Tilton Byrne wants to engage all residents

2 candidates vying for one-year seat on Brookings City Council

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Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of six Brookings City Council candidate profiles that are appearing in The Brookings Register this week.

BROOKINGS – Holly Tilton Byrne likes to finish what she starts. That’s why she’s running for a one-year seat on the Brookings City Council.

Tilton Byrne is part of a two-way race for a one-year seat on the council that also includes Joey Collins. The election is April 10.

After Keith Corbett won the election for mayor last year, he had two years left on his term. Tilton Byrne was appointed to the council seat until the election April 10, and she wants to finish out the one year that remains. 

“I’m running for several reasons. One is I really enjoyed the last year of serving. It’s been absolutely wonderful to engage more with people in the community,” Tilton Byrne said. “I also chose to run for the remainder of this term because I currently am the youngest female on the council and a mom and a professional in the non-profit sector, which I think all of those things bring a unique perspective to the decision-making process and I think it’s important to have a vast array of voices heard on our city council.”

Tilton Byrne’s father was in the military, and her family moved to Brookings, her mom’s hometown, when she was 10. 

She and husband, Tim, have a daughter, 2, and are “going to be having another daughter shortly.”

Tilton Byrne is a community organizer for a statewide non-profit, Dakota Rural Action. She’s held the position since she graduated from South Dakota State University in 2009 with a degree in interdisciplinary studies. 

“I did a lot of focus on history and world religions,” she said. “It is kind of broad, and I think it’s really helped with critical thinking skills. It certainly helped with my community organizing.”

In addition to council, Tilton Byrne serves on the Humane Society City and County Task Force and on the Brookings Domestic Abuse Shelter’s board. She resigned from the Brookings Sustainability Council when she was appointed to council.

She said all her experience qualifies her for the seat.

“My job, being a community organizer, requires me to help others engage in the public process, so I’ve attended several professional trainings in how to be involved in local government,” Tilton Byrne said. “I’ve been really plugged in to the city level of things for quite some time and I’m passionate about it.”

Brookings has several priorities, including affordable housing, “a hot topic”; the “absolutely phenomenal” work being done by the new Mental Health Task Force; and sustainability issues, which encompass social, economic and environmental sustainability – “the whole broad spectrum of sustainability,” she said.

“I think we have to look at all of those pieces and make sure that Brookings is a strong, resilient community moving forward. We certainly have been so far,” Tilton Byrne said.

One way she thinks the council can help with that is the Comprehensive Master Plan.

“That tool is going to be so important for the council going forward in the next several years to guide the decisions that the council does make,” Tilton Byrne said. “It should be truly comprehensive and include pieces from all those areas so that we can come to solutions in the community together.”

One of the best assets is the city’s residents, and she wants to tap into those “great ideas” and “elevate their voices,” she said.

SDSU is “one of our most valuable resources,” and she wants to partner with the students as well as the “population of wonderful people here.”

A segment that may be underserved is those on a limited income. Tilton Byrne thinks those with a higher income have more opportunity to get their voices heard, but she wants to hear from everyone.

“We certainly need to figure out, I think, a way to better engage with people of all income levels in Brookings,” Tilton Byrne said.

That includes local business owners.

“I think they help make our local economy great and vibrant, and they bring wonderful businesses to our community,” Tilton Byrne said. “We definitely should respect that and encourage more of that to happen here.”

One issue she wants resolved is affordable housing “because it’s been a long-term problem and not just for Brookings; it seems to be a national trend. I would love to see us be able to resolve that … because I think that it’s an important issue that keeps coming up because people are passionate about it and rightfully so,” she said.

“I think Brookings’ future is bright. This community has been a place that people are excited about,” Tilton Byrne said, listing the job market, SDSU, and “the great people we have here. We have so much good going for us.” 

“We need to broaden those discussions to make sure that Brookings can continue to be the shining star in South Dakota that it already is,” she said.

Tilton Byrne said she’s willing to talk to anyone and learn what’s important to them. She can be reached at her website hollyforbrookings.com or on her Facebook page.

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.