Ken Jones to Run for Montpelier State Rep Seat
Montpelier resident Ken Jones announced Monday that he will seek the Democratic nomination for one of Montpelier’s two seats in the Vermont House of Representatives.
Jones, with more than 30 years of state and local government experience, says he seeks to help Montpelier and Vermont tackle the challenges presented by the pandemic recovery, tensions around racism, and climate change.
“The problems Vermont faces will not be solved by talking points and political posturing,” Jones noted in a press release. “The solutions are based on joining together the skills and experiences of those in government with the workers and business owners of the state. I will not promise a quick fix to any of our complex problems but pledge to work with a broad range of Vermonters to build solutions that use all of our strengths.”
Jones listed his array of local, regional, and statewide experience, including having held positions as chair of the Montpelier Planning Commission and as a board member of the Montpelier Public Schools, the Sustainable Montpelier Coalition, Central Vermont Fiber, the Central Vermont Career Center, Building Bright Futures, and the Clean Energy Development Fund.
Before working in his current position at Vermont’s Agency of Commerce and Community Development, Jones states that he served as a co-founder and executive director of the Green Mountain Institute for Environmental Democracy, a federally funded nonprofit providing support to federal, state, and local environmental agencies around the world.
Jones and his wife, Janel Johnson, have lived in Montpelier since 1998 where they raised three, now adult, children: Annie, Carolyn, and Henry.
Voting in the Democratic Primary will take place by mail and at the Montpelier City Hall polling place on August 9. Incumbent Democrat Rep. Warren Kitzmiller is retiring and incumbent Rep. Mary Hooper has not yet announced her plans.