Scott Briggs, candidate for NSL City Council, has signed a pledge not to raise taxes. While a breath of fresh air, I hope that Briggs will not sacrifice the perfect for the good in other areas if he wins. Remember, Ron Paul is considered strong as a fiscal conservative by the Club for Growth, but also ineffectual at getting his ideals implemented.
That said, the gauntlet is down for other candidates to show similar spine as Scott Briggs. My thoughts are that none of the NSL candidates should have any hesitation to sign the pledge.
Joint Press Release
October 29, 2007
Contact: Scott Briggs, 801-699-5758
Contact: Ronald Mortensen, 801-927-7916
CitizensForTaxFairness.org
Briggs Signs CitizenForTaxFairness.org Taxpayer Protection Pledge,
Refuses to Accept funding from Special Interests
Scott Briggs, candidate for North Salt Lake City Council has signed the CitizensForTaxFairness.org Taxpayer Protection Pledge."
Upon signing the pledge, Mr. Briggs stated, "I have constantly told the voters that I oppose taxes so I only found it natural to sign this pledge. Now voters have my word in writing and can hold me accountable if I break it, which I won't."
Mr. Briggs also emphasized that he has refused to accept any donations from special interests. "This puts me at a real disadvantage from a financial standpoint," he said, "but I want to be totally independent to make the best decisions for my constituents in all cases without any possible perception of impropriety."
Ronald Mortensen, CitizensForTaxFairness.org, co-founder noted that Mr. Briggs contacted him and asked to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. "We make the Pledge available to all candidates but during this election cycle we have not aggressively pursued candidates to get them to sign it," said Mortensen. "In Bountiful for example, all candidates have publicly come out in support of tax increases which makes them ineligible to sign it."
When asked what he would do in case of a major emergency impacting North Salt Lake, such as an earthquake, Mr. Briggs responded: "Should a major disaster strike that is exactly the wrong time to raise taxes. How do you raise taxes on families that may have lost everything and are trying to put their lives back together?"
In 2006, when CitizensForTaxFairness.org asked Davis County Commission Candidates to sign the Pledge, all refused.
"Based on our experience with the County Commissioners, it seems that a refusal to sign the P ledge is a good indication that candidates are inclined to vote for higher taxes," said Hugh Williams, a co-founder of CitizensForTaxFairness.org.
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