The race for City Council is on. Here is questionnaire sent to those running to help you understand the candidates.

Who are you, in your daily life?

I am a proud father of three children who are now all out of college and into their careers. My wife, Denise and I are fortunate to live on several acres in Rapid City, so we have our two Scottish Collies and one Collie from Brazil. We also rescued two ponies, and they are so much fun to take care of. I work probably 20-25 hours a week in my role on the city council and several boards. 

What prompted you to run for city council in the first place 

I retired from 37 years in banking/financial services and continued to serve on boards and volunteer in the community. I have always been engaged in volunteering and serving on boards. I love Rapid City and want to be part of making Rapid City, and Ellsworth successful with smart growth. 

How have you worked in the past to contribute to the local community?

I have served as Chairman of the Citizens Vision Committee, 

Chairman of Junior Achievement of the Black Hills and 15 years as a classroom volunteer

I have worked on the Boards for Elevate Rapid City, Rapid City Chamber of Commerce, United Way, RC Community Development Corp. 

4 years as Honorary Commander of the 34th Bomb Squadron, Ellsworth Air Force Base. 

RCAS TeamMates Board of Directors and currently as a mentor for the last 4 years. 

I served on the Board of the Rapid City Catholic School System for 6 years. Four years as President. 

What do you consider to be the pillars of your campaign?

Support the growth and renewal of our city infrastructure.

I believe in fiscal responsibility and as we grow, we should not burden taxpayers. Growth needs to fund infrastructure. 

Public Safety. It is important to continue to improve our support for public safety to make sure that our residents have a great environment to support  their quality of life. 

The city should extend a great welcome to the new B-21  mission. This mission helps frame who Rapid City is and why we are the home of the new squadrons.

Let’s focus on celebrating and lifting up the School of Mines. We have one of the most amazing universities in the nation and we need to support it!

How do you feel about the city’s role regarding issues between Summer Nights and Downtown businesses? Would you have done anything differently?

I was certainly involved with multiple conversations about Summer Nights and the impact on local businesses downtown. My main concern was to open up St Joe street for traffic. I am glad Summer Nights has approval to be on 6th street this Summer. 

What are your feelings on the use of fiscal tools (like TIFs) to attract private investments  within Rapid City? What would be your approach to using these tools?

I support the use of TIFs to implement the infrastructure to make development feasible. Some of the recent TIFs also covering the costs of new parks and fire stations. 

We do not have a lot of tools. TIFs work but are hard to explain. People need to know that the city staff denied 8 TIF requests last year based on our guidelines and state law. 

Residents should also know that of the dissolved TIF districts in Rapid City, there has been an increase in taxable property value of 3.9 billion dollars. So, 38% of the taxable property in Rapid City is in a former TIF district. These TIFs all paid off and closed on average for less than 12 years. 

What is a public investment you feel Rapid City could benefit from? (such as roads, parks, public transit, etc.)

I believe that we need to continue to invest in roads, expanding our bike trails and public parks ( we are blessed with the 13 mile long bike trail through the city but it did come with great loss of residents in the flood of 72. 

A lot of current attention is on Citizens’ desire to own hens, and attempts to bring this policy to the council via Alderman Tamang. If you were made to make a decision on this, or another proposal, how would you evaluate whether or not a project or policy is worth implementing?

I support chicken ordinance as that is what the people want. I have spoken to a Sioux Falls councilman who said having backyard hens has been a non-issue in Sioux Falls. I do think this is part of some folk’s desired life style and I support that.