I’m Running, For Us
Dear Neighbors,
Allow this to serve as my official declaration that I am launching a campaign to be your representative for District 5 in the Putnam County Legislature.
I am running as a Democrat, AND, I have interviewed with, and am currently under consideration for, the official Conservative Party endorsement.
This is because I am an independent and pragmatic thinker. I am not defined by party ideology. I am your neighbor, and you’re mine. I am not doing this for me. I am not even doing this for you.
I am doing this for US, to remind us of what it means to be part of a community, a community we can have pride in, for Republicans, Democrats, Conservatives, and the many Working Families who all call Carmel Hamlet and Kent home.
I am a business leader, an educator, and a coach. I have co-founded several successful companies, continue to work and advocate for the Special Needs community, and have gone from coaching football at Carmel High School to helping NFL Players prep for the Super Bowl.
My whole professional career has been spent studying the behavior of others, listening to who they are and where they want to be, helping in whatever way I can to help them achieve greatness.
I am running because there is so much that can be done for our Carmel Hamlet and Kent communities, and Putnam County at large. The truth is that our current county government isn’t getting it done.
Instead, it is self-serving, opaque, and ineffective. They are ineffective because at the very least, their foundational purpose is to work on behalf of us and inform us, and yet they have failed to meet this very low standard.
The decision to run is not one I make lightly, nor should anyone who is looking to earn the trust of the public in order to effectively represent their best interests in government at any level.
In fact, this decision came after months of deliberation with my wife, my kids, and my neighbors, as well as months of attending meetings and seeing first hand how dysfunctional our current government is.
No matter who I spoke with: Republican, Democrat, Independent, Conservative, or people not even plugged Into politics at all, we all agreed on the fundamental issues affecting us right here in Putnam County, and most especially District 5 (Carmel Hamlet and Lake Carmel/Kent).
A Clear Choice on Critical Issues
Transparency and the Rights of the Public
Nothing united us more than the following issue, from which all else in government flows:
The rampant self-serving in the current county government combined with an absolute lack of transparency.
Unfortunately for us, our current county government is fractured and unable to get things done, and who is in the District 5 seat will make the difference.
I am on the record of not only advocating for the rights of the public, but also declaring that I would vote for the latest resolution offered by Republican legislator Erin Crowley, codifying public speaking rights.
This resolution was removed from the agenda entirely at the 3/4/2025 Full Legislative meeting.
Had it been me in that seat, the motion to remove this critical issue from the agenda may not have been seconded. Even if it was, it would have been defeated as I would have been the crucial fifth vote to beat it.
This would have brought the measure to a full vote, and I likely would have been the fifth vote to codify these rights of the public.
Protecting Our Farmers
Additionally, the rights of our farmers have come under attack under this county government.
I am on the record not only supporting our farmers and restoring the Agricultural board, but showing up on their behalf. What is happening is the very abuse of government power our founders sought to end.
Again, had it been me in the legislature, these 5-4 votes to deny them crucial regulatory protections may have swung the other way.
Keeping Tax Dollars Local
I am a strong advocate, on the record and directly to our current legislature, about keeping our tax dollars local. Currently Putnam County is sitting on tens of millions of dollars in a Sales Tax Revenue SURPLUS.
I have advocated, joining all six town supervisors (both Republican and Democrat), that that money should be redistributed to the towns who provided them in the first place with their local businesses.
This would help the towns, who have small budgets as it is, provide for critical infrastructure needs, something they are struggling to keep up with.
Right here in Carmel Hamlet’s Water District 2, there is a critical infrastructure needs that this tax redistribution could help provide crucial funding for, easing the eventual burden on the tax payers, to the tune of hundreds of dollars a year, rather than the nearly $1000 yearly increase originally proposed.
But, Who Am I? Why Me?
Because at my core I am goofy father and husband who will be raising his kids here for the next 15-20 years at a minimum. Hopefully longer. And I am a business leader who knows how to work across different ideas and departments to get things done, especially for the people who most need it.
My years in business as helped teach me how to approach problems and challenges in an entrepreneurial, innovative, and human-focused way.
Professionally, I’ve spent the last 15 years:
Working in Special Education in both the Public and Private sectors
Co-founding and leading several companies, with successful exits
Improving the lives of underserved communities
Becoming an innovative leader in behavior science
Coaching NFL players
I’ve been a high school football coach right here at Carmel High School, served as one of the school district’s first ever lacrosse coaches, and now, in addition to my other work, coach and train NFL players, which has been profiled by ESPNand the Athletic.
I’ve helped young people impacted by Autism win a 25 mile bike race, and helped NFL players prepare for the Super Bowl, all in the same year.
I’ve spent time talking with parents of teens and young people in need of mentorship, as well as legends of the NFL like Kurt Warner, Steve Young, and Tony Boselli as to what made them great and successful.
We’re Neighbors
Folks, there is a clear choice in this race. And this is not typical partisan politics. Republicans and Democrats agree about the lack of leadership our community has gotten.
Community. The very essence of a word that at its core means "shared by all, as one”. The part of Carmel Hamlet and Kent that I live in embodies that. My little neighborhood is made up of Republicans, Democrats, and everywhere in between.
But we remember first and foremost that we are neighbors. We all want lower property taxes, and a welcoming place to raise our kids that feels safe and boundless.
I believe very strongly in service leadership. As a business leader and an educator, I have been in the service of others my whole career, leading them to where they want to go, helping them along the way, and exhausting every lever at my disposal to achieve the desired outcome.
That is what I want to do for my home, for our home.
For us.
Sincerely yours,
Brett Yarris
P.S. For more on who I am and what I want to do, visit yarrisforus.com and follow me on Instagram!