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Downtown Rotary Club will once again host a series of political forums leading up to the general election in November. They include state ballot issues as well as debates between attorney general, congressional and gubernatorial candidates. Sioux Falls Downtown Rotary meetings are open to the media, to all Rotarians and to guests of Rotarians. A brief synopsis of each is below.
Monday, October 1 – STATE BALLOT QUESTIONS: VOTERS’ GUIDE South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley and South Dakota Legislative Research Council Director Jason Hancock will deliver an informative joint presentation about five statewide ballot issues that will be decided by South Dakota voters on Nov. 6. The proposals include three amendments to the South Dakota Constitution and two initiated measures. A “Ballot Question Informational Pamphlet” produced by the South Dakota Secretary of State will be distributed to everyone attending the program. Information also is available online at sdsos.gov/elections-voting/.
Monday, October 15 – ATTORNEY GENERAL CANDIDATE FORUM The first of three Rotary programs featuring candidates in the 2018 general election will focus on the South Dakota Attorney General race between Democrat Randy Seiler, former US Attorney for South Dakota and Vietnam War Air Force veteran, and Republican Jason Ravnsborg, Deputy State’s Attorney for Union County and a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves. Though originally proposed as a moderated debate with both candidates, Seiler accepted the invitation and Ravnsborg declined, citing no availability on Mondays throughout October. If Ravnsborg’s schedule changes, the debate still could occur. Otherwise, the format will be an interview and Q&A with Randy Seiler alone, conducted by veteran journalist and former Rotary president Jack Marsh.
Monday, October 22 – CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES DEBATE Two native South Dakotans seeking the state’s lone seat in the US House of Representatives will elaborate about their qualifications and policy platforms in a moderated debate. Democrat Timothy Bjorkman served as a South Dakota Circuit Court judge from 2006 to 2017 and previously sat on the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles, 2002 to 2006. Republican Dusty Johnson is former chief of staff to Gov. Dennis Daugaard and a former member of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission.
Monday, October 29 – GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES DEBATE The two major party candidates for South Dakota governor, Republican US Rep. Kristi Noem and Democrat South Dakota Sen. Billie Sutton, will face off in an hour-long moderated debate.
The KSFY/Gray Television group will air a 90-minute live broadcast of the debate on its companion station The CW channel, noon to 1:30 p.m., re-air a recorded broadcast on The CW channel, 9 p.m., Oct. 29, and then broadcast an edited version on the main KSFY channel, 4 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 4. The 90-minute program also will be streamed live on KSFY.com.
Thank you to all who responded to the membership survey! The response was tremendous with 108 members taking the time to give feedback on the future of the club.
We were honored to have Governor Dennis Daugaard speak to the club about the landmark South Dakota vs. Wayfair Supreme Court case on Monday, August 6th. He discussed the implications it will have on the state and nation moving forward. He also addressed the next steps for finalizing the case and implementing the changes into law.
Fellow Rotarian Dr. Brian Maher, Superintendent of Sioux Falls Public Schools, shared numerous statistics with club members on Monday, July 16 regarding current and projected student enrollment and how the district's facilities will be able to meet the needs of the increasing enrollment. A bond election is being discussed for this fall and if you'd like more information on this issue be sure to watch the Facebook video archived on the club's Facebook page and read through the statistics that Dr. Maher shared 
