Mathew Fox, 38
Occupation: Fox Smokehouse BBQ
How many years in Boulder City: Eight years as an adult but split my time here as a child between parents
What single issue most influenced your decision to run for council or seek re-election?
The single issue that prompted me to run for council the first time was I noticed everyone was angry with the direction the city was going in. In my position in the restaurant, I spoke to hundreds of residents on a daily basis and felt their concerns.
Things are getting better but re-election for my second term, we can get it closer to making sure all demographics are being served.
Why do you feel you are the best person for the position?
I feel being the age I am I represent a large class of people that have been overlooked for a long time.
Our retired and senior citizens have and will be always the top priority but the demographic under them has been overlooked.
We need someone to represent the working class, people with school-aged children.
What’s the biggest issue facing Boulder City today?
Our biggest issue is our economic growth. We don’t like our housing and population growth but the only thing to keep our city thriving is to bring in businesses, tourism, recreational outdoor activities to keep the money flowing through our town.
At potentially $42 million, the proposed replacement for the pool comes out to about $2,800 per resident. Do you feel this is the best use of Capital Improvement funds?
The pool is an absolute need for this town. We need to give our youth, seniors and everything in between a place to go to have fun, exercise, and just somewhere to enjoy the great amenities Boulder City has to offer.
We shouldn’t have to send our championship swim team to another school to swim when we can offer it here at home for them.
Many, especially in the business community, would like to see Boulder City become more than just a day trip, with visitors spending multiple days here. But some recent decisions, such as banning short-term rentals, would seem to discourage multi-day visits. How does the city balance the needs of its residents with that of encouraging tourism?
Banning short-term rentals, I believe was a mistake. We are a destination place for people to visit. But you can never find a place to stay in town. The only options are staying in Henderson or Las Vegas because our small motels here in town are fully booked with long-term stays, not to mention like myself and a lot of others that have a family of five when we travel, we need a house, not a small motel room. We could’ve got the STR’s done with the right regulations like most cities do, our destination outdoor recreation city could be booming economically.