I immigrated to the UK from the USA in 2003 and I joined the Labour Party the day after I became a UK citizen in 2011.  In May 2023 I was elected to Cambridge City Council to represent Coleridge in a by-election to complete the last year of Lewis Herbert’s term. So, I’ll be standing again in May 2024 for a full four-year term.  I retired as a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Cambridge in September 2023 which provides me with the flexibility to devote much of my time to council-related work.

During my first year as a Coleridge councillor I’ve enjoyed many conversations with Coleridge residents and the opportunity to listen to their concerns. I hope that my efforts have been of help to people with specific issues such as social housing maintenance, city planning concerns, and boundary disputes. I’ve also been in touch regularly with our county councillors concerning potholes, and pavement and parking problems. I have made every effort to respond quickly to residents’ emails and phone calls.

The other important aspect of being a councillor involves the day-to-day work of city governance.  As a member of the Housing Scrutiny Committee I have participated in supporting our ambitious building program that is delivering much needed social housing in Cambridge.  On the Strategy and Resources Committee our expert Labour team has taught me how to understand our city budget and appreciate the surpluses that we have maintained in spite of the drastic cuts in funding from government.  I have also been a member of a cross-party working group that is exploring ways we can modify our governance structures to increase the quality of scrutiny, public transparency, and timely decision making.  Finally, I have been elected by the Labour group to be the lead councillor on digital transformation for the council.  This involves using my expertise in computing to help the council better utilise digital technologies.

This kind of governance work is very much behind-the-scenes and not at all flashy.  Yet, I have found that I really enjoy engaging in these challenges.  In the process I’m always guided by the principles set out in the Labour Party’s manifesto with the goal of making Cambridge a more prosperous and fairer city.