Jon Paul Jennings was born on October 2,1962 and is an American city manager, politician, and basketball coach.
21 Facts About Jon Jennings
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Jon Jennings formerly served as city manager of Portland, Maine, and Clearwater, Florida.
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Jon Jennings was the founder, president, and general manager of the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League.
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Jon Jennings joined the Boston Celtics organization in 1986 where he worked as a scout, assistant coach, and Director of Basketball Development.
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From 1997 to 2000, Jon Jennings worked in the White House Office as a senior assistant in the Office of Cabinet Affairs, director of policy coordination, liaison to the president's initiative on race, and acting assistant attorney general in charge of legislative affairs.
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Jon Jennings was selected as a White House Fellow in 1997.
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In May 2000, Jon Jennings was named Vice President of Business Development for Givenation.
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Jon Jennings later rejoined the Celtics organization as a scout.
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Jon Jennings completed his degree work on a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard.
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In 2004, Jon Jennings ran for Indiana's 8th congressional seat as a conservative Democrat opposed to abortion rights and gun control.
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Jon Jennings defeated Bill Pearman in the Democratic primary but lost to incumbent John Hostettler in the general election.
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From 2005 to 2007, Jon Jennings was in charge of the Massachusetts offices of Senator John Kerry.
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In February 2009, Maine Basketball, LLC, a group Jon Jennings was a partner of, was granted an NBADL expansion franchise.
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Jon Jennings was named the team's first president and general manager.
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In 2010, Jon Jennings was named as the first NBA D-League Executive of the Year.
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Jon Jennings became a partner in the Red Mango Frozen Yogurt store at the Maine Mall and a development at Thompson's Point, a project for which he requested and received a $31 million, 30-year tax break from the City of Portland.
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In 2015, Jon Jennings blocked implementation of a plan that was approved unanimously by the City Council to redesign Franklin Street following a long community process.
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Jon Jennings had long-running feud with elected Portland Mayor Ethan Strimling and faced sharp criticism from local Black Lives Matter activists, who in 2020 called for him to be fired.
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Jon Jennings resigned as city manager in 2021, before his contract expired, pointing to ongoing criticism from anti-racism activists as his reason for leaving.
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In December 2021, Jon Jennings met with Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige, who has stirred controversy by purchasing extensive real estate in downtown, much of which sits vacant.
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In 2022, Jon Jennings was accused of helping the Church of Scientology cancel a planned 81-unit affordable housing project in order that the church could open a museum to its founder on the site instead.