Dave Nelson: The People’s Choice, The People’s Voice

(Dave Nelson) – To the People of Douglas County:

Our county needs new leadership. Over the last decade, a gap between an increasingly out-of-touch Board of County Commissioners and the needs and desires of Douglas County voters has widened and widened. Three of the five Commissioners, including the District One incumbent, voted to increase gasoline and sales taxes without a vote of the people. The previous commission, which again included Commissioner Greg Lynn, approved (under questionable legal authority) an indebtedness of more than $14 million for a Community Center project that had been turned down twice by the voters at the polls. Please know that I do not object to the Community Center per se, but to the tactics used to cram it down our throats. Taxing and indebting the people without their prior consent runs contrary to the basic principles of fairness.

It is in response to the above actions and many similar “in-your- face” or “we-don’t- care-what- the-voters-want” decisions made since I moved here in 2003 that I have come to the conclusion that something has to change. And it is with the intention of making sure county government serves the people and not the other way around that I seek the office of District One County Commissioner.

• As your commissioner, I pledge to guard your tax dollars with the same respect and prudence you apply when you manage your personal budget.
• As your commissioner, I pledge to not support any tax increase that hasn’t been approved by a vote of the people.
• As your commissioner, I pledge to put the public’s needs first and foremost and not curry favor with “special stakeholders.”
• And, most importantly, as your commissioner I pledge to listen with deep respect to what you, as active partners in determining the direction of our great county, have to say.

County residents have seen their cumulative property taxes increase more than $9.5 million since the 2008 Great Recession began. This is in excess of a 35% increase! Has your income gone up 35% over the last eight years? And in what ways, if any, have we taxpayers benefitted from the enormous “raise” the county’s gotten at our expense? Our ranchers, business community, retirees, and hard-working families are struggling just to pay their bills, much less ever-increasing taxes.

Visit www.4DaveNelson.com for further information about Nelson’s candidacy for Douglas County Commissioner.