Hladysz is commission candidate

Keystone resident Leslie Hladysz is an Independent candidate for a four-year term on the Pennington County Commission, representing District One.

Hladysz, a former reporter for the Hill City Prevailer News, lives just outside of the Keystone town limits in the county and has been a county resident for nearly a decade. She said the number one reason she chose to run for office is to fix the property tax issue.

“I watched mine and my neighbors’ property taxes go up and up, despite no real improvements being made to properties. Everyone in District One essentially faced the same issue, while some parts of the county were experiencing more manageable increases, we in Distict One were hit with 10-50 percent increases over three years time,” she said. “It seemed unfair to me and I saw a lot of people struggling to stay in their houses on fixed income or with jobs in which wages did not increase by much. I figured rather than complain about it, I should act, and that’s what I am doing.”

Hladysz describes herself as an out-of-the-box thinker who isn’t afraid to speak her mind.

“That ruffles feathers at times but it also means I get things done. I am extremely tenacious and resilient,” she said. “But I also pride myself on being open minded. As a former teacher, I know the importance of education, and I love to learn in general. In other words, I don’t have all the answers and I try to learn from others and my own mistakes whenever possible.”

Hladysz said she believes he number one issue the county faces over the course of the next four years is the budget/spending cycle the county. Hladysz believes the state has handcuffed its counties by essentially expecting them to run on property taxes.

“This is completely unsustainable and commissioners currently know this. On top of that, the state makes counties do certain things, especially when it comes to the courts/jail system. Again, commissioners know this,” she said. “Yet, instead of cutting the budget, lobbying Pierre, having repeated meetings with other counties facing the same issues to try to fix the problem, they seem to continue to grow the county budget and dip into savings to do so. This just seems like kicking the can down the road versus addressing the issue head on.”

Continuing on property taxes, Hladysz believes the state should give counties some of the sales tax it collects, period.

“The two largest counties in the state are unable to meet their needs by collecting property taxes and residents of those counties are struggling to stay in their homes. I would never have voted to implement a new tax on people the way the current commission did because while it may lower property taxes, it doesn’t lower a tax burden overall,” she said, especially to those who rent. “I think that going to Pierre repeatedly and demanding for state accountability is the only way to fix the property tax issue. Why are commissioners not doing that?”

Hladysz said the other huge issue she sees is there being no water in the Hills.

“Yet, we continue to hand out building permits, variances for building and developer TIFs versus conserving our precious resources, both land and water, until we are out of the drought. Obviously we need development to grow economically,” she said. “But do we really need more high-end houses or apartments and strip malls with retail jobs (or data centers with no jobs)? I think attracting light industry that doesn’t pollute and finding affordable housing for teachers, nurses and first responders is a better use of our shrinking natural spaces if we are going to develop them.”

Hladysz said she is not in favor of the proposed new Pennington County Jail expansion, saying while she has toured the jail and describes it as “a hot mess,” she doesn’t think expanding it where it sits right now makes financial sense.

“I have yet to be convinced we have a capacity problem, either,” she said.

She was also against moving the county offices to their new location, saying she believes it to be “one of the dumbest moves the county has made over the last five years.”

“I used to be able to go downtown to the library and the post office as well as do my county business. I often spent money in Rapid City, downtown, when I did these chores,” she said. “Now the offices are located close to nothing. While there is more parking, it is not on a public transit route which is a huge problem for many people.”

Ultimately, Hladysz said she is running as an Independent because she doesn’t believe our roads, county jails, property taxes and water “are red or blue.” 

“They affect all of us and I am tired of the same status quo,” she said.