The Sioux Falls City Council has two fresh faces who will help the make decisions on some major issues during the next four years — from keeping the new events center within budget to seeing through the downtown rail yard relocation.
Rick Kiley and Christine Erickson were sworn in Tuesday afternoon at Carnegie Town Hall as the city’s newest council members. During the same ceremony, Mayor Mike Huether and two other councilors, Rex Rolfing and Michelle Erpenbach, also took an oath to begin their second terms.
All five were elected April 8 and will serve four-year terms through May 2018. Councilors Jim Entenman and Sue Aguilar decided not to run for a second term.
This year’s turnover isn’t the sea change the city saw four years ago, when half of the eight-member council and the mayor were new to city government.
The new council will be charged with keeping its predecessors’ projects on track. Once the Denny Sanford Premier Center opens in September, city leaders will be expected to hold promises that the facility will stand on its own financially.
The events center was something Entenman had been working on before even deciding to run for council. He decided to step away from the city position to focus on expanding his business, JL Harley-Davidson.
Aguilar, who most recently was active in revising the taxi cab ordinance, did not run again because she wanted to spend more time with family.
The two new councilors aren’t new to public service.
Erickson, 36, served the past two legislative sessions in Pierre, representing District 11. She served on the House judiciary and taxation committees. Among the bills she sponsored, one allowing hunters to use crossbows during certain seasons was signed into law.
Erickson resigned her legislative position. Gov. Dennis Daugaard plans to appoint someone within the next month.
Erickson and her fellow councilors say her legislative experience will be a benefit to the city.
“So much of what happens in Pierre does impact our community,” she said.
Erickson didn’t seek another term in the Legislature because she wanted to serve closer to home. She and her husband, Tony Erickson, a Realtor, have three young sons. The Ericksons manage rental properties in the area.
She grew up in Rapid City, worked for the Department of Revenue in Pierre after earning her associate’s degree, then came to Sioux Falls in 2002 to pursue her bachelor’s degree in business management at the University of Sioux Falls.
Jamison pointed out that she will be the youngest council member and the only councilor with young kids.
“She represents another facet of our community,” he said.
Erickson said during her campaign that improving road conditions would be a top priority.
“It’s a quality-of-life issue,” she said. “People just expect to have goad roads.”
She’s already hearing from the people of Sioux Falls about traffic flow issues. She said she’s encouraged to learn about some of the new technology the city is using to get traffic moving without building more roads.
Erickson replaced Entenman in an at-large council position.
Kiley, 60, had never been elected to a public office before but has served on several public boards.
He was a member of the governor’s taskforce on impaired driving, was chairman of the National Association of Motorcycle Safety Administrators and served on the Falls Community Health Center board and the Sioux Falls Metropolitan Planning Organization, a group that studied the Interstate 229 corridor.
He’s currently director of the motorcycle education program at the South Dakota Safety Council. He’ll keep his full-time position there.
Kiley spent 33 years of his career as a biology teacher, splitting his time between Lincoln and Washington high schools.
His wife, Donna, works at the Avera McKennan Prairie Center. They have three grown children who live out of state, and one granddaughter.
During the campaign, Kiley also listed roads and transportation as a big priority.
“As the city grows, we have to keep pace with infrastructure,” he said.
He listed support for public safety and encouraging workforce development as his other top goals.
Kiley replaced Aguilar representing the Southeast district.
Council members
• Dean Karsky, chairman
• Michelle Erpenbach
• Kenny Anderson Jr., vice chairman
• Rex Rolfing
• Kermit Staggers
• Greg Jamison
• Rick Kiley
• Christine Erickson