Sturgis Kitchen Table

In this episode, Eric Davis sits down at the Sturgis Kitchen Table to discuss the current effort to recall the Sturgis mayor with Francie Ruebel-Alberts. Francie is a long-time educator and distinguished elder stateswoman in Sturgis and taught many of its residents government in high school.
Find information about the recall effort here.

Happy Monday, Sturgis. It’s March 13th, and Eric Davis is back at the Sturgis Kitchen Table with a quick update on the petitions circulating around the community to reverse the Sturgis city council’s decision to hire a new city manager and to instead have a larger discussion and an election where the voters can decide the future of Sturgis city government are making their way around the community. If you haven’t signed one yet, you have this coming week through this weekend to get it done. In this episode, we'll tell you how to add your name to the petitions and how you can circulate your own petition to your family, friends and neighbors who are registered to vote in Sturgis. We still need to gather about 150 signatures this week, and with your help, we can get it done easy. Here's the details.

• View, download, and print a copy of the referendum petition
• View, download, and print a copy of the initiative petition
• Review information from the SD Secretary of State's Office on how to circulate a municipal petition

In Episode 4, Eric Davis is back at the Sturgis Kitchen Table with a very quick update on the petitions circulating to refer the decision of whether Sturgis should continue to operate under the city manager form of government to a vote of the people. The petitions to call an election on that question are out and circulating, and the deadline is March 20th. In this episode, we'll tell you how you can add your name to the petitions and then circulate your own petition to your family, friends, and coworkers registered to vote in Sturgis. We intend to call an election on this issue and then to spend the weeks leading up to that election leading a conversation amongst ourselves and others in the community about the history of this issue, the major differences between the two forms of government being considered for Sturgis, and the various pros and cons of each to help you get informed, spread the word, and cast an informed vote at the upcoming election.

• View, download, and print a copy of the referendum petition
• View, download, and print a copy of the initiative petition
• Review information from the SD Secretary of State's Office on how to circulate a municipal petition

In this episode, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Davis give a broad historical overview of how Sturgis hired its first city manager and came to operate under the city manager form of government in 2007. Then, we jump forward many years to discuss the petitions submitted in December 2021 seeking to call an election for the voters to reconsider their 2007 action and the associated pending lawsuits over those petitions. Then, we have a broad-level discussion about the two different forms of government being proposed for Sturgis and the pros and cons of the city manager form of government and the aldermanic form of government without a city manager and which might be right for Sturgis in 2023. Finally, we’ll update you on the petitions that are out circulating in the Sturgis community seeking to submit this issue to a vote of the citizens of Sturgis and how you can sign and circulate those petitions.
Below are links to documents or files referenced in today's episode:

• View, download, and print a copy of the referendum petition
• View, download, and print a copy of the initiative petition
• Review information from the SD Secretary of State's Office on how to circulate a municipal petition
• View the press release

The petitions necessary to refer the decision of Sturgis City Council to hire a new city manager and continue under the city manager form of government to a vote of the people are circulating around the community. To call this election, we need to gather at least 300 valid signatures in about 3 weeks. In this episode, we will talk about what the petitions call for, how you can add your name to the petition, and how you can circulate a petition to collect the signatures of your family, friends, and neighbors.
Below are links to documents or files referenced in today's episode:

• View, download, and print a copy of the referendum petition
• View, download, and print a copy of the initiative petition
• Review information from the SD Secretary of State's Office on how to circulate a municipal petition
• View the press release