Join us for the October Membership Forum Luncheon!

About Matthew

Born in Stayton, OR and grew upon a small farm between Stayton and Lyons, where I lived until moving to Albany in the late 90’s.  I began my professional career working for K+D Engineering, then took a position with PacWest Engineering, where I worked for 17 years.  Starting as a drafter and rodman on survey crews, I was able to grow with the organization, eventually becoming part of the ownership.  PacWest specialized in, performing surveying, designing private and public projects, and a multitude of other types of development projects which included navigating of the application and permitting processes.  In 2006 I left Albany, moving to Tacoma to work out of PacWest’s Washington office, where I stayed for 8 years.  While in Washington I met my wife Marci, who was from Mt. Angel, Oregon and we set our sights on coming back home to Oregon.  In late 2013, we moved back to Oregon, and I took a job working for the City of Springfield as their Building and Land Development Manager. Then in 2017 I was asked if I would be interested in applying for the position of Development Services Manager for the City of Albany, which was the opportunity I had been waiting for to come back to the community I called home.  In 2021 I became the Community Development Director, for the City of Albany.
 
Marci and I live in Albany and have three young children between the ages of 8 and 2, which keep us very busy.  We enjoy spending time as a family camping, exploring Oregon, including the many parks right here in Albany and archery hunting.

Personal Perspective

I have a unique perspective having spent almost two decades designing and providing consulting services to developers, specifically in acquiring approvals from local jurisdictions up and down the West Coast (primarily Oregon and Washington).  For nearly the last decade I have been in the public sector, as noted, first with the City of Springfield as their Building and Land Development Manager and now with the City of Albany as the Community Development Director.  I find my background in development, permitting, design, and public works has been immensely helpful in putting the entire approval process together as one cohesive package for applicants.
 My motivations for moving from the private development sector to the public sector are twofold.  Firstly, I wanted to return to the community I call home (Albany) where it all started for me and give back to my community as a public servant.  Secondly, is my desire to leverage my experiences from the “other side of the counter” to change perceptions and enhance the customer service culture within the public sector.  I don’t believe that as public employees we are meant to be goalies.  Rather we are here to ensure the minimums set out in the regulations are met and if not, help find resolutions, provide assistance, and guidance through a solution based approach.