SELTING
VALQUARDSEN
Hand County Republicans will have the opportunity to choose between candidates running for three separate offices in the June 3 primary election, as follows: Sandra Selting and Nehemia Volquardsen for Hand County Auditor; DeAnn Hargens and Suzy Wernsmann for Register of Deeds; and Hand County District 1 Republicans will also choose between Renae Morog and Gib Rodgers for the Hand County Commission. id="0">
The six candidates were each asked to give a brief introduction, including information about their family and where they live and work, their education background, and life experiences. They also responded to the following questions, as a way for voters to get to know them better: id="1">
Why have you decided to run for this office? id="2">
What do you believe qualifies you to hold this office? id="3">
What do you see as the number one issue facing the office you are running for? id="4">
Any additional comments? id="5">
AUDITOR CANDIDATE id="6">
Sandra Seltingid="7">: I have lived most of my life in the Miller area, outside of ten years when I graduated from Miller High School. I attended Northern State University in Aberdeen where I took a two-year course in business. I lived in Pierre for nine years where I worked for the South Dakota Retailers Association before returning to Miller. id="8">
I spent 14 years working in the Hand County Extension Office before being appointed as the Hand County Auditor in 1999. I have served as Auditor for 15 years and hope to serve another term of four years. id="9">
My parents, Della Moncur and the late Ray Moncur, lived their entire lives in Hand County, and I raised both of my sons, Chad and Brett, in Miller. id="10">
I have enjoyed working for the county and for the people I serve as auditor. The main issue for my office currently is Total Vote, which was put in place by the Secretary of State for upcoming elections. We have had workshops and webinars over the past two years to learn the new system before the June Primary. id="11">
AUDITOR CANDIDATE id="12">
Nehemia Volquardsen:id="13"> I live in Miller with my wife Kristal, who is an insurance agent with American Family here in Miller. I grew up in Battle Creek, Neb., about 12 miles west of Norfolk. It was a small town of about 1,000 people when I grew up there. My parents and family still live in that area. I am the oldest of four children: my brother, Micah, lives in Norfolk, my sister, Naomi, in Columbus, and my youngest brother, Matthew is getting ready to graduate from high school in Battle Creek. id="14">
We have lived in Miller for over three years and recently purchased Eunice Breland’s old home in the northeast part of Miller and just moved in this last week. Kristal and I own our insurance agency. id="15">
I started in Miller as the Administrator of the Good Samaritan Society – Miller in October of 2010 and continued that role through the end of October 2011 when I resigned from that position. I was certified as a nursing home administrator with the state, but not federally certified. While at the Good Samaritan I gained experience in managing the financial day-to-day operations for a multi-million dollar business with about 65+ staff and 65 residents. id="16">
I was then hired by the Hand County Sheriff’s Office as the Emergency Manager in April 2012. While I have been at the Sheriff’s Office I have had an opportunity to assist and get to know the residents of Hand County. I have used my education in business to assist the Sheriff in the hiring process for the deputy position. Emergency Management has allowed me to work within a budget, better understand the financial make-up of county funds, and how to work within a government structure. As the Emergency Manager, I work to prepare the community for major incidents/events, respond to events, how to recover from these events, and to mitigate the problems so that they do not occur again in the future. I have had the opportunity to work with the various responders throughout Hand County as well as worked with townships to assist them with Pre-Disaster Mitigation funding. I have also had the opportunity to work through various grant funding programs which have been able to bring public safety equipment to Hand County to help support the community. id="17">
I have an Associate of Arts Degree in Business Administration from Northeast Community College, Norfolk, Neb. I have a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from the University of South Dakota School of Business, Vermillion. id="18">
I chose to run for Hand County Auditor because I believe I would best serve the citizens of Hand County with my degree and background in business and financial management. With the emergency management program the funding sources are not constant so there is a chance that things could change with my present position. I want to learn and grow as a person, raise a family here, and make this my home. I would like to introduce opportunities like direct deposit to county employees, which has been something the employees have expressed interest in. I would also like to introduce a change in the Auditor’s Office hours to allow for residents to take care of voter registration after they get off work should they choose. id="19">
I believe that my background in business administration and finance allows me to serve this community in my best and fullest capacity. Having run a multi-million dollar business and worked within the county government system I can serve the residents of Hand County quite well as the Auditor. id="20">
There are more opportunities that can be afforded to the people of Hand County with the use of technology to keep them informed of the operations of the county’s finances and of upcoming events or meetings. People are expecting to be informed as to what their government is doing and will be doing so that they can make an informed decision on issues that may arise. I would like to use resources like the county webpage and Facebook page to get the information to our residents as soon as possible. The more information that can be given to the public quickly, the sooner people can be aware and make decisions accordingly. id="21">
COUNTY COMMISSIONER CANDIDATE for District 1 – Gib Rodgers:id="22">
I am an area rancher and Hand County resident. My wife, Stephanie, and I are owner/operators of our family ranch southwest of Wessington in the Wessington hills. We have two grown children, Rebecca (Preston) Steele of Huron, and Kaleb (Emily) Rodgers of Ipswich. id="24">
I am a graduate of Kadoka High School. My family moved east 28 years ago and purchased their ranch in Hand County 22 years ago. I have served on a number of community organizations, including the Wessington School Board and Wessington Presbyterian Church. While a full-time owner/operator of his cattle ranch, I have held other professional positions within the local agricultural sector such as manager of the Miller Sale Barn and a salesman for the local John Deere Dealership Greenline Implement. id="25">
Popular issues such as taxes and improving road conditions are always a forefront of topics of candidates representing his areas, but we also need to look at how we can improve out county as a whole. id="26">
Upon being asked by personal friends and neighbors to run for Hand County Commissioner, I realized I am in the right place in my life and experience to hold a commission seat and serve local Hand County families and residents. I am looking forward to serving Hand County. id="27">
COUNTY COMMISSIONER CANDIDATE for District 1 – Renee Morog:id="28"> I farm with my husband, Tom, north of St. Lawrence. We have three children, Jessica, works for Abbott Diabetes Care in San Francisco, Calif.; Matthew, a graduate of SDSU, lives and works in St. Paul, Minn. at Cenex Harvest States; Tyler, a junior studying ag business at SDSU. id="29">
I grew up and worked on our family farm with my parents, Leo and Wilma Veskrna, and my brother Reno. I have lived in Hand County for 45 of my 58 years. id="30">
I graduated from the University of South Dakota with a business degree in 1978. I lived in Minneapolis and worked at General Mills, Inc., for four years. I was interested in health care and studied and worked at the University of Minnesota as a nursing station assistant on a cancer unit. After moving to Boston in 1986, I worked at two hospitals in their psychiatric and physical therapy departments. We returned to the family farm in 1987. In addition to farming, we have also operated Wolf Creek Pheasant Hunting since 2009. id="31">
Growing up in Hand County, I have been very involved in numerous activities and organizations over the last 38 years. I am currently or have been a previous member of: id="32">
Hand-in Hand Daycare, Girl Scouts leader, 4-H, Central Plains Arts Council, Hand County Extension Club, City Park playground committee, (budget/selection of playground equipment), Miller City Beautification (downtown awning development), school activity and fund raising committees, Eucharistic minister for St. Ann’s Catholic Church, and the York Township board. id="33">
Having grown up, helped run our family business, and raised our children in Hand County, the community’s future is very important to me. My upbringing and adult life in Hand County have given me the perspective to understand our community’s needs and instilled in me the dedication to support and grow our community. For several years I considered running for county commissioner, but family and activities kept me from doing so. I now have the time it takes to dedicate to this position. In the past, I have attended county commission, school board, and city council meetings in both Miller and St. Lawrence. By attending these meetings, I have developed a good understanding of the process and issues faced by our local governments and the importance of openness and transparency in decision making faced by our community. id="34">
As a farmer and a hunting business operator, I understand the concerns of the our district. In addition, my education, work experience, and participation in numerous local organizations has helped me to develop a first-hand knowledge and a good understanding of the issues that face our entire county. I have a great desire to represent our citizens: to be able to listen, to ask questions, to research information, to speak for our residents, and make good decisions on their behalf. id="35">
I believe the biggest issues Hand County commissioners face are these: Hand County needs to keep a strong financial position so that it can continue to maintain its infrastructure (roads, bridges, buildings); deliver numerous essential county services to our residents; and create development and growth in a balanced way. id="36">
REGISTER OF DEEDS id="37">
CANDIDATE DeAnn id="38">
Hargens:id="39"> My husband, Jeff Hargens and I have two daughters, Cindy (Dylan) Deuter and Sarah (Pat) McAlister; and three granddaughters, Jenna, Piper and Cassadee. I have lived in Miller my whole life except for four years when I attended college and worked in Sioux Falls. id="40">
I am the current Register of Deeds. I have an associate’s degree in accounting and 20+ years of experience in office management. id="41">
In May 2013, I applied for the Register of Deeds position, which was vacated by the previous registrar. The Hand County Commissioners conducted interviews and hired me for the job. Learning the duties and responsibilities of the registrar has been fascinating and I would appreciate the chance to continue serving the people of Hand County. I have the necessary skills in office management, accounting and computers. I am dependable, reliable and enjoy helping people. id="42">
One issue facing the office of Register of Deeds is accuracy in recording documents. Errors made today can cause costly legal issues for property owners for many generations to come. id="43">
I have enjoyed serving you as Hand County Register of Deeds and would appreciate your support in the June primary election. id="44">
REGISTER OF DEEDS id="45">
CANDIDATE Suzy id="46">
Wernsmann:id="47"> My husband Luke and I have two sons, Rusty and Kyle. My parents are Lee and the late Patricia Lammers. Luke’s parents are Geraldine and the late Ralph Wernsmann. id="48">
Hand County has always been my home. I graduated from Polo High School and have always worked with my husband on our farm and ranch. For two years, I worked as a laboratory assistant with Camp Dresser & McKee. I was employed by the Miller School District as a special education assistant for 10 years. For four years, I worked as office manager with the Titan Wind Project. For 10 years, I was the Deputy Register of Deeds for Hand County. Currently, I am employed as a secretary with the Gregory G. Rediger Law Office. id="49">
My decision to run for this office was an easy decision. For 10 years, I was the Deputy Register of Deeds. I enjoyed all aspects of the job, the work, serving the public and working with the other Hand County employees. id="50">
Having been the Deputy Register of Deeds for so many years, movement to the Regisiter of Deeds position would be a seamless transition for the county and allow operations to remain at the highest quality possible. id="51">
My 10 years of experience as the Deputy Register of Deeds qualifies me to hold this office. During that time, I assisted in the conversion to digital record keeping for the office. I am well versed in the legalities of all the applications, responsibilities and procedures, which are pertinent to the position of Register of Deeds. Customer service is a very high priority of mine. My prior work experience has prepared me to work with the public on a daily basis and interact with a variety of people. id="52">
For three months, I was appointed as the interim for the Register of Deeds, performing all the responsibilities and duties required of the position. id="53">
The number one issue facing the Register of Deeds office is accuracy. The Register of Deeds office is the official Hand County record keeper. Accuracy and timeliness in processing all to the records vital to the county and its people is a major priority. As stated previously, customer service is a priority of mine. Customer service includes the ability to understand and effectively respond to a customer’s needs and requests. id="54">
HARGENS
WERNSMANN
RODGERS
MOROG