Friends of Rapid City Parks will host a public forum with city council candidates seeking office in the June 3 municipal election. The event, set for 7 p.m. May 29 in the Cyclorama of The Dahl Arts Center, will focus on issues and proposals affecting Rapid City parks, particularly the memorial greenway along Rapid Creek.
The format will emphasize questions and comments from the public, rather than prepared statements by candidates, said Suzanne Martley, executive director of Friends. “It is designed to enable candidates to hear what voters think about park issues,” Martley said. Terry Mayes, a retired South Dakota Highway Patrol officer and outdoorsman active in several conservation groups, will moderate the discussion.
Friends of Rapid City Parks is an organization dedicated to preserving, protecting and promoting our city parks. The group has conducted a candidate event every year since 2006. In a Rapid City Journal Forum piece in April, Friends encouraged citizens to consider how parks fit into the bigger picture of development and growth in Rapid City’s future.
“As a step in the direction of widening civic discourse, and understanding the interests in our community, this year, we will use our annual candidate forum as an opportunity for candidates to listen to citizens rather than the other way around. We welcome everyone with a stake in the future of Rapid City and its parks to join the conversation.”