Jim was elected as Charleston City Councilman in November 2023, and was sworn in as City Councilmember for District 3 in January 2024. Jim and his wife, Lynn, live on Johns Island, where they've lived since 2021 after moving from Woodbridge, VA.

Jim retired honorably from the U.S. Marine Corps in 2021 as a Lieutenant Colonel after 25 years of active-duty service. With seven overseas deployments, Jim successfully led a variety of complicated infrastructure projects in both training and combat environments. He commanded a Marine Air Command and Control Squadron, led up to 600 Marines in hostile environments, and efficiently managed budgets exceeding $14 million.

Jim earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1997 from Tulane University, a Master of Arts degree in Military Studies in 2009 from Marine Corps University, and in 2019 earned a Master of Science degree in National Resource Strategy (with a concentration in Long Term Strategy) from National Defense University's Eisenhower School at Fort McNair, D.C. Jim then served on the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon, where he was a member of several Crisis Task Forces, and was the lead Pentagon planner for global exercises.

Upon Jim's retirement from the Marine Corps in August 2021, he moved directly to Charleston, SC, with his wife, Lynn, who is a physician assistant. Jim currently works for a remote patient monitoring technology company that is focused on giving Veterans more options and better access to healthcare through the Veterans Administration. Jim and Lynn both serve and have deployed overseas with a faith-based humanitarian disaster assistance response teams, and have both deployed domestically for hurricane relief operations. They are members of St. Andrews Anglican Church in Mount Pleasant. Jim has one son, Orin, who is currently attending college in Wisconsin (as of 2025).