Former Army officer, businessman and environmentalist seeks open
seat in November election
Long-time Morgan Hill area resident Alex Kennett announced that
he is a candidate for the Morgan Hill City Council.
Former Army officer, businessman and environmentalist seeks open seat in November election
Long-time Morgan Hill area resident Alex Kennett announced that he is a candidate for the Morgan Hill City Council.
One is held by Council Member Greg Sellers, who has not yet announced his intentions and the other by Council Member Steve Tate who has announced his plan to run for mayor.
“Morgan Hill is at a crossroads as it determines its future,” Kennett said. “I feel that I can make a difference as challenges arise and issues are discussed and resolved. I believe that I can make the process better and more thorough.”
Kennett has a lengthy resume in the military, in business and in community and public service. He is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army. He ran his own successful food brokerage business for 22 years, and other businesses before that. He is a member of the board of directors of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, and served as its past president and executive director.
He is a dedicated environmentalist who currently serves in elective office as District One Director of the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority and is a member of the board of director of the civic group, Joint Venture Silicon Valley. He has also served on numerous boards and commissions on behalf of Morgan Hill and Santa Clara County and is a 2005 graduate of Leadership Morgan Hill.
Kennett’s priority of putting his family first has kept him from being even more deeply involved in community service. His wife Yarmila (Yarka) is a former Morgan Hill Planning Commissioner and serves on the city’s Architectural Review Board. They have four children and five and two-thirds grand children.
“We’re very proud parents and grandparents,” he said. “Our four kids have 10 college degrees between them and three of them have jobs!”
Kennett considers as one of his many key achievements was stepping up to save the city’s annual July 4th parade. In 1991, with Morgan Hill in a severe financial crisis, the city decided to end funding for the parade. Kennett said he believed that it was important for the city to commemorate the nation’s birth with a parade and fireworks. He worked with other community leaders and today that organization is IDI (Independence Day Inc.).
IDI organizes the city’s celebration, and has been recognized throughout the Western United States as a well-run festival organization. The parade has been designated as the official Independence Day parade for all of Santa Clara County. Kennett says that the greatest compliment ever paid to him regarding community service is when the Morgan Hill Times called him ‘the man who saved the Fourth of July.’
As a successful organizer and maintainer, Kennett said he will put his background and experience to use, not to be disruptive, but to utilize a probing style to raise the level of dialogue about how the city spends its money and plans its future.
An additional perspective Kennett said he would bring to the council is his experience in the arena of emergency preparedness. His last military assignment was as liaison between the Department of Defense and FEMA. He also flew numerous forest-fire missions as a helicopter pilot and commanded fire-fighting base camps.
Kennett was born in Los Angeles and raised in San Francisco. He studied chemistry and history at Southern Oregon University. He entered the Oregon National Guard as a private and served three years rising to sergeant before becoming a commissioned officer. He has commanded aviation, field artillery, infantry and military police units.
Kennett is a businessman, running a company called Solutions, which coaches and mentors businesses. He recently sold his share of Gavilan Kennett Roepke, a food brokerage he owned for 22 years.
Kennett, a former chamber board chair and served as interim executive director, when the organization realigned its management structure in 2004.
He also chairs the chamber’s Economic Development committee and Government Review committee, and serves on the board of directors of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network.
Outside of his civic and political activities, Kennett is past-president of the Jaguar Associate Group, a Bay Area group of Jaguar car owners that is the world’s oldest Jaguar club and the largest of its kind in North America. Kennett is well qualified for that, owning three of the British vehicles and occasionally more.
Kennett sees himself as a bridge between business and the environment. He dedicates most of his time to his work on the Open Space Authority and is a strong advocate of fostering the adoption of alternative energy sources like solar power.
Patriotism was Kennett’s theme at the September 11 ceremonies. “Freedom has never been free,” he said, “and, as of late, it hasn’t even been reasonably priced; but it’s still there and ours for the keeping. Bless the U.S.A. and all she stands for. Bless this country in your own special way. Do you know why? Because you still can.”
