Mayoral candidates lay out plans to kickstart growth and reveal stances on Lake Mitchell dredging project

May 14—MITCHELL — The trio of mayoral candidates were pressed on hot-button issues facing the city and how they plan to tackle the challenges Mitchell is facing during Tuesday's candidate forum.

Mayor Bob Everson, Jordan Hanson and Terry Sabers are the three candidates running for mayor in the June 4 election. Each candidate fielded a handful of questions that revealed their goals and outlook on Mitchell's trajectory.

The candidates were asked whether they will be voting for the $16.8 million loan application to fund the proposed Lake Mitchell dredging project. As part of the question, they were asked what their plan will be as mayor if the lake vote does not align with their personal opinion on the dredge.

For the first time since he entered the mayoral race in March, Sabers revealed he will be voting for the loan application. He emphasized working to bring more projects in the Firesteel watersehd is as important as an in-lake soultion.

"If it passes, I will use my construction skills to get this done as fast as we can," Sabers said. "If it does not pass, we need to step back and try to figure out why. We will need to figure out what the second option is. I plan to push harder on the Firesteel watershed. I'm looking upstream at two projects we can do to improve the water coming into the lake."

The proposed $25 million Lake Mitchell dredging project has been scrutinized by Hanson, who said he will be voting against the loan application.

"If the dredge vote passes, I will do it. I will honor the freedom and right of doing what the people vote for. If it fails, I have a plan," Hanson said.

Hanson is convinced a biological approach that doesn't disrupt the lake's ecosystem would produce a better outcome on reducing the algae woes. Using aeration to oxygenate the lake and create better water flow is a method Hanson hopes to pursue if voters reject the $16.8 million loan application to allow the city to fund the dredging project.

"I once traveled to Michcigan to visit the U.S.'s largest lake restoration company. I walked out to that lake and saw one of the most beautiful, pristine lakes I've ever seen. I was almost brought to tears because our town has been focusing on something for so long, and I think I found the solution — if the dredge vote fails — where we can save tens of millions of dollars and clean Lake Mitchell," Hanson said.

Since taking office in 2018, Everson has made restoring Lake Mitchell a top priority. To no surprise, Everson said he will be voting in favor of the lake loan application.

"I don't think it's any secret I'm all for the lake. We're able to do the lake project without increasing property taxes with our current revenue streams using sales tax and capital improvement funds," Everson said. "We've relied on two professional engineering firms to look at this project, and both came back with the same solution. So we know what we need to do, and we're ready to do that."

If the loan application is defeated on June 4, Everson said he would shift his focus on other major city projects, including Corn Palace improvements and continue efforts to revitalize an aging Main Street. Everson also said he would continue working on bringing runoff-reducing projects to the 350,000-acre Firesteel watershed that drains into Lake Mitchell.

Candidates were asked whether they support the Chamber of Commerce's seasonal Corn Palace Gift Shop operating each summer on the Corn Palace floor, which is done through a lease agreement with the city. The lease agreement is subject to the council's approval each year.

Everson said he would like to pursue a plan that provides a new area in the Corn Palace for the gift shop to operate year-round while keeping the Corn Palace floor open for events during the summer months.

"We're looking at building out an area for the gift shop to operate year-round that would be beneficial for the Corn Palace and overall sales tax. We hope to have a new area for the gift shop off to the side so we can use the floor," Everson said.

While Hanson was in favor of allowing the Chamber to use the Corn Palace floor for the seasonal gift shop, he said the agreement should provide the city with the option to use the Corn Palace floor for hosting events.

"I think they can have it as long as we as citizens are allowed to have events when they are renting it. If you look at the Corn Palace scheduled this month, there is one event booked. Last year, the Corn Palace lost $574,000, and the Chamber made over that amount in sales," Hanson said. "I don't think it's a big deal to say, 'Can you push your stuff aside so we can have some revenue-generating concerts?' We pay for it as taxpayers, and we should be able to use it."

Sabers said the gift shop question brings up a bigger discussion about the city's plans to expand and improve the Corn Palace.

"Do we do a $12 million facelift and fix the seats, or do we bow the wall out and do a $50 million expansion? We do need to take a serious look at it. I think the outcome of those projects will dictate what we do with the gift shop," Sabers said. "I think the relationship with the chamber has been around for decades, and I think we need to continue that."

The candidates offered their plans on how to spur more growth in a stagnant Mitchell, which was the slowest growing city among the state's top 10 largest cities from 2010 to 2020.

One area all three candidates agree on is Mitchell should be growing at a much faster rate than it has in the past.

For as long as he can remember, Hanson, a Mitchell native, said he's noticed the city has focused its attention on the same problems — Lake Mitchell, revitalizing downtown and bringing more housing. He's convinced the city's focus on those issues hasn't produced any results.

"It's been 18 years since I graduated high school, and focusing on those four things has brought us absolutely nothing. There's 100 problems in Mitchell, and those are the four we focus on and neglect the other 96," Hanson said.

Selling what Mitchell has to offer is Hanson's plan to bring more growth and opportunities.

"Put me on the phone with them. We have to sell the dream. Rather than focus on what the nightmares are, why don't we talk about all the great things we have in this town. Let's build more great things," Hanson said. "People want more stuff to do in this town."

Sabers, whose campaign slogan is "Grow Mitchell," pointed to the lack of affordable housing options as the biggest factor hampering Mitchell's slow growth. As the president of a nonprofit organization called Mitchell Area Housing Incorporated (MAHI), Sabers said the organization's plan to build homes in the $250,000 to $300,000 price range will position Mitchell for major growth.

"Our plan is to build $250,000 to $300,000 homes so those people can move up, and the young professionals coming to town can find a new home," Sabers said of MAHI's plan. "We plan to build 12 to 15 homes a year to help out this situation. We should have done this 12 years ago, but we didn't. Trail King right now has 40 people driving to work because they can't find an affordable home in Mitchell."

If elected, Sabers has previously said he would step down as the president of MAHI if the public had concerns of it being a conflict.

Since taking office in 2018, Everson said he's set out to find ways the city can incentivize businesses to move into Mitchell and expand.

The sales tax incentive for prospective businesses that generate over $2 million annual revenue that the city rolled out this year was one major move Everson said will help bring new businesses to Mitchell. The sales tax incentive is expected to bring a few major retailers to the north side of Mitchell in the former Shopko building.

"There are not a lot of incentives you can come up with in South Dakota since we don't have a state income tax. So what we looked at was rebatting the 2% sales tax the city charges, and it allows a prospective business to come in and expand by applying for a sales tax grant. That will allow them to recoup some of the costs of the buildout when moving to Mitchell," Everson said.

Securing a secondary water source was another accomplishment the city recently made, which Everson said will position Mitchell for growth "better than any community in the state."

The mayoral race will be decided on June 4. The victor will serve a three-year term.