STURGIS, S.D. – The Sturgis City Council met in special session Wednesday night following the resignation of Mayor Kevin Forrester on Monday.
Forrester resigned due to his battle with pancreatic cancer. He was diagnosed last fall and his health had been deteriorating, forcing him to step down from the office he was elected to last spring.
Sturgis City Ordinance now states that if there is a vacancy at mayor, the position may be filled by appointment by a majority vote of council members until a special election can be held. Since Forrester’s resignation, Council President and Ward 2 alderman Tony Dargatz had been serving as Mayor Pro-Tem.
Sturgis City Administrator Aaron Jordan recommended to the council setting the special election for June 2nd.
Jordan says two public notices would go out and petitions could start afterwards and would need to be submitted by the first of May.
The council approved the motion to set the special election for June 2nd.
As for the interim, Sturgis Ward 3 councilor Jim Thompson made a motion to appoint Sturgis businessman Rod Bradley as interim mayor. In his resignation letter, Forrester had mentioned he would like to see Bradley finish out his term as mayor (see letter below). Thompson’s motion died for a lack of second, and the council decided to wait until the April 6th meeting to move forward on the appointment process.
Sturgis City Attorney Eric Davis told the council “state law requires the Council to appoint a Mayor as soon as practicable, but what is practicable depends in part on the process the Council chooses to use. If the Council wants a streamlined process, the April 6, 2026 regular meeting may be practicable. If the Council wants to solicit applications and conduct interviews, a later meeting may be more realistic.”
Sturgis Mayor Kevin Forrester’s resignation letter:
