David Reeser is running for the Rexburg City Council. In an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio, he says why he is running, what he would bring to the position, what he would focus on, if elected and more. For more information about his campaign, go to www.reeserforrexburg.com. Election Day is November 7. Below is a transcript of the interview. It has been lightly edited for clarity.
Chandler: So, let's start with this question, why are you running?
David Reeser: Well, there's kind of a complicated reasoning for why I'm running, but the first reason is I just love Rexburg. Born and raised here, spent almost my entire life here. My wife and I have raised our family here, and we love it here. And now that there's a couple of seats that are open, meaning that, the candidates, the incumbents are choosing not to run, I felt that it a great opportunity, now that my kids were grown, I have a little bit of extra time to go ahead and run. And another reason is I feel like I've got some really good experience that I can share on the city council. I've been twice elected to the Madison District Library Board of Trustees, and there we work with multimillion dollar budgets, we work with public policy, making public policy and modifying it over time as needs change. And that's exactly the type of thing that we'll be doing on the city council as well. So, I feel like I've got some experience there that could be beneficial.
Chandler: And what do you say that you have that other candidates don't?
David Reeser: Maybe my perspective, all the other candidates are good people, but we all have differing perspectives. I'm a public educator. I teach at Madison High School and have taught in Eastern Idaho public schools for 31 years. And one of the things that I do every year with my students, my government students, for them to fulfill their senior project is they are required to go out into their community and look for public policy problems, things they don't think are working terribly well, and then develop solutions to those problems, and then develop a plan to work with government in which those problems could be solved. And to us, that's kind of the capstone of their social studies education at Madison School District. And now that, again, I am an empty nester. And now that I've got some time, if I really believe those things that I'm teaching my students, that we live in a representative democracy and that it is important for citizens to get involved, then I need to do that too. And so, I think the perspective of a classroom teacher in Madison School District would be a great perspective to.have on the city council. I've also lived here in Madison County for almost 50 years, or in Rexburg for almost 50 years of my life now. And so, I think I've got a pretty good handle on some of the major challenges that people face and the frustrations that they have and an expertise on dealing with public policy. So, combine all that together, and I think I'm a pretty good fit for the city council.
Chandler: Building on that question, if you were elected, what would you focus on?
David Reeser: The primary thing that I would focus on as a new person on the council, I certainly wouldn't come in thinking I know everything or even know more than the other members of the council. So, my first thing would be to learn and to focus on listening to the citizens of Rexburg and their challenges. Sometimes we get a little insular, sometimes in our own lives, we focus on our own perspectives and our own viewpoints, and that can lead to missing out on other viewpoints. And my goal, my first goal, is to listen to what the citizens, the resident of Rexburg, are saying so that I can have that information, so that it can inform any decision that I would make on the council. I would also want, though, to be open to the experts. We've got some amazing people that work for the city of Rexburg who have expertise and education in those specific fields that I don't. And so, I would want to listen to them as well to try and get that balanced perspective before making a decision on what would be the best way to move forward.
Chandler: And what would you say is the number one issue facing Rexburg right now?
David Reeser: I would think it's growth. And close number two that's related to growth is infrastructure. I think the fact that Rexburg has grown so quickly and so much over the last 10, 20 years, we're still feeling those growing pains, and I don't see any sign of it slowing down. And so, we've got to be able to figure out a way that we can respect existing neighborhoods, existing homeowners, existing property owners, and at the same time, allowing for growth, allowing for new subdivisions coming in, allowing for new businesses, allowing for new apartment complexes, those types of things. Because Rexburg is going to continue to grow, and we need to figure out. A way in which we can enable that growth and to allow for that growth, but also to keep that great “my hometown feel” of Rexburg.
Chandler: What would you suggest as a possible solution to the problem of growth?
David Reeser: I don't see growth as a problem, but there are certainly unintended consequences and issues that come along with that growth. And so, again, my door would always be open, my email would always be open, my ear is always available for people that have concerns about growth in their area of Rexburg. How can we accommodate that growth? And how can we allow these new friends and neighbors that are coming to our community to enrich our community, but at the same time try to preserve and protect property owners and their rights as well? I can't give a specific solution because there are so many, because everything is individual and every problem has its own nuances. All I can promise to do is to use the experience that I have, combine that with knowledge and experience of city of Rexburg employees, and to combine that with the experiences and the concerns of citizens to try and figure out, as a council, the best way forward.
Chandler: And one last question is what message do you have for voters as they get closer to election day?
David Reeser: The message I have is, let's get out and vote. If you're not registered, you can get yourself registered. You can even register on election day but come out and vote. Click on all the candidates’ websites, find out what everybody stands for, talk to your neighbors if your neighbors know candidates personally and find out about the personalities and the character of the candidates. And then get out there and vote. And I would hope, obviously, that as you found out more information about myself, that you would be comfortable using one of your votes for me.
Chandler: And where can people go to get more information about you and your campaign?
David Reeser: My campaign? It's Reeser for Rexburg. It's not the number four, it's f-o-r. But I have a website, Reeser for Rexburg, and you can go there, find out more information about my candidacy, my ideas, my background and even information on how to get registered to vote.
———
To view the Candidate Q&A for another candidate, please select their name below:
City Council:
Brian Thackeray
Mayor:
Jerry Merrill