One of the main reasons my wife and I moved to this city was because of the great school district and the strong sense of community. As the father of three children who will soon be entering our public school system; I am acutely aware of how important our schools and the families who attend our schools are to our community. This is something missing on our current City Council, as none of the five City Council members have children attending the La Cañada Unified School District. I think it uniquely positions me with a vantage point of looking into the upcoming challenges and opportunities for our community. I’m looking at our future not just our past.
As an engineer, I’m not afraid to roll up my sleeves and solve complex and complicated problems. Data-driven decisions are important, and I believe we need to collect service metrics and constantly work on improving them. I have degrees in engineering from Carnegie Mellon and an MBA from USC. In addition, graduating from a leadership program at General Electric instilled in me that you can’t improve what you don’t measure. Measuring and delivering improvements against metrics is something I do every day. It is important to bring a sense of analytics to improve the services of our city.
I’m committed to community service. I have always given back of my time and talents to my community. Most recently that includes serving on the alumni board of my alma mater Carnegie Mellon. I worked tirelessly to engage the 100,000 alumni worldwide in helping to provide access to services, advise administration on issues and build a community that will last. I’ve also served as an adjunct professor teaching graduate students about entertainment economics. Locally, my wife and I volunteer with Children’s Ministry at La Cañada Presbyterian Church.
I have lived in many places — including my hometown in Ohio, which is very similar to La Cañada Flintridge in size, affluence, excellence in public schools, and a love for the outdoors and trails. I’ve also had the opportunity to live in Pittsburgh, Kansas City, New York City and Sherman Oaks. It was not until I moved to La Cañada Flintridge that I felt I was in a place I wanted to call home; a place where I thought I had to get involved to serve this community that I fell in love with.
It is important to me to be an advocate for our city and to improve our quality of life. I promise to have an open ear and to listen to every side of an issue. I respectfully ask for your support in giving me the privilege of serving you on our City Council.
Guest Column: Keith Eich
