Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of three articles featuring candidates for Brookings County Commission.

BROOKINGS – Ryan Krogman, incumbent Republican candidate for the Brookings County Commission, wants to continue to bring his leadership experience to the county for a third term.

Krogman, Republican incumbent Mike Bartley and independent candidate Timothy Bauer are vying for two, four-year seats on the commission. Early voting has already begun, and election day is Nov. 3.

Krogman, a Brookings native, graduated from Brookings High School and then from South Dakota State University with his degree in business economics. From there he went on to be a real estate broker for 22 years with Century 21.

Krogman said that even after eight years on the commission, there’s still a lot to be done when it comes to maintaining the county’s infrastructure. 

“I’m running for re-election here and this is will be my third term, so I bring a lot of experience to the board having been on for eight years and I’m vying for another four,” Krogman said. 

“I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish over the past eight years with getting the jail expansion off the ground, what we’ve been able to do with our roads and bridges throughout the county and the condition that they’re in, and also being able to utilize the grant dollars from the state to help update our larger bridges in the county and to also get a program working to update those smaller structures also,” he added. 

“We’ve been able to put a good plan together for that and invest a lot of our dollars in structures that will help everybody throughout the county.”

Krogman said the county has seen growth and economic development over the past eight years.

“As we invest in our economic development, we’ve had more businesses and a lot of housing being built throughout the county. That allows us to grow and allows our businesses in the county to grow, and we’ve also been able to keep our mill levy below – or at least level – over the past few years. So, it’s been a solid and strong growth throughout the county to expand our tax-base and keep our levy and our taxes in a good position,” Krogman said.

Krogman said he’s looking forward to working alongside Brookings Area Transit Authority on having a larger county presence. 

Infrastructure is always on the commission’s to-do list.

“We’ll continue to look at our small and large structures and our culverts and box culverts and get those in a good condition because it’s a long-term project. It’s not just a two- or three-year project where you systematically try to improve those and get those into good shape,” Krogman said. 

“Load limits, (too). We can minimize the amount of load limits in the county, which allows the farmers and producers and ag people to not have to go down certain roads because there are load limits on certain bridges. That’s not something you can do quickly. That takes a long time.We’ve already started doing that, and I want to continue that,” he added.

Krogman said that county officials and staff have all been functioning and responding well to the pandemic, but that does not mean there aren’t additional expenses because of it.

“We are working on our CARES Act money. We are keeping track of added expenses to which we will request reimbursement through CARES funding. Our staff at the finance department and also (Commission Department Director) Stacy Steffensen are keeping track of that, and we’ll be submitting those reimbursements.”

Krogman recognizes that he would not be where he is today without the support of Brookings County residents.

“I want to thank all the voters for the first two times around, and hopefully they feel that I’ve done a good job this past term and that they vote me in for a third term. I’d greatly appreciate it,” Krogman said.

Contact Matthew Rhodes at mrhdoes@brookingsregister.com.