Matthews Jones is the first per­son to reply to our Knox­i­fied e-mail ques­tion­naire. He is run­ning for Knox County Com­mis­sioner of the 6th district.

1. Intro­duce your­self to Knoxville, who are you, and why are you running?

Matthew JonesMy name is Matthew Jones and I am cam­paign­ing to become the next Knox County Com­mis­sioner of the 6th dis­trict. I am mar­ried for 6 years now to my lovely and sup­port­ive wife Brid­get, and have two young chil­dren Brit­tany 12, and Turner is about to be 3. My fam­ily and I attend First Bap­tist of Pow­ell, and my chil­dren will both attend Pow­ell schools. I am a juve­nile pro­ba­tion offi­cer for the Knox County Juve­nile Court and I have been work­ing with the youth and fam­i­lies of Knox County for about 6 years now. I am 29 years old, attended Ful­ton High School and went on to grad­u­ate Maryville Col­lege with a B.A. in Human Ser­vices in 2000. Why am I run­ning for Knox County Com­mis­sion? I want to be the one mak­ing the deci­sions that effect my chil­dren in my com­mu­nity every­day. I want to have a voice in my gov­ern­ment, and I want the cit­i­zens of my dis­trict to have that same voice. I want a com­mis­sioner who is going to be avail­able and wel­com­ing when I have con­cerns that need to be addressed. I will be there for all of the peo­ple of the 6th dis­trict. I am tired of hear­ing about the torn com­mis­sion and how many votes the sher­iff has and how many votes the mayor has and never hear­ing about how many votes the peo­ple have. I am work­ing to bring this gov­ern­ment back to you and to me. I am not a politi­cian, and I am not here to begin a career in pol­i­tics. I want to serve as your com­mis­sioner, and serve well, and move on with my life. I want to say that I was part of a mon­u­men­tal chap­ter of the his­tory of Knox County by fight­ing for hon­esty and integrity and a new day in Knox County Gov­ern­ment. Please get to know all of the can­di­dates for what is going to be the most impor­tant local elec­tion in the his­tory of this great county, and when you choose your can­di­date get out there and sup­port them. There is a rea­son that the same rep­re­sen­ta­tives have stayed com­fort­ably in office for so long. They are hard to beat, but we are try­ing, and with your help we will give you your gov­ern­ment back. Please visit my web­site at www.matthewjones.us and feel free to con­tact me any­time with any ques­tions you might have about my pur­suit to become your voice in Knox County Government.

2. We think it’s bet­ter know­ing what not to do rather than hav­ing an exten­sive plan. What areas or inter­ests would ben­e­fit Knox County not to ven­ture into?

I do not have some magic plan that is going to instantly cor­rect where our county has gone astray, but I firmly believe that the peo­ple of Knox County are ready for change. Our biggest obsta­cle now is to earn back the trust of the cit­i­zens of Knox County by pre­sent­ing com­pletely open gov­ern­ment and hold­ing those who have dam­aged our trust account­able. I am inter­ested in answers, and action, not talk. I can hon­estly say I don’t know exactly what issues we do not need to approach, but I can say we need ener­getic, ELECTED, hon­est, hard work­ing men and women to lead us where we do need to go.

3. What 5 things could you not live without?

What are five things I can’t live with­out? Here they are in order from most impor­tant to least impor­tant. Our Lord’s love and guid­ance, my chil­dren and fam­ily, my free­dom and inde­pen­dence, my work ethic and drive, and of course food and water. Beyond these things every­thing else is a bonus. The first two are self-explanatory but I will help with the oth­ers. Free­dom gives me oppor­tu­nity, and work ethic gives me what I need to take advan­tage of that oppor­tu­nity, and if I work the food and water will take care of itself.