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Legislator Profile - Representative J.D. Mesnard Representative Mesnard, a freshman legislator from legislative district 21, is a gifted musician who likes the piano but loves the orchestra. He embraces the challenge of synthesizing, weaving and fusing disparate sounds into a beautiful and coherent compositional whole. If he can bring his symphonic talents to bear in the Arizona House to harmonize the chamber's discordant and often atonal political voices, the accomplishment might represent a real masterpiece. Genuine and considerate, Mesnard is idealistic yet thoughtful, a lawmaker who accomplishes more by dint of diplomacy, reason and tact than through browbeating and brute force. His is a sensitive soul, tempered by the musical influences that have touched his life since an early age. Mesnard, the son of a fighter pilot, was born at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa and subsequently spent his earliest years residing overseas. He also lived for awhile in Alamogordo, New Mexico and Colorado Springs, Colorado before settling in Arizona over twenty years ago. As a child, he brought little to Arizona other than a fear of scorpions, a minor phobia that has never completely abated. After graduating from Corona del Sol High School in south Tempe, Mesnard entered Arizona State University to study music, his first passion. "When I was small, we had a piano in the house, and I could tink out tunes by ear," he recollects. "I didn't start lessons until I was 10, and I quit a dozen times, but ultimately I stuck with it." While he pursued a bachelor's degree in musical composition, Mesnard harbored an ambition to write musical scores for movies. "That was regarded as a pretty lowbrow occupation by serious musical academicians," Mesnard laughs. Regardless of what his professors may have thought of Mesnard's aspiration, they could not gainsay his talent and ability. He graduated summa cum laude. In his last year at ASU, Mesnard "stumbled into" politics. Without concrete post-graduate plans, he applied for an internship at the Arizona Legislature. He was accepted into the program and assigned to the Senate Committee on Education. Then-senator Ken Bennett was the committee's chairman and current Representative Kimberly Yee was his direct superior. Though their relationships have changed, he remains firmly connected to his legislative mentors: "I now vote alongside Kim and submit my nomination petitions to Ken," he observes. As an intern, Mesnard fell in love with the legislative process and was, "bitten by the political bug." At the conclusion of his internship, he applied for a permanent job and was hired to serve as a member of the Republican Senate staff. He continued to work for the Legislature for eight years, earning master's degrees in business administration and public administration along the way. With a legislative skill set developed and honed over eight years as a Senate staffer, Mesnard decided to run for the House in 2010. Hitting the campaign trail, he found that he wasn't crazy about knocking on doors and interrupting the lives of his future constituents. Still, he clicked with the voters, who doubtless appreciated his self-effacing manner and lack of pretension. "People came to the door and asked me what I was selling," he recalls. "I would respond that it was much worse than that: I'm not a salesman but a politician running for office!" Elected to represent district 21, which includes the communities of Chandler, Mesa, Queen Creek and Gilbert, Mesnard had virtually no learning curve and was prepared to hit the ground running. Comparing his experience as a staffer to that as a member, he notes, "It's the same environment, the same meetings, the same issues. People do now seem to care a little more that I'm in the room." He also observes that the formality associated with elective office, "takes a little getting used to." Having studied legislators through the prism of a staffer for many years, he recognizes how important it is for representatives to stay grounded and to remain closely connected to their constituents. Mesnard subscribes to the proposition that, as a general matter, elected officials at the city level should maintain authority to govern with respect to matters of local concern. He acknowledges that the Legislature has demonstrated some hostility to cities and towns in recent years, but he hopes that he can serve as a positive agent of change to help build better relations between local governments and the state. When he is not legislating, composing or continuing his education, Mesnard is busy teaching political science at Mesa Community College. The easygoing and unconventional professor operates his classroom as though it were a legislative committee. The students address each other as "senator" and the professor as "Mr. Chairman." Although his students learn a great deal about government, Mesnard hopes to impart life lessons that transcend political institutions. "Nothing is more gratifying to me," says Mesnard, "than when I see the lights turn on in a student's mind, and I know that I've contributed in a meaningful way to that person's education." Mesnard relates so well to his students, in fact, that he successfully impersonates them at the beginning of the school year. "During the first day of class," he confesses, "I like to sit in the classroom among the students. They think that I'm a student too, and I'm able to find out what they really think." The youthful professor admits, "I can probably get away with that for only another year or two." Mesnard's immediate political plan is to continue representing his district 21 constituents to the best of his ability. Given the depth of his experience and the promise of his relative youth, however, he is well positioned to remain a force in Arizona policymaking for years to come. In any event, with his highly trained ear and harmonic abilities, it is manifest that he will continue to make beautiful compositions - whether by the instrumentality of symphonic score or via legislative initiative. |
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Legislative Bulletin is published by the League of Arizona Cities and Towns. Forward your comments or suggestions to league@azleague.org. |
