Sioux Falls, SD (KELO-AM) The April 12 election will change the face, and perhaps the direction, of Sioux Falls City Council for years to come, as four of the eight seats are up for grabs.
Running for the At-Large seat:
John Paulson, who wants everything on the table for consideration for a comprehensive transportation plan for Sioux Falls, including bikes and light rail.
Theresa Stehly, who believes the city has enough development in the works right now. She says she is about taking care of what we already have in place.
Rich Noble, who says the challenge is to maintain a quality of life in Sioux Falls even as the city continues to grow, so the city doesn't lose the family feel it had 20 to 30 years ago.
Running for the Northeast District seat:
Robert Knutson, who has a broad agenda, including more affordable housing, keeping crime low, and more diversity programs for the city's changing population.
Tamera Enalls-Fenner, who wants to encourage small business owners by making sure the city is not putting a lot of rules and regulations on them.
Pat Starr, committed to working to overhaul the routing system for Sioux Area Metro buses, which he says will require leadership from the Council.
Running for the Northwest District seat:
Jacob Johnson, who says he will fight to change the "precedent set" that it is o-k to hide things from the public, referring in part to the confidential agreement with the contractors on the Sanford PREMIER Center.
Briggs Warren, at 18 the youngest candidate in the field, who says many young people leave Sioux Falls because they don't feel it's a welcoming community, referring to "hateful laws" in the State Legislature.
Erin Srstka, who says she will work to maintain the things in Sioux Falls that give the city national recognition. including its quality of life.
Greg Neitzert, who vows to work for more transparency in city government, referring as other candidates have, to the confidential agreement the city worked out with contractors to settle claims invovling the new PREMIER Center.
Running for the Southwest District seat:
Manny Steele, who is concerned about affordable housing, what with so many houses being torn down to make way for development, such as the two blocks of property for the Sanford Imaginetics Project.
Marshall Selberg, who supports looking at every possible option before moving forward completely with the proposed $22 million city administration building downtown.
Of course, all 12 candidates have opinions and positions are many, many more issues. This is just a sampling from the recent candidate's forum.
Please remember to vote in the April 12 Council-School Board election.