Spearfish has a race for mayor! Real estate agent Dana Boke has decided to challenge TMOne facility manager and incumbent mayor Jerry Krambeck to rule the Queen City. Krambeck has held the mayor's job since 2000, making him Spearfish's longest serving mayor. Spearfishers decide whether to keep Krambeck or let Boke break his streak on April 9.
Boke was out campaigning at the local Home Show Saturday and Sunday. She's got yard signs and everything! She has also jumped out with the standard Web presence: campaign website, Facebook page, and Twitter account. Mayor Krambeck says "Hi!" on his official mayoral page, but I'm not seeing any real social media presence.
Reviewing Boke's current Web content reveals little of substance. Her message boils down to change (an obvious tack against a guy whose held the job for 13 years) and listen, a straightforward appeal for the votes of anyone feeling shut out of current city government. But online, Boke provides no examples of the current mayor or city council not listening. Boke provides no examples of policies pursued by the Krambeck administration that she would change.
What Boke does smells mostly like the kind of upper-middle-class marketing-speak I could pen in my sleep. Her stock phrases are as generic as the stock images with which she sprinkles every Web page:
I believe that effective leadership means always evaluating how things are being done and at the same time seeking areas of improvement. While we are able to learn from the past and those that have gone before, we cannot assume that today’s challenges can be met with yesterday’s solutions ["Reasons for Running"].
As your mayor, I will seek to help our leadership understand the importance of listening to these ideas, weighing their value, examining their costs, and helping ensure the decisions made are the best for us all ["Looking Forward"].
Blah blah, blah—tell us whether you're going to plow the streets!
Boke says she is a conservative Republican. She sprinkles her text with references that ping my fundie radar:
In the news we are reminded of the challenges that our country faces as it works to right itself economically, socially and spiritually ["Looking Forward"].
I believe it is the responsibility of every citizen to serve – whether it is one’s family, their community, or their God....
I believe that our city needs to be traditional in its values, expansive in its vision and unified as we grow [emphasis original, "I Believe"].
I can't speak with certainty about either Boke's or Krambeck's feelings about theocracy, but I have gotten the impression that, whatever church Krambeck attends, his governance is more about pragmatism than piety.
But let's have some public forums! I look forward to weighing the candidates' positions on real policy issues, hearing Boke's substantive indictment of the Krambeck adminstration, and seeing whether Spearfishers can see any difference between their choices for mayor.
Related: Also taking the local campaign online: Spearfish Ward 2 (hey! that's my neighborhood!) candidate Mitch Moe, with Facebook and Twitter campaign accounts. His opponent, sitting councilman Paul Young, is online with his own website... and mentions specific issues!
yep, the "traditional in its values" statement stuck out at me also....what exactly does that mean? Prayer at city council meetings? Cement Jesus? People shouldn't co-habitate unless they are married?
I'm as happy as a clam that someone has decided to challenge the crony-istic mayor in this town. But I have to tamp down my excitement a bit. Change at all costs, isn't always a good thing. I want to know if she thinks the way the city is being run right now isn't correct - and if so, what she is going to do to change that! (or in her words, move it "forward")
I hope that doesn't mean, more and more TIF's handed out to the golden haired developers. I hope that doesn't mean more of the same long laundry list of icky-ness that is happening right now in The 'Fish....
Don't poke the boke.
You're right, Dana: folks who want change still need a candidate who can articulate change toward what. Boke's marketing does a poor job of articulating the goals of her purported "change."
exactly. Admittedly, I have a "personal" dog in this fight (smile), but I know that things could even be worse. Sure, I like the new, fresh, and modern look that I'm seeing with both of these candidates, but I need to know/see a little (well, a lot) more substance.
Mr Moe posted on his Facebook page today: "Talked to many Spearfish voters this weekend. Several times I was asked what I was running AGAINST. I said I was running FOR a refreshing of our city government." Again, that sounds nice, but what is not fresh about the Spearfish city government? What do you think needs to be freshened up?
The city has been making big changes and plans that is growing this city exponentially. Are "we" as a city growing the services needed to provide the growing population accordingly? Are our schools going to be able to handle the growing student population? The crime issues that are creeping this way due to the Bakken Oil Fields....Butte County S.O. and Belle Fourche Police Department are already getting crunched and not able to keep up with the growing crime. I would hope that the current city leadership isn't too naive to think that that crime is stopping at the Spearfish/Butte County border. Traffic issues.....again, this city loves to think that the growth of this city is great! But still to this day, do not have a traffic engineer. (their is a nasty fatality just waiting to happen on McGuigan Road) Great issues for these candidates to tackle.
I look forward to learning more about what Ms Boke and Mr Moe have to offer. Hopefully, a nice substantive chat is scheduled in the near future. Perhaps, even a friendly debate amongst the candidates is being talked about!
Why do you say she is a real estate agent? Her website clearly says she has been in banking for the last five years. I guess my take on your little blog here is that you don't have time to read thoroughly because you're in a hurry to spin your own agenda. I'm a moderate (registered independent) and I don't care for the religious right either, but I think your "fundie radar" has a developed a nervous twitch. It's a reach to pull out the "theocracy" concerns just because someone says they have traditional values . If you haven't noticed, the majority of west river South Dakotans consider themselves "traditional conservatives" and so it's not a shocking statement for her to say that she is one as well.
i went to real estate school with jim and carol boke, they're jehovahs witnesses: can the fruit fall far from the tree?
And the records for Jerry Krambeck's family have been sealed by NUFON.
Sigh. While I wait for "John Q" to check his e-mail, I'll note that Dana Boke is listed all over the place as a real estate agent. Her own site doesn't make clear her exact employment, other than to say she's in the "banking sector." Her mention on that About Me page, which I did read top to bottom, said she has worked in real estate during the past 20 years. Is she still? Does she on the side? It's hard to say.
But more importantly, even harder to say is where Dana Boke stands on any substantive issue facing the community. My only agenda in this race is to hear what plans and policies the candidates support for Spearfish. Given the absence of any specifics, Boke leaves us to read the tea leaves of her code words.
But "John Q," you sound like an expert. What is Dana Boke's job? Why does she feel compelled to mention God in a secular political race? Lay it out, "John Q." I and numerous other readers will be happy to take the time to read the details.
(O.K., Larry, NUFON?)
And Jehovites? They don't even run for political office, do they?
Yes, I will wait patiently also for John Q. Itake full ownership of the "traditional values" comments that I made. It isn't a "shocking statement" for her to indicate that she has traditional values, but that seems to be a catch all phrase anymore around here (usually to grab votes) , and I would like to know exactly what that means. That's all.
I don't have an agenda to spin, but I do have a vested interest in how the City of Spearfish is going to be driven and lead in the near future. (their decisions in the last 4 years have negatively impacted my quality of life and have cost me dearly in the value of my home) So yes, details matter!! (sorry that we are being so darn picky!) I believe I've met Ms Boke in the past, and I find her to be a very pleasant and professional woman. However, if she wants to take the reins of the big ole town of Spearfish, especially at this time with major decisions to be made, I would like to know what her thinking is!!
As an example, tonight on her Facebook page, she shows a picture of one of her banners located at Main and Colorado. And gee doesn't that look nice? Well, yeah, sure it does look nice. But that tells me absolutely nothing about how she perceives Spearfish right now and what her vision for the city would be. We already have a representative in Congress that does the "gee golly" and "I have traditional values" spiel. I for one, am weary of the schtick. I need to know the meat and potatoes! It is the least that we are owed as taxpayers in and around the city with a crucial election in about 30 days.
If you check the SD Real Estate Commission website, she is not a licensed real estate broker. She once was with Landmark Realty in Spearfish, with her in-laws, hence her name all over the place as a real estate agent. Her father-in-law is also a developer, who may benefit from having her as Mayor.
I have heard Dana Boke is a branch manager at Wells Fargo. Respectfully, I hope your comments about her parent's religion were meant to stir the pot and are not serious concerns. I personally take offense that you believe any woman or man cannot think except through the veil of religion. I suspect if she has the chuzpa to run for mayor she most likely thinks for herself?! Anyway, and admittedly superficially, running on only the platform "that opposes Jerry" IS enough for me. Why don't you email her if you want answers? I believe the hyperlink is available on her site. Mrs. krambek was a favorite teacher of mine. It is too bad Jerry missed the mark at the Mayor's house.
[Quick reminder to new readers: our discussion of local politics will be much more civil and constructive if we speak as neighbors and use our real names. Please follow the comment nymity policy and put your name to your words... or at the very least include an e-mail address that will allow me to verify that you are a real and distinct individual.]
Nimrod UFO Network
Nobody in the Wells Fargo bureaucracy should be elected to any political office ever.
As a resident of Spearfish since 2000, I've gained nothing but respect for Mayor Krambeck. His social media presence may leave something to be desired, but that is ok. It's fine with me because I see our mayor actually out and about. He personally involves himself face to face with his constituents. I've found even if he doesn't agree with my points or suggestions (as he is Republican and I am Democrat) he still takes serious interest in and consideration of my opinions. As a life long resident, he is in touch with what is needed here in Spearfish. I feel he does a great job of meshing that with what is wanted. He collects his own signatures each time he runs, unlike Boke. I didn't get the chance to go to the home show. Unfortunately, I can't say I know anyone who has any more info about what she wants to change either. I do know that there was squawking in the past about the mayor and council denying an expansion idea for a gated community neighborhood at the top of Lookout Mountain. (See problems with water supply access, mud slides, etc....) I'm proud of our town and think Mayor Krambeck has done a fine job. He'll get my vote again for sure this April. The proof is in the pudding...When things are going so well, why would we want generic "change"?
yikes.
prove that spearditch is nothing more than a nazi hamlet.
Des, you raise an interesting question. Does a local politician need a social media presence if that politician is out getting input face to face? I'd argue that, yeah, probably, especially in a town like Spearfish with what seems to be a higher rate of turnover, new folks moving in, not knowing who's who, and searching online for info about the names they see in the paper.
(Full disclosure—Larry may go ape here—after I wrote the original blog post, Jerry Krambeck hired me to put up a campaign website for him. He has also put up a Facebook campaign page, which he and his wife have done themselves.)
(And Larry, they paid in U.S. dollars, not Reichsmarks. ;-) )
wow, just wow! Mind blown.
better ape than apa, i reckon....