Steve Allender declines to run for Mayor next year

RAPID CITY – After seven years, Steve Allender has declined to run again when his term ends in 2023.

Allender told the Rapid City Journal that he had told his wife he was considering not running again in 2019 but due to the field producing no candidate he found suitable, he decided to keep his hat in the ring.

Since then, Allender had seen Rapid City go through difficult times, dealing with pandemic, crime, population expansion, a lack of housing (both regular and affordable) and now unprecedented growth.

In the political field, the scale of elections has changed, as being mayor has expanded from a two year term to a four year, and as well, trying to have a city manager installed into the city government, a task he has failed to do.

A former police chief, Allender had spent 29 years total in the police department, seeing a lot of events within the city firsthand. He also had a number of issues surface, like Native Camps along Rapid Creek, or complaints about the homeless issues people face daily. An earlier episode where homeless tried to establish a campsite near the fairgrounds, was met with a show of police force, and later a meeting that was supposed to be held at City Hall, led to a tense episode downtown. Other issues like the ongoing NDN Collective Land Back campaign saw people climb the grain silos by Omaha and Fifth Street, and bracing police officers in the parking lot of NDN Collective. Allender is still trying to work around the Indian School Land issues, entailing a swap of three currently occupied parcels, for other lands to establish a Native American Community Center. However, since there has been no assurance that the Native American population won’t try for additional lands, the current land swap is up in the air.

A few other items that Allender saw to was: a program for kids to ride buses in town for free, the Ascent Innovation Center, and One Heart. He also helped solve issues regarding the old Presidential Plaza, and now the Block 5 Development is moving forward.

Allender worked to streamline a few issues, such as getting rid of the code enforcement appeals board, and saw the city update its internet presence. He looked into annual funding for early childhood education programs and changed the Vision fund process from a five year to a three year process.

Allender did mention that the next mayor needs to stop trying to make everyone happy. He said the city needs a mayor who will surround themselves with trusted advisors from various walks of life, spend time with the “brain trust” of the department directors and employees, and spend less time worrying about what people like or dislike.

“This is a public service job,” he said. “It’s a public servant position and the only way to make everyone upset is to try to please everyone.”

(Contact Joseph Budd at sales2@nativesunnews.today)

The post Steve Allender declines to run for Mayor next year first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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