New lawmaker profile: Rep. Javan “J.D.” Mesnard

by Adnan Alam
  • BC-CNS-Lawmaker Profile-Mesnard, 220
  • Mugshot available (thumbnail below)
  • Multimedia: YouTube video

NOTE: This is one of a series of biographical sketches Cronkite News Service is producing about new members of the Arizona State Legislature. Each follows this format and includes a mugshot and video.

_ Name: Javan “J.D.” Mesnard

_ Chamber: House of Representatives

_ Party: Republican

_ Profession: Business owner and consultant, Mesa Community College adjunct faculty.

_ Hometown: Chandler

_ Legislative District: No. 21, which covers much of Chandler and Sun Lakes and stretches into Mesa.

_ Committee Assignments: Ways and Means; Commerce.

_ Previous or Current Elected Offices: District 21 Republican precinct committeeman, Homestead Park Homeowner Association Board, member.

_ Highlights of Community Involvement: Trinity Christian Fellowship church youth counselor; co-founder of Voices of the World, which provides hospice services in the Republic of Mozambique.

_ Why He Ran: “I’ve always been raised to be involved and to make a difference in your environment to try to make things a little bit better … I thought it was time to move on from being a policy adviser, which is what I had been, to a policy maker.”

_ His Focus: “I think there is no question that the budget and the state of our economy is going to be, has to be the No. 1 focus down here for everybody, including myself.”

_ A Bill: HB 2301 would require school districts to reserve at least 50 percent of the maintenance-and-operation section of their budgets to use only for paying the salaries of employees who provide classroom instruction.

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Reporting by Alyson Zepeda, Cronkite News Service

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Rep. Javan Mesnard, R-Chandler