Recapping how North Sioux City’s election restructuring its form of government came to be

NORTH SIOUX CITY, S.D. (KTIV) - We’re just over a week away from the special election to fill out the new city commission in North Sioux City, South Dakota.

Ahead of the upcoming election, an eight-person city council, and a mayor, handle the city’s business. But after the city’s election on Tuesday, April 8, a four-person commission, and a mayor, will do the job.

Following flooding that damaged and destroyed homes in McCook Lake, last June, there was a call for change in North Sioux City.

That led to a petition drive in August and September calling for a vote to change the city’s form of government from an aldermanic city council with a mayor and an 8-member council, to a mayor and four commissioners.

The petition got the required number of valid signatures, and on Dec. 10, a majority of voters favored a change in city government.

And, next week, citizens of North Sioux City will vote on who will fill the five positions in the new form of government. Two current members of the North Sioux City city council, Greg Meyer and Bob Davis, worked as circulators for those petitions.

KTIV spoke with Meyer on why he joined the effort to change the city’s form of government, and with another council member to ask how the effort has affected the city.

“I always say to people, ‘What’s wrong with a vote?’ Why should we complain about having an election? A lot of people fought for that right and it’s what democracy is about,” said Meyer.

Meyer says there were a number of factors that he believes contributed to some residents’ frustration and call for a new form of government.

“There was frustration, I think, with the way that post-flood things were handled. In terms of people being able to get into their homes and dealing with their personal losses that they had,” said Meyer. “Along with the issue of relief; future litigation, future planning for floods, why this hadn’t been taken care of previously.”

Joan Christiansen, who also sits on the North Sioux City City Council, says since the April 8 election was set, the looming change in government has stagnated the city council’s decision-making.

“I think that we feel we’re in limbo; we don’t want to do any long or short-term projects because we don’t know if the next form of government is going to support them or not,” said Christiansen. “We could spend a lot of time and money getting contracts together and have it shut down right after the election.”

Meyer disagrees, saying, “I don’t think there was any impact on the city government, especially in terms of growth. I mean, Union Crossing went through, it actually went through ahead of the flood issues that we have facing in the community still.”

Early voting for the North Sioux City election is open, voters can head to city hall Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to vote absentee.

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