BROOKINGS – Nick Schmeichel has filed for a three-year seat on the Brookings City Council. The election is April 10.
“I feel I have a lot of experience that can be valuable to the city council,” Schmeichel said, such as growing up on a small farm and running his own business.
“You have to be willing to listen to everybody’s problems, everybody’s concerns, and be able to make the correct decision based on feedback from the community,” he added.
There are three, three-year seats up for election on the council. They are currently held by Mayor Keith Corbett and councilors Patty Bacon and Nick Wendell. Bacon and Corbett have filed to run again in their current posts.
The other is a one-year council seat currently held by Holly Tilton Byrne, who has announced her intent to run.
The deadline to file is 5 p.m. Feb. 23.
Schmeichel ran for the council in 2017; he came in third behind current councilors Dan Hansen and Ope Niemeyer. He’s running again so he can contribute to the council and Brookings.
“I came to Brookings in 2003. This is where I came to get my post-high school education,” Schmeichel said. He met his wife, Joni, here and they have a 3-year-old son.
“I enjoyed my time here. I liked Brookings,” Schmeichel said. “I think people come to this town and like Brookings because of the variety of things you can do. There’s a nice blend of people in this town. I’ve felt very welcomed here.”
Young parents like himself are “pretty significant in this town,” he said. “I think it’s important to have some people on city council that have young children, so those parents’ voices are being heard, as well.”
Schmeichel operates his own business, Sideline Productions, and says that’s given him knowledge and experience he can use on the council.
“Our business is now 7 years old. We’ve grown every year,” he said. Sideline Productions moved into a 5,000-square-foot shop a year ago.
“That’s an important background to have. I know how to look at budgets. I know how to look into the money side of things because I’ve had to do it,” Schmeichel said. “There’s hard decisions I’ve had to make with my business that I didn’t always want to do, either. You have to be prepared for those things.
“I want to see the city continue to grow in a fiscally sustainable way. That’s where I’d like to help on city council,” he said.
“I’ve worked with over 100 different facilities in this country, from small 2,000-foot amphitheaters all the way up to NFL stadiums, which is why I was happy to be put on the Swiftel Center Advisory Committee,” he said.
He’s also been appointed to the Board of Adjustment this year. Both positions give him experience and the opportunity to gain the city staff’s trust, he said.
That works both ways: he had already told the Board of Adjustment he was running for council before he filed.
“I want to be open. I want there to be transparency,” Schmeichel said.
It takes more than just seven councilors to handle everything, he believes.
“The No. 1 thing: the council needs community input. You put these seven people up there, but they cannot do their jobs without feedback from the community. I want to be an outlet for the community. They can come to me and ask me questions or bring their concerns to me. I have no problem with that,” Schmeichel said.
“I just want the community to know they can come to me with anything and I am there to listen,” he said.
Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.
