Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of three stories that will appear in The Brookings Register this week, featuring candidates for Brookings City Council. Joey Collins, Cassie Juba and Ope Niemeyer are competing to fill two three-year seats on the council.
BROOKINGS – “I’ve served my entire life, with the military, … the state, the county and the city of Brookings,” Joey Collins said. “I’d like to continue to serve my community as a member of the Brookings City Council.”
He is running for a three-year seat on the council. Early/absentee voting started Monday, but the city council/school board election date will move to June after action was taken by the South Dakota Legislature this week.
Collins’ service started early. He grew up in Clear Lake, graduated high school and joined the Army. He was a paratrooper, making about 23 jumps. A combat veteran, Collins served during Desert Storm and received the Army Achievement Medal.
After the Army, he went into law enforcement, working at the state penitentiaries in Walla Walla, Washington, and in Sioux Falls. He was the chief deputy with the Deuel County Sheriff’s Office.
In 1999, Collins came to Brookings.
“I have a passion for Brookings. Twenty-one years ago, we were sold on this place” due to kind people, Collins said.
While with the Brookings County Sheriff’s Office, he had the first county drug dog, won the Optimist Officer of the Year and the Top Cop for the state of South Dakota. He worked for the Brookings Police Department as a detective, DARE officer, school resource officer and training officer. He was a sergeant and retired as a lieutenant in 2017.
During his time as an officer, Collins went back to school, earning an associate’s degree, a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, and a master’s degree in criminal justice management.
For about eight years, Collins has taught criminal justice classes at South Dakota State University off and on, as well as at other schools, including in Sioux Falls.
He and wife Julie have two daughters.
Collins feels he has several qualifications to be on the council, including his degree in management; certificates in change management, grant writing and public administration; and experience with budgeting.
He promotes financial responsibility and worries about long-term commitments that tie up the city’s money for years, especially in tough times.
“What we spend today, we need to make sure we can still afford it two to five years down the road,” Collins said. “I’ll always vote for what’s in the best interest of Brookings, especially financially.”
A priority is infrastructure.
“Water drainage problem’s an issue and that’s been going on for a very long time,” Collins said, mentioning areas on 20th Street South, Faculty Drive and Sexauer Park. “Get some advice from people that know and follow through.”
Affordable housing is “always a topic … that needs to be addressed,” he said. “I’d like to hear a plan,” and he is open to using grants.
He thinks Brookings is headed in the right direction with continued growth and houses being built.
“I like how Brookings is a friendly town and we welcome people with open arms,” Collins said and praised the Chamber of Commerce. He also wants to continue to foster the city’s relationship with SDSU.
To secure Brookings’ future, he goes back to finances.
“We need to be very mindful of spending,” he said, keeping an eye on the sales tax revenue.
He welcomes community involvement in council decisions.
“The more input from the community, the better,” Collins said, adding he’d like to see more people involved with council meetings and suggested they might be held somewhere other than the City & County Government Center, like Medary Elementary or Hillcrest Elementary, to attract people from those areas to attend.
Helping others is a big deal, especially lower-income families.
As a law officer, he saw “some very bad houses” and knows those situations exist in Brookings.
“We need to do our part to make sure they have a safe place to live with their kids,” Collins said, adding he wants to research grants and is open to ideas. “We have enough people here, we can get things figured out.”
He’s glad to see the jail situation is being resolved.
“I hate seeing that we’re suing the county,” Collins said, mentioning all the money spent on that effort and how the cost of the jail has now gone up due to delays.
“The county would pay for their fair share of it, then with the rest of the money, you could always come up with the historic preservation or other entities that could help raise money to do things,” he said.
“I think it’s vital that the jail stays in town for safety reasons,” Collins said, adding he doesn’t want to see a big van transporting inmates through town.
Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.
