“I really care about the future of my generation especially the city of Sioux Falls.  It’s made me what I am,” offers City Council Candidate Emmett Reistroffer as to his motivation for entering the political process.

Emmett is a 23-year-old who started Jefferson Adams Consulting, a political campaign management and marketing company.  One of his clients includes Independent candidate for U.S. Senate Larry Pressler.  Instead of advising, this race he has all to himself as he squares off against Manny Steele and incumbent Rex Rolfing for the At Large A Sioux Falls City Council slot.

Priorty number one for Reistroffer is managing the city’s money.  “I think the first thing on the top of my list is the budget.  Sioux Falls is in a great position financially.  We’re not going bankrupt.  We have reserves.  However, it’s no secret our debt has raised significantly in the last few years.  I do think we can be more prudent with our money.”

Smart planning and development also rank highly in Reistroffer’s priorities which probably has instigated some of the ballot measures that people will decide.  Also Reistroffer believes the city should take a leadership role in reducing the amount of children who get subsidized school lunches.  It does not mean that the city should get its hands dirty and write up a law.  “I think we need to pull the government out of areas where the private sector can do a better job.  It needs to be about deregulating so that we can allow businesses to be successful in our community.”

Crime is also is a concern for Reistroffer.  He is a big fan of last year's criminal justice reform package passed by the South Dakota Legislature.  "I think we're really at a turning point of over criminalization of society.  We've gone in the wrong direction in a lot of ways with how we react to crime.  It's always about catching the person after they commit the crime and then punishing them.  We need to be preventative, smart and (thinking) long term."  Reistroffer says the criminal justice reform package now rehabilitates instead of punishes.  In Sioux Falls the police should go further.  "We need to decriminalize marijuana, straighten out our priorities and empower the police to go after the violent criminals."

To get a fuller picture of the views of Reistroffer, the full interview in three segments are available.

Segment 1: Reistroffer favors prudent spending.

Segment 2: For Sioux Falls to grow and people to prosper, businesses need to be allowed to work.

Segment 3: Reistroffer favors rehabilitation over incarceration of non-violent offenders.

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