Candidate for
Council Member; City of Oakland; Council District 1

Born on the kitchen table of a South Side Chicago tenement, I've lived in the worst housing project in the country and in working class homes. My mother passed several years ago, and I remain close to my father and my siblings, all of whom live in the Chicago area.

I'm no stranger to how my fellow citizens live, having resided in and visited nice homes in Hawaii, Marin County, San Francisco and La Jolla, yet also remembering well the vermin-infested slum dwellings of family and other friends.

Reading books from the age of three, I earned top grades from elementary school through college. I graduated from the U.S. Navy Electronics "A" School and afterwards completed a program in business planning and development at the San Francisco Renaissance Entrepreneurship Training Center. I earned a B.A. from Golden Gate University in 1988 and a J.D. from San Francisco Law School in 1993, joining the California Bar in 1994.

I've been proudly married for 17 years to my attorney wife, Daphne Yeldell, whom I met in law school. We have been self-employed attorneys since 1994, practicing in the areas of employment, criminal law, landlord-tenant, and personal injury. My wife now primarily does bankruptcy and family law, while I practice only sporadically and assist her. I also work full-time as an electronics technician, and until recently served ten years as a union steward for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Our 12-year-old son, Patrick, attends an Oakland public middle school, is a standout flute player, and has always been on an honor roll. All three of us are athletic and martial arts practitioners. After several setbacks, we're still in the process of building a large addition to our only home, in North Oakland. We attend church services often.

I enjoy listening to my collection of vinyl records - a broad representation of musical styles ranging from Coltrane to Tammy Wynette. I'm a movie buff and also watch televised documentaries as well as history and science shows. I spend as much time with my family as is possible, and we often visit markets, tourist sites, events, parks, museums, beaches and ski slopes together.