A candidate seeking to represent Ward 2 on the Rapid City Common Council holds a full-time senior engineering position at Black Hills Energy — a utility company with active franchise agreements, infrastructure contracts, and major capital projects currently before the council — raising questions about how often state law would require him to sit out the city’s most consequential decisions.
Christopher Vanderhoof, who filed for the Ward 2 seat ahead of the June 2 municipal primary, confirmed to The Rapid City Sentinel that he works as a Senior Systems Engineer in Identity and Access Management at Black Hills Energy. The position is full-time and current.
Under South Dakota Codified Law 6-1-17, no municipal official may participate in discussing or voting on any issue in which the official has a conflict of interest. The statute covers both the vote and the preceding discussion — meaning a conflicted council member cannot advocate for constituents from the dais, regardless of the issue’s importance to the ward.
Black Hills Energy’s working relationship with Rapid City
Black Hills Energy operates under franchise agreements with the City of Rapid City and is directly involved in utility infrastructure, right-of-way easements, zoning for high-load districts, and municipal energy contracts — categories that appear routinely on council agendas, including in the consent agenda where multiple utility-adjacent items are typically bundled into single votes.
Currently active before the council are matters directly intersecting with BHE’s operations: the $280 million Lange 2 natural gas generation station on Deadwood Avenue, scheduled to come online later this year; data center power delivery negotiations; and zoning decisions for energy-intensive industrial development. Each would trigger recusal obligations under state law.
How this affects Ward 2 Constituents
The practical effect on Ward 2 is structural. When a council member recuses, they are absent for that item — barred from debate as well as the vote. On a council that already operates on thin voting margins, routine recusals shift the tiebreaker burden to the mayor and can alter the threshold required to pass certain measures.
Vanderhoof Responds
Vanderhoof’s campaign literature, distributed to voters and obtained by the Sentinel on May 23, 2026, describes his background as a “long career in IT Security operations.” Black Hills Energy is not mentioned.
His campaign platform explicitly includes a commitment to open communication and transparency.
When asked about the conflict, Vanderhoof responded by email: “This is an ethical matter that all City Council members must adhere to. No matter where we work outside of City Hall. If an item comes before the Council that would directly benefit our employer, it is the Council person’s responsibility to avoid any appearance of favoritism.”
Vanderhoof added that he values having two council members per ward, noting that “the community is still represented even when one member must step back.”
He confirmed that if a matter came forward where Black Hills Energy would receive direct funding from the city, he would be required to recuse himself from that vote.
However, under SDCL 6-1-17, recusal bars a council member from participating in discussion as well as casting a vote.
In Closing
Ward 2’s second seat is currently held by Bill Evans, whose term runs through 2028. Evans would retain his vote on utility-related matters — but Vanderhoof would be legally prohibited from advocating for Ward 2 constituents in any debate where a conflict exists.
The Sentinel filed a public records request with the Rapid City Finance Office on May 26, 2026 — the candidate financial disclosure filing deadline — seeking Vanderhoof’s Statement of Financial Interest. The city has ten business days to fulfill the request.
The Ward 2 primary is June 2. The incumbent, Lindsey Seachris, serves as director of a nonprofit adult daycare program
Ward 2 Challengers Conflict Disclosure Form Left Blank, Records Show
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