Carson native wants to help make hometown even better

During this month alone, Carson City native Leanndra Jones is preparing to start work on her bachelor's degree and is expecting to give birth to her first child.

Jones, 27, also recently started serving as a member of Carson City's Parks and Recreation Commission after being appointed in November - the first member in recent memory to be under the age of 30.

"I wanted to volunteer," Jones said. "I was excited to have the interview and shocked to be chosen."

During recent years, she has volunteered to count bird populations and helped care for animals at a wildlife center and participated in helping to improve wetlands.

Her college major, environmental policy analysis, is the study of how to apply economic ideas to solve problems through the use of natural resources, land management, forest production, recreation and environmental quality, according to the UNR description.

Serving on the Parks and Recreation Commission should provide further insight into her future because her course study may lead to a career in government.

"I'll get to look at different city policies and how they affect the city and residents," she said.

She'll be able to become a better interpreter of residents' needs because during meetings she'll get the chance to "listen to how people talk and, in the end, try to decipher what they're saying," she said.

A Carson High School graduate, soccer was Jones' favorite sport as a youth but she also swam, dived, skied, participated in track and field and was on the flag team.

Jones started a five-year stint in the U.S. Air Force right out of high school. Her service took her such places as Japan and Saudi Arabia. She also spent some time working in Alaska and lived in Southern California before returning to Carson City.

She had the opportunity to see plenty of parks and playgrounds across the globe especially in Japan and Southern California. Natural landscaping is something Jones would like to see more of in Carson because these parks cost less to maintain and provide residents "a chance to learn about their native area," she said.

Most other commission members' children have children of their own. Jones, however, will be unique as a busy young wife and mother trying to balance family, school and volunteer activities. She represents a voice not often heard in city government because these types of people don't often serve, said Supervisor Pete Livermore, who also serves on the commission.

"It'll add to the variety of discussions," he said. "She'll bring definite insight to the needs of parents with toddlers and preschoolers."

• Contact reporter Terri Harber at tharber @nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 215.