(Editor's note: This is just one part of a series of stories about local candidates in the upcoming June 2 primary, municipal and school board election. Find more coverage here.)
Simplified: This year, Sioux Falls saw a five-year low in violent crime per capita. Meanwhile, the city's public safety budget has increased 75% over the last decade as the city's added about four dozen officers in that same time period. Sioux Falls Simplified chatted with At-Large City Council candidates about how they plan to approach funding the city's growing public safety needs.
Here's what we asked:
How would you approach balancing the public safety needs of the community with the budget realities facing the city – e.g. sales tax revenues coming up short?
Here's how candidates answered (in reverse alphabetical order):
At-Large A
Juliann Perrigo Talkington* said the problem with crime in Sioux Falls is related to incarceration facilities.
"When you have 50% of the people leaving prison committing a crime, that is a lot for a city to accommodate," she said. "It will be critical that we are more vocal about our problems and work closely with the legislature to get them resolved. I am particularly concerned that we are building a maximum security prison when we already have plenty of space for maximum security prisoners in our existing facilities. Trafficking high risk prisoners from other states for money would be a disaster for our city."
*Note: Talkington's responses were sent via email because she was unable to meet in-person for an interview.
James Oppenheimer said public safety is one of the three pillars of his campaign, and he said Police Chief Jon Thum is a friend of his and someone he's talked to about public safety on his campaign.
- He also emphasized the importance of funding police while also working with youth to ensure they have a path.
"It's another one of those things where we can say, 'hey let's give lots of money to police and make sure it's safe,'" Oppenheimer said. "We need to make sure that our emergency services and our first responders are well funded. But we’ve gotta look long-term. This city’s gonna continue to grow. Let's make sure there's a path for kids in this city."
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Vince Danh said public safety is a "non-negotiable" for the city and praised Mayor Paul TenHaken and his administration for how they've supported police in recent years.
"We have to continue to build this culture within our public safety that they’re not only our protectors, but they’re also part of our community," Danh said. "And seeing the efforts of the police department to be at cultural events, to be at community listening sessions, to be out with people – that is fantastic."
At-Large B
Samantha Scarlata said officers she's spoken to say the police department doesn't have the necessary budget to be proactive – especially on weekends.
"There needs to be a budget for (being proactive) – whether it is more officers working on the weekends, especially in the high crime areas," Scarlata said. "There are more thingsthat need to be done because there are still murders, drugs on the streets, kids stealing guns and stuff out of cars."
Rich Merkouris said he's supported every request from law enforcement so far in his term on the council, and he plans to continue to do so.
- That said, he wants to see more focus on the underlying issues in the justice system: re-entry from incarceration and supporting youth.
"The number one thing we can do to continue to reduce crime is make sure the people coming out of the prison – and 95% of them are gonna be our neighbors at some point – are prepared to come out," Merkouris said.
See all Simplified election coverage here:
