me with a real understanding of the economic, social and political issues being faced within the European Union as it continues its evolution as an institution.

I was a charter member of the Shawnee Rotary Club from 1997 to 2009, until my work schedule made it difficult for me to regularly attend the Friday morning meetings.

2004 was a year of defeat and triumph for me.  I lost a race for Shawnee Mayor and won election to our County Commission.  The defeat tested my faith in people and the community, because I was honest with the voters about the financial condition of the city and the need to increase the property tax rate.  As a member of the council I had always led successful efforts to reduce the tax rate because it was the right thing to do.  As it turns out, 18 months after I was off the council taxes were raised even more than I had projected. In November of 2005 after joining the race late I was elected to the County Commission representing Lenexa, Shawnee and Lake Quivira.

2005 was a year of excitement and change.  It was exciting because of the new challenges presented by the opportunity to serve on our County Commission.  Within the seven months on the commission the theme for the remaineder of my commission service was set.  In April I was assigned a task force by the chairman to study our transportation future and we received a report that the jail would need to be expanded. 

When the budget decisions rolled around in mid-2005 I learned that the county faced a structural deficit made worse by hiring authorized the year before.  The needs of the community created by past decisions coupled with the recommendation for constructing a jail expansion made a property tax increase necessary for both the long and short term finances of the community. I helped create the four vote majority necessary to move the budget and the jail expansion forward.  In 2008 our jail expansion decision was ratified when citizens approved a sales tax renewal to pay for jail operating costs and a few public safety building projects. 

In 2005 I also fulfilled my campaign promise to support placing the reauthorization of a 3-year sales tax to adequately fund local schools on the ballot.  The measure passed in the election.

On the transportation front my task force met for nearly a year and producing a report which recommended the creation of the Transportation Cooperation Council (TCC).  The TCC institutionalized cooperation between the cities and the county to build consensus and better planning around our transportation system and priorities in the community.  The TCC approach was a dramatic departure from the here’s a plan now you support it approach, because it brought all our cities to the table to actually create the plan for our transportation future.  By mid-2008 all 20 cities and the county had voted to join the TCC, these votes were unprecedented as no money was promised to any of the signatories.  The TCC was purely the formal recognition cooperation and coordination would be necessary to define a transportation future that we both need and can afford.  Approval of the TCC represented the sum of my work to build a relationship of trust and common purpose between our city’s and county.  Although the TCC was active for 7-months while I was serving, the current county commission has been unable to sustain the effort.

While serving on the commission, I led us to create and approve rules governing our meetings as surprisingly none existed before. I was also able to win support for a directive that county staff would meet with city staff to coordinate our legislative priorities to strengthen our voices in Topeka and Washington and avoid conflicts.  It was also very satisfying to reduce the property tax rate a small amount my last year on the County Commission. My work on the commission laid the groundwork for a more transparent county commission and improved co-operation and coordination between city and county governments.

After leaving the County Commission in early 2009 I have focused on my family and professional life. In 2010 Cynthia and I were married and we live in Shawnee with my daughter Fiona and our two dogs.

RESUME

Residence: Shawnee
Born: March 22, 1966 New York, NY
Shawnee Resident 39 years (1971)
Spouse: Cynthia
Children: Fiona

Education

Shawnee Mission public schools K-12,  Shawnee Mission Northwest 1984

Johnson County Community College

University of Kansas, BS Computer Science 1990

Career:

Cerner Corporation, 1990 – present, Title: Senior Situation Manager

Political Experience:

Candidate Shawnee City Council 1996

Shawnee City Council 1997-2004 (3-terms)

Candidate Shawnee Mayor 2004

Johnson County Commission, 2^nd District 2005-2009 (1-term)

Community Experience:

Co-founder Kansas City Rowing Club 1992-1996

I helped create a youth and adult sports club to teach, practice and promote recreational and competitive rowing in the Kansas City Region.  The club has enabled several young adults to obtain college rowing scholarships and is still functioning.

Old Shawnee Days Committee 1997-2004

I helped resurrect and enliven this important Shawnee community event

Shawnee Rotary Club 1997-2005

Bluejacket-Flint PTA legislative chairman 2002-2004

Recognition:

Shawnee Irish Club Irishman of the Year 2001

German Marshall Fund of the United States Fellow 2003