Watertown Candidate Forum Highlights Data Center Debate, School Funding, and Codington County Auditor Race
Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - Candidates for Codington County Auditor and South Dakota Legislative Districts 4 and 5 outlined their platforms, debated local control of data centers, and discussed public education funding during a Watertown Area Chamber of Commerce forum on Tuesday evening.
Former longtime legislator Lee Schoenbeck hosted three panels, letting voters hear directly from local government hopefuls and state legislative candidates ahead of the general election.
The Race for Codington County Auditor
The forum opened with the race for Codington County Auditor, featuring incumbent Brenda Hanten and independent challenger Debbie Melville.
Hanten pointed to her extensive local government background, including 12 years as a county commissioner and her current tenure as auditor. She emphasized her hands-on experience in managing complex county budgets, setting property tax levies, and organizing secure elections.
"I understand every detail of this office because I have done the work at every level," Hanten said.
Melville, who worked in the auditor’s office for 13 years under former Auditor Cindy Brugman, said she is running as an independent to keep the office nonpartisan.
"I'm running because I believe this office belongs to all citizens of Codington County," Melville said. "You deserve an office that is professional, accountable, transparent, and treats everyone fairly."
When asked about returning to hand-counting election ballots, both candidates rejected the idea, citing the accuracy of the current tabulator machines.
"I am not in support of hand counting for the simple fact of the accuracy," Hanten said, noting the fatigue election workers face after a long day. Melville agreed, adding that the tabulator systems are rigorously tested and that any kicked-out ballots are verified by another set of eyes to guarantee accurate counts.
District 4 House Candidates Focus on Data Centers
The forum then shifted to the District 4 House race, a sprawling district that wraps around Watertown and encompasses rural Codington County and several neighboring counties. Candidates Fred Deutsch, Emelia Enquist, Samuel Froehlke, and Ryan Kohl addressed the crowd.
The potential development of hyperscale data centers in rural South Dakota dominated the District 4 discussion.
Enquist, a Democrat and Lutheran minister from Revillo, expressed reservations about data centers' environmental and financial impacts.
"I want the legislature to work on protecting the environment and the people's rights far above the interest of the companies potentially interested in bringing data centers in," Enquist said, adding that the companies do not deserve special tax breaks.
Froehlke, an independent candidate from Toronto in Deuel County, outright opposed data center expansion, calling the artificial intelligence infrastructure a "bubble."
"It's speculative. It's a bubble. It's a foolish investment," Froehlke said. "There is not a real market big enough to justify how much money is being spent on these."
Kohl, a farmer and military veteran, and Deutsch, a chiropractor with eight years of prior legislative experience, both took a more pragmatic approach, emphasizing that local communities must make the final decision.
"If a community wants to look at this as an avenue of development, as an avenue of diversifying their economy, yes, the state can help out," Kohl said. "If the communities do not want it, if the counties don't want it, yeah, the county should have the right to say no."
Deutsch echoed that sentiment, noting that while data centers matter for the future, he does not want them placed where residents oppose them.
"I don't want them where people don't want them," Deutsch said. "So I like to have local control over it."
District 5 House Candidates Address Public School Funding
In the District 5 House panel, which represents Watertown's city limits, incumbent Matt Roby and Byron Callies participated. Independent Neal Tapio sent a press release about two hours before the forum, saying he would not participate because of outstanding issues with the moderator. (Full Story Here)
Both candidates strongly supported prioritizing public education funding over potential private school voucher programs.
Roby, a former Watertown city attorney, noted that during his first term, he successfully ushered 12 bills into law, including one-time equipment funding for Lake Area Tech. Regarding K-12 education, Roby argued that the state is currently falling short on its obligations.
"We are currently not funding public schools the way we should be," Roby said. "And so before we start having the conversation about these other alternatives, we need to ensure that our funding is on a path to continue to grow at the minimum at the statutory rate."
Callies agreed, noting that the state constitution mandates public education funding.
"Public education is in the constitution," Callies said. "We are required to provide funding for that."
Between the House panels, District 4 State Sen. Stephanie Sauder and the District 5 State Senator Glen Vilhauer briefly addressed the audience. Both senators, running unopposed in the upcoming general election, thanked their constituents for their continued involvement in the legislative process.
