Ward 1 council runoff scheduled Tuesday

By Scott Aust, Journal staff | Monday, June 23, 2008

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Voters in Ward 1 will choose between incumbent Tom Johnson and challenger Patti Martinson during Tuesday’s runoff election for a two-year term on the Rapid City council.

Johnson finished first in a three-person race on June 3, receiving 1,003 votes. Martinson came in second with 716 and Craig Kirsch, who announced in April shortly after the filing deadline that he was dropping out of the race, still received 653 votes. A runoff is needed when no candidate earns 50 percent of the ballots cast. 

About 27.5 percent turned out to vote on June 3 in Ward 1, which is generally the southeastern quadrant of the city, but the numbers usually drop for runoff elections. It’s also a toss-up whether results change.

In 2007, Ron Weifenbach defeated Norma F. Thomsen in a Ward 1 runoff after finishing second to Thomsen among a field of five candidates three weeks earlier, while in Ward 4, Ron Kroeger defeated Lori Hadley in a runoff after finishing first over four candidates earlier.

In a 2006 Ward 4 runoff, Lloyd LaCroix beat Steve Rolinger after coming in second behind Rolinger two weeks earlier in a three-man race. But in council runoffs in 2002, 2004 and 2005, the person who won the first election also won the runoff.

Martinson was happy to make it to the runoff, and knew it would be a challenge to go up against a longtime incumbent like Tom Johnson. She said she’s been going door to door, dropping off fliers at houses and talking to people in her district the past few weeks.

Martinson said some have specific issues they’d like to see addressed, such as odor from the landfill and better enforcement of city ordinances, while others talked about their desire to have Wal-Mart or other retail development built on the city’s south side.

“People feel like they have to complain to the city before anything gets done,” Martinson said. “I’d like to let people know I’m honest, I’m hard-working and I would work for them, not myself.”

Martinson, an insurance processor with Green Tree Services, has lived in the Black Hills area for 27 years, moving here from Montana when she was a teenager. She graduated from Brown High School and attended Western Dakota Vo-Tech, Black Hills State and National American University.

Martinson said she believes in open government, green environmental policies and economic development. Her style is to meet and talk with individuals about their concerns to get advice and input.

Johnson has 14 years of experience as a councilman and has served as council president and as acting mayor for a period a couple of years ago when former mayor Jim Shaw was ill.

Johnson believes in building consensus among council members and thinks the No. 1 issue facing Rapid City is making sure it has clean drinking water, now and in the future.

Johnson also supports doing more about streets, stormwater runoff and drainage and wants to see the community continue to grow, the council be development-friendly and employ smart growth principles.

Contact Scott Aust at 394-8415 or scott.aust@rapidcityjournal.com

Polling places

Tuesday’s election is open to registered voters within Rapid City’s Ward 1. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the following locations:

Precinct 1-1: First Assembly of God Church (gym), 4905 S. Highway 16.

Precinct 1-2: Bible Fellowship Church (gym), 1210 E. Fairmont.

Precinct 1-3: Grandview Elementary School, 3301 Grandview Dr.

Precinct 1-4: Walter Taylor 4H Building, Pennington County Fairgrounds, 601 E. Centre St.