STURGIS - The newly appointed mayor of Sturgis is deeply committed to service and aims to lead the council towards the shared objective of enhancing the community of Sturgis.

“I believe it's important, especially right now, for the council to have someone in this position who has served on this council before, who has served in a leadership position and someone who truly cares about people and has a desire to serve selflessly,” Angela Wilkerson said during her interview before the Sturgis City Council at its regular meeting Monday, March 4. 

Wilkerson said she cannot think of a time in her life when she wasn’t looking for a way to serve others.

“I am a public servant through and through,” she said.

Wilkerson has a degree in criminal justice and works as a law enforcement officer for the state of South Dakota. 

She has served as a mentor in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program and guided eighth-grade students who face challenges in graduating. Additionally, she has participated in mission trips abroad to construct an orphanage and assisted in building homes. She also served as a core team leader for youth ministry.

Wilkerson was one of seven people who applied to fill the seat vacated when Sturgis Mayor Mark Carstensen resigned on Feb. 13. 

In addition to Wilkerson, other candidates were council members Aaron Jordan and Tony Dargatz, as well as residents Rod Bradley, Jesse Hauk, Steve Shuck and Jim Thompson.

Jordan, Dargatz and Shuck all withdrew their names from consideration at the Monday meeting.

All applicants went through a public interview process at the meeting. Council members were allowed to ask questions of the candidates, but citizens in the audience were not. Some were concerned with that directive saying citizens didn’t have a say in the process. But Council President Beka Zerbst, serving as interim mayor, said the council is allowing people to have a say because council members are elected representatives of the residents. 

“In state statute and with our ordinance, it is the council’s appointment and the council’s choosing,” Zerbst said. 

Wilkerson is in the third year of her first term as a council member. She had filed petitions to run for her council seat again in the April 9 Sturgis Municipal Election. She previously served on the city’s Park Board and Planning Commission.

Wilkerson won the seat on the first ballot of the council Monday on a 5-3 vote. The vote was done by paper ballot, so it is not known who voted for Wilkerson or the two other candidates who received votes. Rod Bradley received two votes and Jim Thompson received one vote. 

Wilkerson was sworn in as mayor at the end of the meeting, and will serve out the remaining 14 months of the term left vacant when Carstensen resigned. 

The last time Sturgis had a woman mayor was in 1950-52 when Katherine Soldat held the post.