Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of three stories that will appear in The Brookings Register this week, featuring candidates for Brookings City Council. Joey Collins, Cassie Juba and Ope Niemeyer are competing to fill two three-year seats on the council.
BROOKINGS – Cassie Juba likes to work with others and get things done, so she’s running for a three-year seat on the Brookings City Council.
“I’m connected to maybe an under-served population here in Brookings and people that don’t often have the council’s ear and those people represent the majority of Brookings, so I think those are important voices that need to be heard,” Juba said, citing her background in nonprofits, political campaigns and being a small business owner.
Early/absentee voting started Monday, but the city council/school board election date will move to June after action was taken by the South Dakota Legislature this week.
Juba was born and raised in Yankton and came to Brookings 10 years ago to attend South Dakota State University.
“I met my husband (Adam Juba) in that time and both of us decided that this is where we wanted to set up, so we’ve been here ever since,” she said.
Juba earned a general studies degree in education, humanities and social sciences from SDSU, along with “a handful of minors,” she said.
Like many young adults, Juba had no idea what she wanted to do as a career and worked various jobs in retail and even as a nanny. A trip to Haiti made her realize she loved to teach, so she started with a couple of tutoring students.
“Tutoring was something I really fell in love with,” she said. “As I approached graduation, I realized that if I taught, it would be something that I had to give up.”
An opening came up to tutor on a larger scale, and she has been running Personalized Learning Adventures for Youth (PLAY) for kids 3-13 for about five years out of her home.
“We cover all of the subjects, but reading seems to be the biggest one,” she said.
“Last May, I moved here (the basement area of The Carrot Seed),” Juba said.
A position as volunteer coordinator opened up at the Brookings County Youth Mentoring Program.
“I worked there for about two years while I was still running PLAY on a smaller scale and working on the expansion,” Juba said.
Now that she’s not employed with BCYMP, she can mentor and was matched with a mentee in October.
“I like to be busy. I find that the more things I have, specifically if I’m passionate about them, the better each of those things is done,” she added.
Being in nonprofits, Juba has spent quite a bit of time in board meetings. As a college student, she interned for several campaigns and went door-to-door about specific bills to educate the public. Working in nonprofits is a “collaborative experience,” which will help her on council, she said.
“I see myself as an added team player,” she said.
Juba is “very excited” about the current council and city staff, but she sees “a lot of things I can help with as far as affordable and workforce housing, helping complete and put into place master plans.”
Those are two of her priorities.
“Developers, nonprofits, lots of the city committees do see (housing) as a priority and I think sitting those people down at the table and finding action is very important,” Juba said.
A downtown master plan and a stormwater master plan are also high on her list.
“There’s so much room for growth (downtown) as far as collaborative space or maybe having more residential properties here, (like) having the food co-op downtown so there’s better food access,” Juba said.
Infrastructure, drainage, streets, and parks, “things like that are what make Brookings great,” she said.
She thinks the council can do more to connect with residents.
“I think our workforce and some of our lower-income families definitely need the council’s immediate attention, whether it be housing or access to public transportation or where resources are here in town. To buy groceries for your family you have to have access to one side of town and that’s certainly not where those populations are living, so I think that’s a severely underserved community,” Juba said.
“I think it’s the council’s job to help give those people a helping hand and help move them forward,” Juba said.
“I think the council’s done a really great job, but … I would like to see a little bit more access to council. I think the average citizen doesn’t have time to attend council meetings, … (so) feeling like their voice is represented on council is really important,” Juba said.
“Brookings is an exciting place because I think it balances respecting and honoring our past but always moving forward,” Juba said.
Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.
