TOGETHER WE SUCCEEd!
A love for Vermont stuck with me from my childhood ski vacations and my two years at St. Michael’s College. Open and friendly people, the outdoors all around, and four beautiful
seasons heightened the value of time.
My wife and I visited Vermont in 2013, and she, too, was captivated by the forests and mountains, a far cry from the wide-open grain fields of her native Ukraine. We knew Vermont was the place where our son could run free, as we had done as children.
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After a thirty-year career as a diplomat, I am the stay-at-home parent for our 11-year-old son as my wife pursues her career as a digital product designer. Back in 2016, while living abroad, we bought our house in South Burlington. Excellent schools, a vision of a walkable vibrant city center, easy access to the outdoors, and an economically dynamic Chittenden County won us over.
We will find the common good with cooperation, listening, and reaching a compromise.
Before retiring, I represented the United States as a State Department diplomat in countries of the former Soviet Union as they sought to democratize after a long, authoritarian past. Among other postings, the United States sent me to work in the UN Mission in war-torn Croatia, as the OSCE Ambassador in Moldova, where I led negotiations to reunite the country after armed conflict, and finally as the number two in the international mission tasked with helping Bosnia & Herzegovina recover from its traumatic past.
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Earlier, I worked on Capitol Hill in the Congressional Research Service, as well as for a consulting firm with Department of Defense and State Department contracts. I hold a B.S. from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and an M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Serving on the South Burlington City Council would be a privilege for me. I believe I can use my
professional background and life experience to represent our city in a fair and productive
manner, serving all our communities.
