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Johnathan A. Z. West
Principle. Parity. Progression.
Why Do I Want To Run
· I am running for State Representative in Derry because we need someone who believes in commonsense values and a nuanced approach; to make sure our government is working for all Granite Staters.
· No Granite Stater in Derry should have to work two or three jobs just to make a living wage. I will support reasonable measures like increasing the minimum wage and expanding employment benefits.
· I believe our democracy is strongest when more people participate in and benefit from our government. As a Representative, I will always support measures that ensure Granite Staters in Derry are able to participate in our democracy and hold our elected officials accountable.
· As a father, I will always support policies that work for families in Derry, like paid family and medical leave, to ensure Granite Staters never have to choose between caring for a newborn, a sick loved one or receiving a paycheck and benefits.
· Public education and Women's right to self determination are under attack in this country and this state. We need ardent defenders of ALL our Human rights in Concord to prevent any further erosion of our rights as humans and citizens!
Who am I?
August 7th, 2022
I was born in New Hampshire, raised on both sides of the southern border, and finally settled in Derry and the surrounding areas in 1999. My first apartment was in The Fairways, I've lived on East Derry Road, Village Brook Drive, Walnut Hill Road, and eventually bought a house on Scenic Drive. I went to West Running Brook, Pinkerton Academy, and the University of New Hampshire. I studied to be an Architect, a Particle Physicist, and eventually decided to follow my passion for technology into a career as a Network Engineer and Infrastructure Design Specialist. My beautiful supporter and partner Keila, and my wonderful children Rebecca and Julius are the rocks upon which I find the strength to work hard and provide for them everything they want and need. That strength has now inspired me to try and provide a better life and superior government; For them, for the people of Derry, and the people of the Great State of New Hampshire. I hope you and I can work together to make New Hampshire the best it's ever been.
Issues & Political Concerns
I uphold many core values of a progressive, one of them being the fight for social justice where it is needed; Women's rights, Minority rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, Economic rights, Religious rights and Environmental rights. We should live in a society where people do not merely support community-enhancing changes but rather embody a model of government reform and standards of living that empowers and protects all citizens. Read on to learn more about the issues facing New Hampshire and how we can overcome them.
Environment
Earth, our only home
I am proud to support and push for changes that uphold ecological protections, and industrial regulations. This is a very serious issue that has been impacting communities worldwide and here at home. We can combat this issue by supporting the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, opposing the Granite Bridge fracked-gas pipeline, maintaining the current Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard, and funding projects to better protect our communities from the Toxic waste wash-off from Superfund sites in NH. Want to know more? Please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Economy
Better opportunities for all
I support opening up valuable industries in New Hampshire that are the linchpin of growing the industrial and commercial job markets, while also properly overseeing the expenditures in business and education grants, as well as community housing management and continuing education programs. It is strategies like these that will maximize the benefits drawn from state and local budgets, without the need for tax increases. Want to know more about how we can expand the success and opportunity available to NH residents? To discuss these concerns, please feel free to reach out!
Health Care
Healthcare is a human right
I support the idea that all citizens deserve fully functional healthcare services and this especially includes a woman's right to self-determination. One accomplishes this by adjusting the system of penalty and reward for participating in our community. Improving opioid addiction response protocols, expanding funding and eligibility for Medicare, opening robust industries like cannabis production, and continued support for reproductive health programs and services. These are just some of the ways we can produce better funding models and better health outcomes for our state. We can achieve better health if we work together, Let's start now!
Principle. Parity. Progression.
Equality Under Law
Justice: conformity to this principle, as manifested in conduct; just conduct, dealing, or treatment.
I believe a Just system is one that conducts itself, in its dealings and treatment of its citizens, as equals. No difference (in age, sex, religion, orientation, ethnicity, or origin) should change how the government, (governmental bodies, or the systems of law and order that represent it) treats its citizens. We are all equal under the law and have equal rights to share in its benefits and responsibilities.
Ways to achieve this are many, but I believe it starts with empowering the justice department to accomplish its mandates effectively and eliminating the undue majority of representation that wealthy individuals have within government.
Education
Alan Shepard once said, "...the discipline which I received there from that one-room school was really very helpful in what I achieved later on."
In today's age, our education system has been practically abandoned as a top priority concern. Teachers forced to buy their own supplies, school districts forced to fend for themselves for guidelines or materials; only to be compelled by mandate alone to follow federal regulation. It is time that our education system provides for every student, teacher and faculty member enough resources to teach our children once again the discipline needed for greatness, and the insight and fortitude to thrive and innovate in this modern digital economy.
We accomplish this not only with better budgets but with better systems of flexible standardization and well orchestrated state institutions supporting our local school districts. Modernizing how we manage education can drastically improve the quality of that education.
Political Identities
George Washington Said: “... Political parties may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterward the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”
I am running as a Democrat in the NH Primary & General Election. That does not mean I will vote with every democrat-party legislative agenda or against every republican-party agenda. I find the identity politics of the far wings to be a blight on these institutions of government. Political parties are a function that unites us under differing ideals, but the government that those parties manage isn't about division and hate-mongering.
It is our societal obligation to come together and compromise on our differences while recognizing our similarities and using them as a foundation to build the society we want our children to live in. I will always endeavor to understand the will of my constituents and act in accordance with their wishes, on behalf of all constituents.
Representation
Thomas Jefferson once wrote: "The flames kindled on the 4th of July, 1776, have spread across too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism; on the contrary, they will consume the engines and all who work them."
At the time the "engines" he spoke of were the royal classes of oligarchs who had controlled much of the world for nearly half a millennia, the self-righteous kingdom we overthrew to earn our freedom. Once again we live in an age where the wealthiest and most influential people among us live in absolute luxury, protected by a system of corporate socialism; while the common men and women live in a brutal capitalistic system, designed to maintain the oligarchy's power over our government.
I shall act, each day, with a desire and will to make changes that will empower every single citizen to claim their fair share of representation within this government, and that no individual has more power of representation than any other. It is a lofty endeavor to achieve, but the very soul of our nation is defined by our ability to exert the will of "We The People".
Contact
Thank you for your interest in Johnathan A. Z. West for NH State Rep. If you have a question, concern, or would simply like to get in touch, please see the information below.
14 Scenic Drive Derry, NH 03038