By Kyle VanderLinden
Town meetings are a hallmark for every citizen to vote and stand up to make his or her opinion heard. It is considered one of the truest forms of democracy in the United States. With the growth of cities and volume of meetings, the City of Sioux Falls, like other cities, has adopted a mayor-council form of government. Within this form, each district is designated and alderman, or councilor, who generally acts as the legislative branch of the city government.
It is this duty of the councilor to represent their district to the fullest ability and upmost respect to the people within that district. I am NOT running to simply fill a position; I am running to represent the Southwest District as well as the City of Sioux Falls to the best of my ability.
Of the many concerns I have for this city, here are a few issues pertaining to my campaign that I would like to make prevalent in my run for City Council:
- Economic Development
- Sustainability – Maintain a healthy and balanced city budget – Fiscal stability – Transparency in our city budget
- Ensure fair city tax rates and fees – Retract the size of government
- Apply strategies to reduce the cost of city services
- Promote Sioux Falls as a green community
- Community strength and effectiveness by engaging the community in city government
- Evaluate city expenditures with a view of maintaining a strong fiscal position and awareness of the impact on taxpayers while providing a high quality array of city services
In the words of Winston Churchill, “Never, never, never give up.â€Â To all of my constituents in the Southwest District and the City of Sioux Falls, if elected, I intend to make our city work on behalf of the people living within and provide the desire to be opportunistic all while making Sioux Falls a more vibrant, attractive place to reside. This is not because our city can do better, but because I believe in utilizing our resources and laying claim that government stands in the best interest of the people. This is a great city to be a part of and my goal is to resonate the prosperity of life and coerce that with the conservation of our community. To do this, I ask for your support in my run to represent the citizens of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
So, he’s gonna do all that quality of life improving AND reduce the size of government AND lower taxes?
it sounds like to me its more about reassessing where our current tax dollars go and ensure it is being appropriated in the right direction.
I don’t see a profile here. This looks like an endorsement.
EVERY current City council member, candidate, and the mayor himself should be well acquainted with the principles espoused on this site:
http://www.strongtowns.org/
You can’t claim to be running a financially-sustainable city if you don’t do something about the suburban-growth Ponzi scheme.
M2 – Kyle wrote this, no endorsement. I actually disagree and agree with some of his points, but I think Jamison deserves a second term. I can’t vote in that district, so my endorsement is moot.