Hi, I’m Briggs Warren, don’t confuse me for my older opponent Greg Neitzert. Even at the ripe age of 18, I’m my own man, heck, and I have been registered to vote longer then our city clerk, who just retired from the military.
Like a lot of SD Democrats (or at least the younger ones) in order to get elected under the ‘D’ symbol, they take ideas from their conservative opponents and somehow twist them into their own values. Huether pulled that crap on Staggers, taking some of Kermit’s best ideas and values and making them into his ‘issues’. (Snowgates, better infrastructure, building an EC without raising taxes). It seems Briggs is pulling the same tricks, not just by duplicating Greg’s website format, but most of his ‘issues’.
Neitzert’s Website (which has been up for several months)
Warren on Transparency; An Informed citizenry is crucial to a democracy and without transparency, we can not have either. That is why one of my top priorities will be to ensure nothing is hidden away behind legal documents unable to be viewed by the very people they concern.
Neitzert on Transparency; Transparency will be a top priority for me. Trust is only gained and preserved with transparency. Secrecy is antithetical to a good government. We cannot ask citizens to pay for city government and tell them they have no right to know what we are doing with their money. We need to strive to avoid arrangements that allow for confidential agreements and settlements whenever possible. We need the council and citizens to be informed as fully and as early as possible.
Warren on Fiscal Policy; At the end of the day, the money used to run this city is your money. Â With the tax money collected, we need to make sure that it’s used responsibly and that we don’t spend more than we have. It’s important to the city’s future that we don’t burden ourselves with unnecessary debt.
Neitzert on Fiscal Policy; I take a conservative approach to fiscal policy. I believe the money you work so hard for is your money. Raising taxes and user fees should be a last resort. As a city, we need to provide vital services and a quality of life that citizens have come to expect. However, we must balance that with being fiscally responsible. When government is entrusted with your money, it must be as careful with it as possible. We must also be very conservative with debt. We need to pay off city debt when we can. We need to be very cautious about taking on new debt. We should always strive to find ways to pay as we go. The first step to getting out of a hole is to stop digging. We need to avoid new debt whenever possible.
Warren on Zoning; Sioux Falls is growing, and that’s great! What’s not great is megastores being built across the street from residential homes. We need to make sure we protect residential homeowners from having their neighborhoods destroyed by commercial development. I believe we can do this while still allowing Sioux Falls to grow and it will be one of my top priorities in office.
Neitzert on Zoning; Zoning is a top priority for me because it is critical – it protects and preserves neighborhoods and the investment citizens have made into their homes and private property. Sioux Falls is a vibrant, growing city. We must encourage growth and redevelopment. However, we must also protect existing uses, neighborhoods, and homes. Protection of existing single family uses must be paramount. That will be my guiding philosophy. Encroachment of commercial development into existing residential neighborhoods is a major concern. Zoning is one of the most important and most common items the City Council addresses.
Warren on Infrastructure; The backbone of any city is its infrastructure. While it may not be exciting to talk about it is the most important part of our city and should be treated as such. The fact is South Dakota weather is tough on our road system; we need to look into ways of extending the usable life of the roads we have and invest in the best materials possible. Other cities have been able to extend their roads during harsh winters and its time for Sioux Falls to follow suit.
Neitzert on Infrastructure; Infrastructure is the most critical and basic of services our city provides. Roads, water, and sewer are core functions of our city. As our city grows, we must continue to expand our road system. In this region, road repair and reconstruction is a constant reality. We need to aggressively fund road maintenance and reconstruction to stay ahead of it. We need to repair roads not only in our main corridors, but in neighborhoods where they have aged and deteriorated.
I think it is great that Warren admires Greg’s conservative approach to city government as a registered Democrat, but instead of running against Greg, maybe he should be volunteering for his campaign?