On February 8, 2024, the South Dakota Supreme Court ended a 2-year legal battle between the City of Sturgis and its citizens. A unanimous Court ruled that a petition filed with the Sturgis City Finance Officer in December 2021 calling an election on the question of whether Sturgis should retain its City Manager form of government was valid, that the Finance Officer and City Council violated clear duties in refusing to schedule an election, and that the City must hold an election on this issue...
In this first episode of the Sturgis Kitchen Table, we give a brief overview of the aldermanic form of government, explain how the office of City Manager was created in Sturgis, break down the recent effort to eliminate the office of City Manager by public vote, and the go through the details of the resulting lawsuit. Learn more: Overview of Municipal Government in South Dakota (South Dakota Municipal League publication)2021 Elected Officials’ Orientation Packet - Aldermanic with City Manag...
In the second episode of the Sturgis Kitchen Table, we dive head-first into a shallow lake by studying all the publicly available information we can find about the proposed $12 million Sturgis Lakeside Adventure Park. What do we know about this proposed project? What don't we know? Strap on your life vest, because we're jumping in the deep end. Want to learn more? LAKESIDE ADVENTURE PARK AQUATICS COMMITTEE PROPOSAL March 24, 2021LAKESIDE ADVENTURE PARK AQUATICS COMMITTEE FINAL REPORT AND REC...
In the final episode of the Sturgis Kitchen Table, we get you up-to-speed on the City's purchase of the Richards' property as the location to construct a $12.6 million Lakeside Adventure Project. In addition, we'll update you on a follow-up lawsuit just filed concerning the city manager form of government and whether the voters have the ability to eliminate the office of city manager.
The candidate elections have been decided, but the lawsuit attempting to force the Sturgis City Council to hold an election on the city manager form of government continues. In this episode we call on the Sturgis mayor and council members to drop the City's defense in this lawsuit and agree to hold an election on the question of whether Sturgis should keep the city manager form of government or go back to the strong-mayor form of government. This issue needs to get out of the cour...
Welcome back to Season 3 of the the Sturgis Kitchen Table! On February 21, 2023, the Sturgis City Council passed a resolution purporting to authorize the City to hire a new city manager following the resignation of long-time City Manager Daniel Ainslie. Over a year ago, a valid petition bearing the signatures of nearly 900 registered voters was submitted to call an election on whether Sturgis should keep the city manager form of government the voters created in 2007, or go back to the a...
The petitions necessary to refer the decision of Sturgis City Council to hire a new city manager and continue under the city manager form of government to a vote of the people are circulating around the community. To call this election, we need to gather at least 300 valid signatures in about 3 weeks. In this episode, we will talk about what the petitions call for, how you can add your name to the petition, and how you can circulate a petition to collect the signatures of your family, friends...
In this episode, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Davis give a broad historical overview of how Sturgis hired its first city manager and came to operate under the city manager form of government in 2007. Then, we jump forward many years to discuss the petitions submitted in December 2021 seeking to call an election for the voters to reconsider their 2007 action and the associated pending lawsuits over those petitions. Then, we have a broad-level discussion about the two different forms of government being...
In Episode 4, Eric Davis is back at the Sturgis Kitchen Table with a very quick update on the petitions circulating to refer the decision of whether Sturgis should continue to operate under the city manager form of government to a vote of the people. The petitions to call an election on that question are out and circulating, and the deadline is March 20th. In this episode, we'll tell you how you can add your name to the petitions and then circulate your own petition to your family...
Happy Monday, Sturgis. It’s March 13th, and Eric Davis is back at the Sturgis Kitchen Table with a quick update on the petitions circulating around the community to reverse the Sturgis city council’s decision to hire a new city manager and to instead have a larger discussion and an election where the voters can decide the future of Sturgis city government are making their way around the community. If you haven’t signed one yet, you have this coming week through this weekend to get it done. In...
In this episode, Eric Davis is back at the Sturgis Kitchen Table with one final petition update. The deadline to submit the petition to refer the resolution authorizing the City of Sturgis to hire a new city manager was last night, and the petitions were not submitted. After careful consideration and analysis of all the issues, we determined the petitions are not necessary to secure a public vote on this issue considering the pending status of several lawsuits. In this episode, we expla...
In this episode, Eric Davis gives a summary of the February 20, 2024 meeting of the Sturgis City Council to include issues like the downtown street race, the new wastewater surcharge, and the mayoral vacancy.
In this episode, we provide updates on the lawsuit over the city manager petitions, the referendum petitions circulating to refer the downtown street race to a public vote, and preview tonight's city council meeting, where the Sturgis City Council appears set to appoint the next mayor of Sturgis, but there could still be a special election to fill that vacancy. This episode has all the details.
In this episode, we have an update on the city manager petition lawsuit (Bohn v. Bueno) currently pending in Meade County Circuit Court; a discussion of the City Council's appointment of Sturgis's new mayor; an update on the successful attempt to refer the downtown flat track street race to a public vote; and some information about the upcoming municipal election on April 9th.
In this episode, Eric Davis sits down with Francie Ruebel-Alberts, Aaron Jordan, and Kevin Forrester for a long-form discussion on the form of government ballot question the voters of Sturgis will decide at this Tuesday's municipal election. We begin with a brief and broad overview of municipal government, the nature of its corporate structure, and the division of the legislative and executive branches and how state law permits the executive function to vested in either an elected mayor or an...
An effort to recall Sturgis Mayor Angela Wilkerson is underway in Sturgis. Listen to this short podcast for the details. Stay tuned for an upcoming discussion of the recall effort between Eric Davis and Francie Ruebel-Alberts. Please share this podcast with your fellow Sturgis residents. Find information about the recall effort here.
In this episode, Eric Davis sits down at the Sturgis Kitchen Table to discuss the current effort to recall the Sturgis mayor with Francie Ruebel-Alberts. Francie is a long-time educator and distinguished elder stateswoman in Sturgis and taught many of its residents government in high school. Find information about the recall effort here.