As you may know, I have attended more than 60 work sessions and meetings to get a feel for what goes on at city hall on the behalf of our citizens.

I see some things I very much like and appreciate but, at the same time, have witnessed some things that myself and a number of other taxpayers I know very much disagree with. I have conferred with a number of citizens including other business owners with employees, working citizens and some of the city staff and have come to the conclusion that there could be better representation on some matters, particularly the spending of our hard-earned tax dollars.

I think I can bring sensible input from a business owner stand point to the table. As a local business owner since 1987 and currently employing eight others besides myself, I feel I have a very good understanding of how to make things work, shop for the best prices on necessary expenditures and how to prioritize needs on limited budgets. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a large ship.”

My goal is to help push forward the “Strong Towns” philosophy on any new developments in our city. This is something relatively new to our city but was brought forth at a meeting by our city manager Toby Dougherty (thank you, Toby) and I think if we can apply this thought process to our city planning moving forward we may be able to minimize the inevitable tax and service increases to maintain our current infrastructure. I would also work to get citizens more involved in local government, we very much need their input.

Scott Simpson, Hays City Commission candidate