(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: Sioux Falls' childcare crisis is well-documented, including noting that it costs more in one year to send your kid to a childcare center in Sioux Falls than it would to send them to a South Dakota state university. With that in mind, we asked Sioux Falls City Council candidates their thoughts on the city's role in helping address these challenges.
Here's what we asked:
What role, if any, do you think the city should play in addressing the ongoing childcare crisis in Sioux Falls?
Here's how candidates responded (in reverse-alphabetical order):
Sara Pankonin
"Oh, I wish I knew more about this one, too," Pankonin said.
She said several years ago she tried to start finding volunteers to assist in daycare centers, but was told no by a couple of the places she tried to help.
"I started something that I really didn't finish, but maybe I would have the opportunity to finish it on City Council," she added.
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Brady Kerkman
"Do I think the city could be part of helping address some of that? I think there's some chances there. Do I think the city should have a city-ran child care center? I'm probably not in support of that, just because we want to keep our budget low. But also we want to make sure we can address those families that, hey, they do want to go back to work, and they do want to make sure they have high quality care for their kiddos."
Michael Crane
"We're in it," Crane said, referencing the childcare crisis. "I think that it's a problem. It affects our ability as a community to grow, so it's a quasi-economic development issue, if you will. And I think that the city needs to be at the table in the discussions. I don't know that we're the primary leader in the discussion and addressing the problem, but certainly it's one that is appropriate for us to be part of."
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