Kenneth Donald Brennan (Edgewood Town Council Position 1, New Mexico, candidate 2025)
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Kenneth Donald Brennan is running for election to the Edgewood Town Council Position 1 in New Mexico. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025.[source]
Brennan completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
[1]Biography
Kenneth Donald Brennan provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on September 26, 2025:
- Birth date: October 23, 1960
- Birth place: Norwood, Massachusetts
- High school: Cibola class of 1979
- Military service: United States Navy, 1980-2000
- Gender: Male
- Religion: Catholic
- Profession: Management
- Incumbent officeholder: Yes
- Campaign slogan: For a Family Friendly Future
Elections
General election
The general election will occur on November 4, 2025.
General election for Edgewood Town Council Position 1
Kenneth Donald Brennan and Adrian L. Chavez Sr. are running in the general election for Edgewood Town Council Position 1 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
Kenneth Donald Brennan (Nonpartisan)  | ||
| Adrian L. Chavez Sr. (Nonpartisan) | ||
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Campaign themes
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kenneth Donald Brennan completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Brennan's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am dedicated to service and community. Serving 20 years in the US Navy retiring as a Chief Petty Officer I went on to a second career with a GE company for 23 years. My last 17 years as a manager of Wind Services guiding and mentoring up to 230 Wind Techs. When I saw a need in Edgewood for common sense leadership without personal agendas, I stepped forward and was elected to serve my community as a Town commissioner. I want Edgewood to continue to prosper and remain the best place to raise a family.
Real, long-lasting success takes time to plan, fund, and create – not changing direction every four years. My steady commitment and ability to focus on community goals, make connections, and bring funding and resources to Edgewood has and will support our town’s needs. I strive to always be the thoughtful, dedicated leader that Edgewood citizens deserve. It is my nature to be positive, hard-working, and collaborative as I work with community members, fellow commissioners, and staff to achieve progress for our town. I keep my eye on the ball, to support and complete many strategic goals for Edgewood such as roads, recreation, and community clean up, while preserving the family values and small-town appeal that residents appreciate.
I serve on 3 regional boards, NCRTD (Blue Bus), Regional Transportation Planning Org, as chair, and Workforce Connection of Central NM. I continue to expand my knowledge, regularly attending trainings and statewide meetings benefiting Edgewood- Improving roads. I have pushed to build our Road dept in both staff and equipment to better service Edgewood’s nearly 70 miles of roads. I secured funds for engineering plans for Horton Rd. The next step is the drainage study, and we have applied for grant money to accomplish this. We continue to push forward with chip seal paving on other roads. The town procured equipment to chip seal on our own. Each year we improve our process, enabling us to do more roads per year. This has saved the town hundreds of thousands of dollars for each mile paved. Our goal is to be able to pave 3+ miles a year. On average, a road takes 2 years from planning to completion. The focus is on emergency and school bus routes, and roads in dire need.
- Building and improving needed infrastructure to include water, wastewater, parks and trails. To improve water quality and availability the town has passed a Water Utility Ordinance and has started a 40-year water study. Next will be to secure water rights qualifying us for grants to improve/drill wells and to install water treatment systems. This will make the town a water wholesaler providing quality water to the current utilities serving the town. We are in the process of expanding the capacity of the wastewater plant to service more users. Continued expansion of recreation facilities to provide more activities for families. I will be working on phase 3 of Venus Park with completing the new soccer field, dog park and other improvements
- I am currently working with the legislature to improve medical availability in the East Mountains. The goal is to have a 24-7 Emergency medical facility. Currently any medical emergency must travel to Albuquerque with the closest facility over 30 minutes away. With a growing elderly population and young families with children moving in every year this need has never been more prevalent. This initiative will be the hardest to accomplish. By working with local municipalities, Santa Fe, Bernalillo, Sandoval, and Torrance counties, state legislature and agencies we can fulfill this dire need in Edgewood and the East Mountains.
Public safety is at the top. With Albuquerque’s ever-increasing crime rate, being able to address any crime spilling into our community is paramount. Providing our police with the best equipment and training necessary to carry out this task is a must. Conserving water and ensuring future generations have available water resources. I have started the process of drafting legislation to provide tools in limiting water use on large turf grass areas. I am also working to save potable water by working on our ability to utilize the treated discharge water from the water treatment plant for allowable uses such as roads and irrigation. Improving quality of life for all residents, especially through expanded recreational activities for all ages.
We interact with all levels of government. We must be able to set aside political differences and work together for the betterment of the town. We are a direct line to county and sate elected officials and administrations to work out the issues the town faces.
First the obvious, my Father. His honesty, attention to detail and family values are what has made me today. I always ask myself if what I am doing is something he would approve of. My mother's father. He was a leader of his community and a party leader in the Maine political scene. His impact on me was not evident until I decided to run for political office myself. Even though he was of a different party his ability to work with both sides inspired me.
Civility and respect towards others. That our actions are in the public’s best interest, with no influence of self-interests or possible personal gain. We must attempt to put bias aside when we make decisions ensuring that those decisions are in the best interest of the town. Humility. No one is perfect and when we are wrong or have made an error, we need to be honest, admit it, own it Flexibility. Even though many of us have personal jobs we must remember that when we took on this responsibility we are also saying we can make our schedule work with the needs of the town. This means making the time for meetings, trainings, town events, state and county events. This includes making the time to travel, sometimes long distances.
Acting in the best interest of the town. It is the responsibility of every elected official to weigh out every action, every decision, and ask the question "How does this help the town as a whole?" Not every decision will be considered beneficial by everyone. The important thing is that we consider the needs of the people, the needs of the town's welfare and the needs for the future.
The legacy I want to leave is that I was a person that did what was right in helping others.
The launching of Apollo 15. I was 10 years old and a Cub Scout. My father was one of the troop leaders for the Boy Scouts and my older brother was a Boy Scout. The troop had the opportunity to travel to Florida and watch the launch form three miles away. This trip fueled my passion for aeronautics and engineering.
Stock boy for Henry Hillson and Company in Albuquerque. It was a little over a year until I left for the Navy
Ok, this may seem odd but my favorite book is Practical Electrical Wiring 15th Edition by Herbert P. Richter and W. Creighton Schwan. This has been my go to source for residential electrical. It may be 26 years old but much of the information inside is still good today.
Understanding how some people can treat others so poorly. It is okay to disagree with others but to berate and insult others because they do not think the way you do is totaly counter productive, especially in public office.
As a Commission-Manager form of government it is important for people to understand the roles of everyone. The day-to-day operation of the town is carried out by the town manager. This includes all aspects pertaining to staff, directing department heads on needed tasks in the operation of the town, carrying out the directives of the commissioners and keeping commissioners informed, etc. The Commission as a unified body sets policy and regulation, reviews and approves the budget of the town, appoints the Town Manager, Town Clerk, Town Treasurer, Chief of Police and any other appointed position the commission feels necessary for the town. The mayor is one of the commissioners that is appointed by the commission. The mayor's duties are to officiate the meetings, represent the town at functions and be the signatory authority. The mayor and other commissioners do not direct staff unless it is done in an open meeting and is by majority vote. Directing staff other than appointed officials is the duty of the town manager. This is a simplified description, and a more in-depth description can be found in state statute 2024 New Mexico Statutes. Chapter 3 – Municipalities Article 14 - Commission-Manager Form of Government
It is beneficial but not mandatory. What should be mandatory is for every candidate to be familiar with the duties and responsibilities of the office and understand what can and cannot be done. After being elected each office holder should seek out and attend every training session made available.
Speaking with the public, town staff, fellow commissioners, state & county officials require good communication & listening skills. An ability to stay objective, empathetic to their position or situation. Civility in the most heated of discussions. Critical thinking and knowledge of the issue at hand in order to make the best possible decision for the town
In Commission Manager form of government no one person has absolute power unlike Council Mayor form of government. There are more checks and balances in place with Commission Manger. It takes a majority of the commission to move forward and direct the town Manager to execute those directives .
My Naval service to our country for 20 years. The work I have done in the service of the people of Edgewood for the past four years. And most importantly, my marriage to my wonderful wife for 43 years, she has stood by me and supported me through all my endeavors.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
