Bob grew up in Niles Illinois, and started working when he was 12 on his own paper route. He is the son and grandson of Pipefitters from the Local 597 Pipefitters union, which has been fighting for the past 125 years to keep America’s standard of living one of the highest in the world through working for fair wages, reasonable working hours and conditions for its members. Bob’s mother was a nurse for over 30 years while raising three beautiful children. Bob started working as a young man in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange as a runner and worked his way up through the ranks of investment banking while attending college and obtaining his degree in business administration. Bob has held seats on the Chicago Board of trade and Mercantile Exchange, the only futures market to feature cattle and hogs (livestock), the Chicago Board of Trade managing municipal and treasury bonds trading, and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange trading spring wheat, soybeans, corn and other related grains.

 

Having grown up working class, understanding the value of a dollar and seeing the world of finance throughout his career, he realized that he wanted to help even the playing field for Coloradans. That’s why after leaving investment banking and trading he threw his hat in the ring to represent District One on the Fort Collins City Council to protect neighborhoods and community, but he did not stop there. While on council Bob has worked collaboratively with State Legislature to protect public health and safety and has served on the Colorado Municipal League (CML) Policy Committee, Council for Race, Equity and Leadership (REAL) (National League of Cities),Election Code Committee, Legislative Review Committee, Library Trustee Selection Committee, North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Council alternate (regional board) and is the Chair of the Poudre Heritage Alliance which over sees the Cache la Poudre National Heritage Area.

 

The Fort Collins city council is a legislative and quasi-judicial body responsible for the management and oversight of a municipal organization comprised of over 2400 employees including a city manager, city attorney, municipal judge and a bi-annual budget of over a BILLION dollars.