Meet Phil Jennerjahn

By Mary O’KEEFE

Phil Jennerjahn is the Republican candidate for the Congressional seat District 28. He is running against incumbent Congressman Adam Schiff (D).

Jennerjahn ran unsuccessfully in  2009 for Los Angeles mayor and in 2010 for the U.S. House of Representatives, District 33. He was a charter member with the chairman’s task force for the 2009 Republican National Committee, a member of the Screen Actors Guild and a member of American Conservative Union, according to his biography at League of Women Voters of California, smartvoter.org

“I want to be one of our country’s leaders,” he said of his decision to run for office.

When asked what his local policies would be in areas like Jet Propulsion Laboratory, he answered, “Generally my policies need to be national policies.”

He is a conservative Republican and feels the government is too big and more power must be brought back to the state level.

“If elected. I would [try to] eliminate the departments of Energy, Labor, Agriculture, Transportation, Education, Interior and Commerce,” he said. “There is a lot in government that is duplicative.”

Jennerjahn added he felt at present the government is exceeding the parameters of the constitution and its laws.

“The Tenth Amendment [states the federal government] powers are limited,” he said.

Tenth Amendment of the Constitution states: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people.

Jennerjahn said the government needs a lot of change. He added that he would be more conservative than some other Republicans serving in Washington.

He describes himself as a Tea Party member. If elected, his hope is to convince his fellow Republicans of his way of seeing the federal role in government.

“The goal is to drag [Republicans] along and [that they] will see the light,” he said.

He contributes his decision to go into politics to the reading of two books: Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” and “The Conscience of a Conservative” by the late Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, who Jennerjahn describes as one of his heroes.

Schiff and Jennerjahn are scheduled to attend a candidate forum on Monday at 7 p.m. Burbank City Hall. The event is sponsored by the League of Women Voters.

Burbank City Hall is located at 275 E. Olive Ave. in Burbank.