Jason Redmon

by Peggy Bair

Jason Redmon is a retired Lt. Colonel who, although he has served at stations around the world, emphasized that he made Leavenworth his forever home by conscious choice. 

“I first came here in 2011, the first time, for school. It’s the intellectual capital of the Army, right? That is what foreign officers and leaders from around the world think of when they hear about our town” Redmon said. 

Although Redmon said he has lived in many diverse places such as Germany, Korea and Hawaii, it was Leavenworth that ultimately appealed to him.

“I fell in love with the place. I didn’t expect to like it. I thought ‘It’s going to be a cornfield.’ I grew up in Tennessee, so I was used to some of that. But then I thought, ‘Well, it’s neat for a year.’ But once I got here, I fell in love with Leavenworth.”

What was the appeal?

“It’s mostly the people, they are so kind & friendly and it’s not like that in a lot of places around the globe.
Redmon continued. “Because Leavenworth is the only place I’ve ever been that felt like home. So, after some additional (military) schooling, I did everything I could to get back here. This is where I want to live. This is my home.”

Traveling the world with the Army, attending CGSC, Redmon said those experiences have given him important perspective.

“It makes me appreciate Leavenworth more,” Redmon said. “Plus, just seeing different cultures and the way people operate was a great learning experience for me. One of my last assignments was on the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) for Operation Inherent Resolve (The peace mission in the middle east)  And so, it’s a multinational unit that consists of mostly hand-picked personnel from 79 nations around the world. It was an awesome year working with some of the best and brightest people from America’s allies, all with different backgrounds and cultures but working together for a common goal.”

Redmon’s eyes light up when talking about his passion for local Leavenworth history, readily delving into discussions about the early formation of the town with relation to early decisions made in the 1800s. 

“Decisions made 130 years ago still shaped who we are today” Redmon said.

With that in mind, Redmon sees a role on the city commission now as an opportunity to help make critical decisions that will affect Leavenworth’s future.

“It’s never going to be 100% of people agree with everything,” said Redmon, who referenced his position with the library board for the past year. “There’s a lot of good people on there – seven of us. And we all have different backgrounds, experiences and opinions about most things, but we get along great and all have the public library’s best interest at heart. We fall under the Northeast Kansas State Library System. So, we get local monies based off the mil rate and our funding comes from the City of Leavenworth, the state, and federal grants. It’s been an amazing experience and I’ve learned a lot from the other board members.”

With a bachelor’s degree in aerospace from Middle Tennessee State University and a Master’s degree in Leadership & Adult Education from Kansas State University, Redmon relates a personal story about avoiding the pitfalls of “Judging a book by its cover.” 

“Back in 1999 I sat in class with this guy,” Redmon said. “He’s probably the smartest guy I’ve ever met in calculus. And he had huge gauge earrings, I mean they were like the size of quarters. Tattoos all the way up and down his arm, not just the sleeve but above the neck and on his hands. Based on his looks I imagine an employer would be apprehensive about hiring him. But he was unquestionably the smartest guy in class. I went to him for tutoring in calculus and he was one of the kindest people I had met, and I have no doubt I would have failed that class without his help. So, I don’t generally judge people off the way they look.”

Since his Army retirement in 2023, Redmon has been immersing himself in a variety of community activities and organizations to better understand the boots-on-the-ground experiences that affect citizen concerns. Some experiences include attending the Sheriff’s Citizens Academy to understand local crime prevention efforts, serving on the library board and also listening to commission meetings that involved various proposals from the transfer station proposal or listening to young people voice concerns about the skatepark wish list.

“They don’t want old people telling young people what to do,” Redmon said. “Like, ‘oh, you’re making decisions for me.’ Likewise, older people don’t want young people making decisions for them. Like, you know, ‘you don’t have experience. You don’t know what’s going on.’ So, I feel like we’re kind of in that middle. I can relate to the older guys, but I’m not so old that I can’t relate to younger guys. I’m interested in making sure everyone is heard and treated fairly.”

With decisions both large and small looming over any given city budget proposal – weighing the demands of balancing between citizen preferences and infrastructure necessities – Redmon said he feels he would bring his strength in helping fairly analyze these decisions.

“I think in a very concrete, constructive way; I look at things from a problem-solving type perspective” Redmon said. “What’s the root cause of the problem? What’s going to cause the least amount of damage? What’s going to do the most amount of good? What is best for the city as a whole? It’s not necessarily what I myself personally believe. But I also have thick skin. I think there’s things that I like to do and want to do that other people don’t. There are things that other people do that I don’t agree with personally, or that I wouldn’t do. But I’m not going to stop them doing it. I’m a big proponent of the pursuit of happiness.”

Redmon clarified that, while he lives by his own personal beliefs and that these beliefs permeate who he is as a person, that serving on the commission is a apolitical body that serves all thirty-seven thousand citizens of Leavenworth.

“I think our founding fathers and early leaders were smart to ensure we have a separation of church & state “Redmon said. “Now those things kind of inform my background on morals and ethics, but most of that really goes down to the Ten Commandments. And I think those are things that everybody can get along with and agree with – ‘don’t murder, don’t steal,’—things like that.”

Redmon said that he feels the strength he brings to his run for city commissioner is his ability to listen to all sides and examine all input in the decision-making process for the city.

“I’ve always seen myself as a consensus builder,” Redmon said. “Nobody’s ever going to agree with everybody 100 percent of the time. But what I can promise you and the people of Leavenworth is that I care and that I will listen. I won’t make a decision without thinking about it and without listening to as much input as I can get. It’s important to me to try to do what is fair.”