Forum sparks fiery debate among vast field of Mitchell City Council candidates

May 14—MITCHELL — The vast field of candidates vying for the three open seats on the Mitchell City Council squared off for the first time on Tuesday, fielding a range of questions on pressing issues facing the city.

The trio of candidates seeking to represent Ward 1 are incumbent Dan Sabers, Jesse Stroud and Sarah Deakins.

The forum revealed Deakins and Stroud are unsatisfied with the trajectory Mitchell is on, while Sabers has a much more favorable outlook on the city.

In his opening statement, Sabers said "Mitchell is doing some things right" and touted the strong sales tax growth the city has experienced over the past three years.

"The last time we were down in sales tax was COVID-19. Since COVID-19, our sales tax went up. In 2021, our sales tax was up 11%. In 2022, it was up 12% and 2023 we were up 4%. We're third in the state for Class A cities as far as sales tax gains, which is huge," Sabers said. "I think we need to go forward by working on infrastructure, fix what's broken at the Corn Palace and move forward on affordable housing."

Stroud, a business consultant and radio industry professional, highlighted his humble beginnings as something that helps him understand the impact of rising water rates and other rate hikes for city services.

Stroud painted Mitchell as a "divisive community" with leaders who can't get on the same page. And he emphasized he's not a part of a "good ol' boy club."

"I've worked with over 60 communities, and the thing that is entirely different about Mitchell than all these other places is that we are so divisive. We can't get on the same page," he said, noting everyone needs to support each other. "I know what it's like to be a citizen, an average person who doesn't have a bunch of money."

During her opening remarks, Deakins said she's become "disenchanted with the direction" the city is going. And the Mitchell native is aiming to bring change to the eight-person council. Deakins is an official with the Department of Social Services.

"I think it's time for a change. I want to bring the city back to the people. I want to look at simple things like restoring city services like free citywide clean up and picking up branches after a storm. Let's stop buying buildings and selling them for huge losses," Deakins said. "Some of you may have noticed, we're kind of dying here. We're losing restaurants and people."

The candidates were asked to grade the condition of Mitchell's aging Main Street.

Deakins gave downtown a C and pointed to First Fridays on Main as an event that's reviving the corridor.

"The overall aesthetic look of downtown is better, and I think the BID tax has really helped those businesses down there. Mitchell Main Street and Beyond has really put a lot of work in with those business owners," Deakins said, praising downtown property owners.

Among the field of council candidates, Stroud gave the downtown area the lowest grade with a D+. He said shifting subsidy funds away from the Chamber of Commerce and over to Main Street and Beyond would produce a much better downtown.

"The Corn Palace has all those ripped seats. I don't know why we can't take the bolts out and slide a seat to bring all the nice ones down? The other reason I give it such a low grade is once you continue to go down past the Bradley's new (rooftop bar) place, nobody cares," Stroud said. "If everybody got a deal on their buildings like they did, everybody would have just as much success. If we would spend the money where we need to spend rather than wasting it on organizations that blow it."

As a former owner of an old Main Street building, Sabers knows the challenges of maintaining a downtown property. He's more optimistic than ever about the direction of Main Street, pointing to a local couple's new rooftop restaurant being built next to the Corn Palace Plaza and a California developer's ongoing building renovations at a handful of downtown properties.

He gave the downtown area a B- that's moving up fast.

"Once the Bradleys get into their new rooftop bar building and the Corn Palace plaza gets bigger, it will bring more stuff to do for tourists and residents. I think Main Street is going the right way," Sabers said.

After deciding not to enter the mayoral race, City Council President Kevin McCardle has shifted his focus on a re-election bid in Ward 2. Challenging McCardle is longtime Mitchell resident Shaun Davis, who is a Child Protective Services official.

McCardle has served two full terms on the council and became the council president in 2018. The Mitchell native lists fiscal responsibility, economic growth and capitalizing on the Corn Palace's potential as several key goals.

At Tuesday's forum McCardle stuck to his campaign slogan from his past council races: "common sense" was his main message.

"Tough decisions can be solved with common sense," McCardle said.

One challenging choice confronting both Mitchell's elected officials and residents is the Lake Mitchell project. McCardle said he wasn't opposed to the Lake Mitchell project itself, but he had concerns about the proposed approach. McCardle isn't happy that Barr Engineering hasn't handled a project involving a lake as big as Lake Mitchell before.

"I don't want to be an experiment for them to say we can or can't do a lake the size of Lake Mitchell," McCardle said.

Plus he finds it unacceptable to dredge only 51% of the lake.

"51 percent is a failing grade in school if you ask me," McCardle said.

With two council terms under his belt, McCardle has witnessed the city's progress, particularly along Main Street. Confident in the ongoing plans, he believes it will be even more impressive in two years.

McCardle emphasized the necessity for the city to leverage the interstate effectively and to attract visitors to town for reasons beyond just visiting the Corn Palace.

"We are a good, safe town," McCardle said. "We need to keep trying to make it better."

Collaborating to create a prosperous community with opportunities for all residents is a top priority that's driving Davis' campaign.

With fewer years residing in Mitchell, McCardle's opponent, Davis, asserts that if elected, he intends to prioritize small-scale changes.

"I'm here to make sure we do one little step at a time," Davis said. "We need to stop worrying about the big issues like the Corn Palace and the lake and start taking care of some of the smaller issues people actually really care about."

While overall, Davis thinks Mitchell is doing a good job, he feels things could be better.

"I would give Mitchell Main Street a 'B minus.' Overall they are doing a really good job though," Davis said. "We could do more to provide more activities like First Fridays."

Davis believes there's potential for enhancing the appearance and increasing the number of businesses downtown.

And he believes the city should take an active role in ensuring that improvements are implemented.

"I think the city should provide some incentive for businesses to do that," Davis said.

A big part of Davis's campaign emphasizes the importance of collaboration between organizations, the city, and its residents. Two of his campaign slogans are "Let's work together for a brighter future" and "Building a better community together."

"We need new ideas and better collaboration through the city staff and the council," Davis said. "We need to give a voice to our people in the community. We need to all come together as one to build our city to be a greater place for everybody."

Longtime council member Jeff Smith hasn't tasted defeat in any of the council elections he's run in over the past 18 years. As one of the longest serving council members, Smith is eyeing another term for Ward 4 in hopes of guiding several major city projects he's advocated for over the past decade.

Don Everson, a former Mitchell detective, and Montana Walcott, a young business owner and entrepreneur, are hoping to hand Smith his first election loss on June 4.

When Everson moved to Mitchell in 1993 to become a police officer, he said the community was full of restaurants and retail businesses. Everson said he no longer recognizes the city he moved to over three decades ago and hopes to revive the community as a council member.

"In 1993, Mitchell was a city of hope and promise. I'm not sure Mitchell is that same city today. Mitchell has the potential to be that city again. I believe in the city, its future and the people who live here," Everson said during his opening statements.

Smith opened by listing the four pillars guiding his re-election bid, which are the lake restoration project, advancing progress in the watershed, improving the Corn Palace and providing more affordable housing options.

Smith listed a few new goals that hadn't been brought up by any of the candidates, which were adding a second fire station in a strategic location and expanding the city's biking and shared use path trail systems.

"I think one thing we need to look at as we expand and grow is a second fire station. I think it's time we start planning for that. Nine different communities that are our size or bigger have more than one fire station," Smith said. "We've done a very good job over the years with the bike paths, but we need to start connecting more of them. And we need to connect Ohlman path to 23rd Avenue by the lake."

Walcott is convinced the city needs young leadership and fresh perspectives to tackle issues and spark growth. And he believes he's one of the men for taking on that job.

"It's interesting to me that everyone is focused on the lake when in reality there are bigger problems. The community is stagnant. I see an opportunity and a need for young leadership. I've built multiple businesses here within the year and a half, and I want this community to flourish," Walcott said.

Considering Ward 4 boundaries include Lake Mitchell residents, the candidates have strong opinions on the proposed dredging project.

"I have confidence in what the engineers and firms we've hired have developed," Smith said, noting the lake is one of the greatest assets that's overdue for a maintenance investment.

While Smith has been a vocal advocate for the proposed Lake Mitchell dredging project, Everson and Walcott stand opposed to the dredging plan. Everson dubbed the dredging project a "Band-Aid fix with no guarantees" and stressed more progress needs to be made in the neighboring Firesteel watershed before taking on a multimillion-dollar lake dredging project.

"We need to continue working upstream. This project will be costing us more than $3,200 per day for 30 years. What will the city not be doing in the future if the ballot measure is approved?" Everson said, emphasizing the long-term costs associated with the project.

While Everson supports the city's upcoming 37-acre wetland project that will reduce runoff in the Firesteel watershed, he said it's a small fraction of what needs to be done in the 350,000-acre watershed before dredging the lake.

Walcott sees the dredging project as a costly, short-term fix. Rather than leaning on engineers to develop lake restoration plans, Walcott said the city should utilize a lake restoration company.

"The fact that this has gone on this long is embarrassing. It's the fact that I don't think this is going to last. There are better ways and cheaper ways that should have been evaluated. Barr Engineering is an engineering company, not a lake restoration company," Walcott said.