Former Sioux Falls mayor Knobe: A few words of labeling can’t accurately describe a person — or a candidate for city council

A small rant.

The one-, two- or three-word labels that are used to describe the complete ideology of political people.

Examples: Screaming liberal; gun-toting conservative; pro-business; anti-government; pro-life. There are many more.

None of those terms should be used to describe the totality of a person or an issue. There are nuances to everyone and every issue.

In Sioux Falls (image above is from the city’s home page) there is a candidate for City Council in the runoff election who is being described by others as “anti-establishment.” Is he?

He talks about neighborhoods and the people living in them. He talks about different approaches for city government to take as it relates to business development.

Do those ideas make him “anti-establishment?”

The other candidate self-describes himself as “pro-business.” Does that mean he will always support business people at the expense of all others?

With social media, our shrinking attention span, and political people avoiding public contact and deep thinking, we are heading in the wrong direction.

Issues facing us are complex. We need much more than three-word labels to deal with them.

Election Day is Tuesday, April 30. Early voting will be allowed on Monday, April 29.

I’m done now.

Rick Knobe is a former mayor of Sioux Falls and a longtime radio talk show host who is now retired but remains active and involved in his community and state. His columns appear regularly on The South Dakota Standard. You can contact him at rick.knobe@changeagentsofsd.org