Brandon candidates share views on city topics at forum

Brandon Valley voters will go to the polls on Tuesday, April 12 to elect a new mayor, the town’s fourth in four years, and a Ward 1 alderwoman, who will serve a three-year term. The mayoral term is just one-year assignment, as it fills out the remaining year of former mayor Paul Lundberg’s term.

Seeking the single-year job of mayor are Harry Buck, TJ Cameron and Jack Parliament. The Ward 1 race features incumbent Barb Fish and challenger Courtney Sneller.

All of the candidates shared their views at a March 29 forum co-hosted by the Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce and the Brandon Valley Journal. The forum may be viewed online in its entirety on the Journal’s Facebook page or the Chamber’s YouTube channel.

The polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Ward I will residents will vote at City Hall. Ward 2 is at the Brandon Fire Hall, and Ward 3 voters will cast their ballot at the Brandon Golf Course. Absentee ballots can be cast up until the day of the election.

Getting to know the candidates

Cameron has pledged to be committed to the future of Brandon, just as he is “committed to the futures” of his two sons.

In his career, he said he has managed budgets far exceeding Brandon’s entire general fund.

With one of the three candidates to be Brandon’s next mayor, Cameron once again pledged a minimum 10 years of service, “if you’ll have me as your mayor and re-elect me if I’m doing a great job.”

He said he possess the skill set necessary to help with strategic planning. 

“I’m the right candidate to help our community through our current growing pains, the right one to be fiscally responsible with your tax dollars and the candidate that will lead and create effective plans for our future growth and the best candidate for building a plan for the future and to ensure we meet these goals,” he said.

In his career as president of DME Railroad, a local short line in Sioux Falls, Parliament was responsible for a multi-million budget and served on boards that also had fiduciary responsibilities for large budgets and worked on several infrastructure projects.

“That’s not a lot unlike what we do here with sewer and water, streets, those types of projects. I’ve worked with contractors and designers and it gives me a real basic knowledge of how to deal with infrastructure projects. We have lots of needs here in the city of Brandon and those skills will help me as mayor,” he said. 

Buck has lived in Brandon for 40 years. The family had an opportunity to move away bit received a second opportunity to return.

“And we jumped at the chance to come back, because of all the places we’ve lived, which is about four or five states in the Midwest, Brandon’s been our absolute favorite place to live because of the people here,” he said.

His goal as mayor would simply be to “help keep things going in the right direction.”

Fish, a 19-year resident of Brandon, is seeking her fourth, three-year term. Although she and her husband, Gary, are now “empty nesters,” they elected to stay in Brandon.

“The majority of our friends have, too. We have our doctor here, our church, our chiropractor, our dentist, all of the businesses that we utilize throughout the day. I like living in a smaller town. I like being able to walk or drive down to the ball field and know some people in the park. We attend school events … and I am a strong advocate of Brandon … and a strong advocate of ‘Buy Brandon,’” she said.

Sneller is the newcomer to the table.

“Most of you probably don’t know who I am, so I’m very thankful for this opportunity to come here tonight and talk a little bit about myself and also get to meet more community members,” she said.

She and her husband moved to Brandon from Sioux Falls in the last year.

“We were striving to find a smaller community that really gave us that ‘hometown feel,’” she said. 

As she gathered signatures on her petition, Sneller said it was “eye-opening to get to know more members of the community, but ultimately, I’m looking to bring a fresh perspective and new lens to the community.”

What motivates you to want to be elected?

Cameron’s motivation is his commitment to serving the community.

He’s sought position on the council multiple times in recent years, and lists youth engagement as one of his priorities. 

“Youth engagement is just a small portion of the things that benefit everybody in the community, so whether people choose to move here to retire, to live as independent partners, husband and wives, young families with no children or whether you have children of your own or grandchildren, the engagement over youth is a very important factor in the growth of our community and the success of keeping those folks on the right track.”

He’s also motivated to ensure Brandon continues to be one of the best places – not only in the state but in the nation, too – to live, raise a family, start a career or start a business, and believes he can contribute to the success of Brandon’s future and current business owners.

Parliament, who currently fills one of the two Ward 3 chairs, said it’s his “love for Brandon” that led him to file for mayor. 

“We have young families and we have people like myself who are retired and built a new home here because this is where we felt we really wanted to live,” he said.

He said the city’s park and school systems are two amenities that draw people to Brandon.

“Once they get here, I almost say we got them, because they see the values in town, they see the community, how clean and how wonderful it really is, and I want to continue that process,” he said.

With a wealth of infrastructure needs and continual growth, he said it’s important to reinvest in infrastructure, keep it well-maintained and renew it as needed.

He also wants to improve the avenues of communication with the public.

“They want to hear more communication back from the city and they also want to be heard. I’m running on the slogan, ‘A voice of reason,’ and I truly believe that because when I talk to people, … they (say they) just want to be heard and then from there, treated fairly. As mayor, I want to make sure that everyone has that opportunity to speak their voice,” he said.

Buck’s motivation is “to continue and help Brandon continue to be as good as we can possibly be.”

“I had a thought that what happens on a national scene like what (President0 Joe Biden does and what (Senator) John Thune does doesn’t necessarily affect the people in Brandon on a day-to-day basis, but what our city does affects people in Brandon on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “Brandon has been so good to us and to our families, and I just really feel the need to continue what I would consider about 30 years of public service on various boards.” 

Although Fish had said she did not intend to run again, as the election process neared, she realized that she has a few special projects she would like to continue or “get to the finish line.”

The first project is the development to the west side of town.

“We can get water out there, but we don’t have sewer capacity out there and we need to get a sewer extension line out on the west side so we can open that up for development, she said. Making that move will eventually help support the city tax base. “Several years ago, we were able to strike a deal with Sioux Falls where we send all of our waste water west and they take care of it for us. We got rid of the sewer lagoons, and I think everyone was thrilled about that, but we need a redundant line because if something were to happen to our main line, that wastewater would have to come back to our reclaimed sewer lagoons and we don’t want that to happen.”

The east side is also a similar situation. With a new elementary school on the horizon there, housing, she said will follow.

“That’s all bare land out there just prime land for development and we know the developers are anxious to develop it, but we’ve got to get a sewer line out there,” she said.

That, however, comes at a cost. She said the west side sewer line went from $1.2 million to $4 million. Now, it’s back to $2.4 million.

Fish, who is the liaison to the park board, is also passionate about the parks and turning the 41 acres the city purchased adjacent to Aspen Park into an even bigger amenity for residents.

“We’re working with all of the organizations to define where they want to go, what they want to do. We’ve got a master plan that we’re working from through the park board,” she said. “I feel I sill have something to give back to the city. I have the institutional knowledge and I will continue to drive those things forward for growth.”

Sneller said she wants to help support ideas brought forth by Brandon residents. 

“I’ve been able to talk to a lot of people, a lot of citizens like me, a lot of brilliant-minded people who have lots of thoughts and suggestions on how things should be going. I want to hear that. I want to be able to help support them,” she said. “It’s being able to take ideas and being able to act upon them, and it’s always finding the right place, the right time to be able to act on them. So, what motivates me is being able to serve my community in a different capacity.”

Why should people vote for you?

“Business experience,” Buck answers. “I really firmly believe that the best indication of future performance is past performance. I think people in Brandon should probably look at the folks that are running for office and decide who has done the best for the community and been the most successful in the past, because I really believe that future performance is tied to past performance.”

The competitor in him, however, has a strong desire for Brandon to continue to be the best place to live in South Dakota.

“I guess my goal would be for people to say that ‘Sioux Falls is that town located five miles straight west of Brandon,’” he said. 

He also recognizes the importance of a good working relationship with Sioux Falls.

“Another business philosophy of mine is that you should absolutely find the very best people to work for the city or for your company and let them do their job. I’m not a micro-manager,” he said.

Fish believes “continuity of leadership “is important for the Ward 1 position. 

“We’re going to have a new mayor, we have a Ward 3 alderman seat open, and if Jack would move to mayor, that seat would be open and the remaining council members – the longest tenured one is four years – so I think continuity of leadership is very important,” she said. “I would say that my experience and long tenure is important to this council at this time.”

Sneller said she brings no biases to the position.

“What I see here is opinions that need to be heard. I see that people have strong thoughts on things and I don’t have a sway to one side or the other. What I’ll be looking at is what do we need to try to solve here and what are we looking at to try to accomplish. With that, I’d probably ask more questions because I’m new,” she said. “I’m also looking to deliver creative solutions.”

Cameron said the mayor and council impact the people of a community in their day-to-day lives probably more than any political position.

“But you want the process to be easy and it most impacts people when it impacts their front door or their wallet or their day-to-day life,” he said. “I want each and every one of you to be curious and to make the most educated decision you can … it’s ultimately up to all of you.”

Parliament said he’ll ask the important questions. 

“I’m constantly asking questions about why are we doing this, why are we doing it this way and staff probably thinks, ‘Oh, not him again, he’s going to ask another question.’ Well, get used to it because I do ask a lot of questions and I think that’s a strong point of mine is being able to take that information from not just staff, but from the public as well,” he said.

Are there areas you feel the city can improve on?

Sneller cited communication and transparency.

“I think it’s all about the right time, the right place and it needs to be an avenue that’s a two-way street, so, not just being told information but also being able to share communication back,” she said.

Sneller said having face-to-face conversations is important and views learning about city issues on social media as a negative.

She also suggested the city implement term limits. 

“I say that because it promotes ideas, it brings new individuals to join and to sit up here and also brings creative processes so that it empowers citizens to know when term limits are coming or approaching,” she said.

As Buck looks at the decisions that have been made by the council in the recent years, he said there are some decisions made by the council that he may have voted differently on.

He, too, believes improving communication from the city is one area to be considered.

“If affordable, … I think it’s time for us to look at the potential to have a director of communication that works as a joint employee between the school and the city to constantly keep the positive news out there about who we are and what we’re doing,” he said.

Parliament also views keeping the public in the know as an area for improvement, citing conditional use permit and rezoning applications.

“We’ve had a number of people that have come into the council meeting that (have said), ‘We didn’t know that there was this’ or they heard about it late. We can improve on that,” he said.

Cameron believes its advantageous to take feedback from residents and experts. If that is not being done, he said the city is not “reaching high enough” and said the “right leadership” may not be in place to set those high expectations. 

He also said that the city has spendt thousands of dollars on studies with no accountability.

Fish also agreed there’s room for improvement in communicating with residents, but cited the city’s Textedly program, the local newspaper, the city Facebook page and utility bills, that oftentimes contain information.

“We trying to cover different ways that people access information. … If you really want to know what’s going on, call us. … Our contact information is on the city website or call the city staff to get the real story,” she said.
“Finally, I think in the communication space, we need everybody to give each other a little grace. I think we’ve lost that in our society to some extent. I think our filters have come off. … We’ll keep working on the communication. I know that is something that can be worked on.”

What are your thoughts on a new City Hall/Police Department?

Cameron questioned the study the council just entered into with ISG to determine the stability of the current structure.

“Did we take a big enough look at this from a scope perspective so that we don’t spend the same money again multiple times addressing an issue?” he asked.

Parliament said he is one of the proponents of looking at renovating the building.

“I think we all agree that we do need a new facility for City Hall and the police department. Is this the right building? I can’t say for sure right now. Is it the right location? It’s a good location (and) is going to work for five, 10, maybe 20 years or more. I’m hoping that this process will get us down the road a piece, but it’s going to take some money to do whatever we end up doing, and we, as a council and as mayor, are going to have to work toward getting that in our CIP,” he said.

Buck said the city has outgrown its current facility, making mention that Finance Officer Christina Smith works out of an office no bigger than a walk-in closet.

“I don’t know exactly what the right answer is, but it will be interesting to see what the study comes up with. From some folks that I’ve talked to that are in the building business, it seems like there’s maybe not a lot of hope to rejuvenate this facility. … My gut feeling is that we’re going to have to do something and we need to have reasonably good working conditions for our employees,” he said.

Fish said the council has been discussing this very item for a number of years. 

“I agree with Jack. We get tired of the studies but some of this stuff, we just don’t know without doing the study,” she said.

She’s also concerned about the facilities the public works department has. 

“Rollie and his crew are running stuff out of three different buildings. They’re not in good shape and is that a bigger priority than working on City Hall? I don’t know. … I’m going to be interested to see what ISG says about City Hall, but I’m also going to be interested to see what we need to do about our public works buildings,” she said.

Sneller fully supports safe work environments.

“I think that it also encourages productive work when you have a working structural building to be in. I do think there’s creative solutions here that could be brought forward, though we have a lot of priorities within Brandon and I also want to keep that in mind,” she said. “We need to be proactive with that planning and being able to see what’s missing today and what do we need to be able to make sure we’re planning effectively for and solve for that and then build plans to build up for the future. … Maybe it’s a phased approach to this, maybe it’s we build and then it’s moving people around. … If we can span that out over time, that may be more resourceful for our community, too.”

The mayor position is for a one-year term. What positive steps can you take to make a meaningful difference?

Although this election may only account for a one-year term, Cameron says he’s committed to the long haul.

“Although the question asks what we can do in a one-year term, the real obvious opportunity is that we do need consistency and vision over the next years to successfully navigate our future,” he said.

Parliament believes “a good leader in this position directing the communication” is an important factor for this mayoral term.

Buck said he would provide positive leadership.

“I think that’s kind of what it’s all about. I think that we continue to hire the best people and we let them do their jobs. We don’t try to micro-manage, we do everything we can to help our employees be successful. I think the mayor needs to be accessible to employees and to the people who live here, and I think that we need to have positive communication,” he said.

The city has put a high priority on installing sidewalks. Do you support this decision?

While Cameron is a proponent of accessibility, he said “now” may not have been the right time to add them.

“We have infrastructure needs from a water capacity with our water treatment plant coming on and our water tower coming on. Our general fund increased somewhere from around $9 million a year to $29 million a year in spending, so do I think that that project was the top of the priority list? No. … I don’t believe it should have been a priority today with all of our other needs and the tax dollars that we’re spending out of your own pocket.”

Parliament said the decision to install sidewalks in the core area was before his time on the council.

“That being said, I feel that it was well overdue,” he said.

Buck said he strongly supports sidewalks in new developments.

“We require the developers to put in sidewalks and in the reconstructed areas, we’re putting in sidewalks, and the city is covering the cost of that. These roads are going to be around for 40 years, so I think our residents 10 years down the road would wonder why we don’t have sidewalks when we’re trying to stress walkability and health and safety,” he said.

Sneller, too, supports sidewalks, but once again said, “It’s all about the right place at the right time and where that fits into the community … and communicating effectively (with residents) on when they can expect it.”

What are your thoughts on adding a RO system to the water treatment plant?

Parliament assures it will be expensive, and without firm numbers, he has no strong feeling one way or the other. 

Buck, Fish and Sneller agreed, as did Cameron.

“Evaluating the overall cost and quantity availability of our current supply will be really important before making the final decision,” he said. 

He said the council should look at the “bigger picture” by creating rebate programs that would help pay for water softeners or RO systems for drinking water.