Every Friday, we sit down with Mayor Jason Salamun to discuss the latest events and stories shaping Rapid City. Tune in and stay informed
Read along as we discuss key local issues impacting the city.
Meeting With the Mayor transcript from 04/25/25:
Murdoc: It is Friday. I forgot we were doing the game. That’s not going to make any sense to you, is it? Because it’s a Jason bit.
Braun: Oh, I listened from last week to prepare. So I knew that didn’t know that was coming, but I love it. I love it.
Murdoc: All right, we’ll try this again and welcome. Welcome back. It’s Friday afternoon here on the cowboy or we are in your favorite podcast player where you may be listening. It is this week’s meeting with the mayor every week. We sit down with Mayor Jason Solomon and we talk about the issues of the week here in Rapid City, and we have a very special guest since it is Arbor Day and Mr. Mayor is out saving the earth. We are welcomed with the newly appointed chief of staff of the city of Rapid City, Leah Braun. Welcome to the show.
Braun: Thank you for having me. And for those who are horribly disappointed, it’s not the mayor. I am sorry, but you get what you get. And you don’t throw a fit.
Murdoc: It’s politics. There’s people who are excited and people who aren’t, you know,
Braun: yeah, yeah, we’ll go with it.
Murdoc: If you have any questions for anybody on the show, we at the mayor are one of their very qualified standing guests. You can always go to the Cowboys website. It’s cowboyradio.com. There’s a Friday focus. We do all of our local programming on Fridays between meeting in the mayor, Doc Talk, Dakota Town Hall. We’re adding a show with the Rapid City School Foundation and we’re always trying to add more. We have Rapid City Business Journal as well.
So thanks for listening to our local programming. So let’s do, before we get into the mystique of chief of staff. Yes. Let’s do some quick, it’s Arbor Day. What happens for Arbor Day for the mayor?
Braun: So mayor Solomon is participating in Arbor Day, celebrating Arbor Day by he’s out at Pinedale school, planting trees with fifth graders.
Murdoc: A great, I would blow me off for that today too. Little rainy today.
Braun: Yeah. And he’s doing a proclamation to celebrate Arbor Day.
Murdoc: And then there’s an Earth Day expo tomorrow. Did I read that somewhere?
Braun: There is an Earth Day expo. So that is going to be at Western Dakota Tech. It is sponsored and hosted by the city’s sustainability committee. And it goes from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. So vendors, breakout sessions, room displays. Last year, a thousand people attended.
Murdoc: Yeah, we broadcast live out there.
Braun: It’s a pretty cool event. Yeah. Great, great things going on.
Murdoc: And then we’ll do all the green stuff in one little section here. Did you say the city has a greenhouse?
Braun: The city has a greenhouse. Yes. So every year, the greenhouse grows between 20 and 25,000 flowers and plants. Really? Then where is it? It is behind Mckig field off of Canyon Lake Drive.
Murdoc: Really? And is it open to the public? I don’t know how this works. I didn’t know we had, I suppose every city of our size needs a greenhouse, but I don’t. Because if you drive around all of our streets, you’ll see our parks have flowers and is it like a feeder system? Yes.
Braun: Okay. That’s exactly what it is. So they have a new greenhouse and it’s 4,800 square feet. And it replaces the old dilapidated building. And so they are opening that to the public so the city can see it. That open house is Tuesday from nine to 11. So 2915 Canyon Lake Drive.
Murdoc: Interesting. Yeah. I think, okay, I’m going to say this for you, Rapid City. We launched, we recently turned on a newspaper because we’re also going to turn on a fax machine business and a steamship, but we’re starting a newspaper and it’s called Rapid City Post. I bet we’re going to send our reporters out there.
And so if you’d like some coverage on this, you can go to RepCityPost.com. Yes. Okay. Enough of the plants and flowers. Let’s talk about our featured guests here. Can we, Jakob? Um, so you are a chief of staff. Have you ever been a chief of staff before?
Braun: No. And I never thought I would be not, never envisioned that it was not part of my five year plan.
Murdoc: Well, before maybe we get to the office, let’s discuss the person. If you don’t mind, maybe give everyone a background in a history.
Braun:Okay. I grew up in North Dakota.
Murdoc: Oh, I did not know that. Where in North Dakota?
Braun: Mandan. Um, that’s North. That is North and it is colder. People don’t believe me, but it truly is.
Murdoc: It really is. And windier. How’d you get from North Dakota to here?
Braun: So we moved here in 1987. I was 15, was not happy about it, but apparently there was a farm recession that was a big deal and my dad was a farmer, part-time farmer, full-time auto body guy. Okay.
So we moved here so we could, you know, keep a float, um, graduated from Central High School. You’re a cobbler. I’m a cobbler. All right. Once a cobbler, always a cobbler.
Murdoc: I’m a raider. I’m not, I’m a raider. I have kids who are raiders. Yeah. I had one, one raider and two cobblers. Birthright raider. Birthright. Yeah. Sorry. No, you’re good.
Braun: Uh, so I joined the South Dakota Army National Guard right out of high school. Yeah. I wanted to go to college and that was my ticket to go. Little did I know I was the, um, oh, I’m only doing six years kid, but six years turned into 22 years. And the guard really shaped who I am as a person and a professional. And I was always a part-time soldier until the end of my guard career. And then I spent about three years full time. And during that time I developed a suicide, um, prevention, intervention plan for the state of South Dakota. I helped bring in, um, a program called strong bonds, which was all about marriage.
Murdoc: This is how I know you as this organized structured plan for nuanced, complicated topics.
Braun: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but anyway, it was, it was a great ride. And during that time of being in the guard, I also taught school. I taught at Stevens high school. So I was sort of, okay.
Murdoc: That’s, uh, now, now it’s not, you’ve been to radar rarities. We’re fine. Yeah.
Braun: I have that. I go both ways there. Um, so taught at Stevens started having kids quit the full time teaching top part-time at the career learning center, which our son, little guy at the time affectionately dubbed the Kearney, Wernie Fennner. He couldn’t say it.
They’ll Kearney, Wernie Kearney, Wernie Fennner. So then when I got out of the guard, I kind of assumed I would just go back to teaching full time, but, um, my husband, the smart one was like, you know, that was, I don’t know about that for you.
Murdoc: So have you ever thought about being a licensed professional coach as in a life coach? And I was like, no, cause they don’t, they’re flaky. They make a lot of money. Even the word, right? Like you can’t even say the phrase.
Braun: Yeah. Uh, during that time of being in the guard, and I also earned a master’s degree in counseling and administrative studies, weird blend, but, um, I didn’t want to be a licensed counselor, but this life coach thing really intrigued me. So I, I went for it. I got certified and I started a business because I really didn’t know what I was doing. Um, and that business morphed into training with organizations, strategic planning, uh, consulting, um, and it kind of got into the HR realm of helping with, you know, like training programs and such. But then in a 2021 mayor, uh, Allender, former mayor reached out to me and said, I think we have a workplace culture issue that you might be able to help with. Do you want to come on at the city for a year?
Murdoc: Remember that? Smart man, that’s Steve Allender.
Braun: Yeah. And I was like, you know what? That sounds awesome. My husband and I had just sold a first aid business that we bought in 2015. So I was kind of trying to figure out, you know, what I do. And, um, I’ve been with the city ever since I went from the mayor’s office of two years to HR, where I was the assistant director. And
Murdoc: that sounds boring.
Braun: Well, HR is very important.
Murdoc: You got to want it. It’s so important.
Braun: It is, um, I think this job being, you know, called back into the mayor’s office really is a better fit for me. Um, I love people. So it doesn’t really matter if I’m training or leading or doing HR stuff, but this role allows me to continue to work with people, but also
Murdoc: different version of people out in the community, which I really love being shows like this. I, yeah, in HR would not get to do this. No, we don’t have a lot of HR people on this show. I’ll admit on any show really.
Braun: I can hook you up.
Murdoc: So let’s talk about the position. This is a position, as I understand it, that was, um, it’s been a while since this was a staff position here in the city and it’s something Alan earth considered doing and it’s something previous mayor considered doing and something mayor Solomon pulled the trigger on and, and you’re in the position. What’s, what is the position?
Braun: So the best way to describe it, there’s two ways. One way is that I’m a force multiplier for the mayor. He, when he was elected, he had a lot of really important initiatives. He wanted to, to move forward and he is one person with a lot of initiatives and not enough time.
And so I’m there to help be his right hand person and to help make sure that his priorities are advanced. Um, so one example is the vision fund, of course, is going on. That process is going on right now.
Murdoc: We’re going to talk about that next break as, as, as far as what’s new with the vision fund and how that goes. Yeah.
Braun: So I’m here to tease teaser. Yeah. I’m here to help with that process, to answer questions, to make connections, to different city entities that the vision fund committee might have questions about and for, um,
Murdoc: is it, um, are you, is it more in the, this is what the stuff costs and this is the labor hours and the tactics of, is it, or is what’s, is it more HR with the feelings and it’s a lot of emotional decision making. Like what’s this? What’s, what’s the, what’s the, what’s an average day?
Braun: An average day as chief of staff. Yeah. Well, so far, so I started April 7th. I have not had an average day yet. Every day has been different, but the mayor will step in and say, Hey, I have a meeting with so and so will you join me in the meeting? And so the plan I had is, you know, out the door, right? But, um, there’s a lot of emails, a lot of phone calls. I’m managing the staff of the mayor’s office. So there’s some work with that.
We’re hiring people, uh, kind of getting things organized a little bit differently. Um, yeah, it’s, uh, no day has been, has been the same as the day before, which I really like. I like to teeter on the brink of disaster. So this job is perfect for a
Murdoc: little rickety, higher up the ladder, you know, rickety, you get, so you know, you either like that or you don’t a little.
Braun: I think, yeah. Yep. Exactly.
Murdoc: Um, is that, so you’ve been in the, when did, when did you start again? April 7th. So like we’re less than a month in. Yeah. Exactly. Is there anything that surprised you yet? Like, Oh, I didn’t know that was going to happen.
Braun: Well, I think two things have surprised me and it’s people’s reaction to me. Um, the support has been overwhelming and those who have been close to the mayor or I’ve worked in city government, they know how busy he is. They know how stretched he is and that he has needed help. But the reaction from people that I’ve gotten that literally, this cracks me up. Two things. “So you’re the assistant mayor.” No, I’m not. I am not the assistant mayor. If the mayor wins the lottery tomorrow and does not come back to work, the president of the council, president of the council takes over.
So it’s not me. The second funny question that I get is, um, so you’re going to run for mayor. That’s, that’s the plan. This, that’s the strategy.
Uh, no, it is not. I, we do have a political show. If I was on that political show, we might ask a couple of different questions about what the future may hold. But you know, for this, for this specific interview, we’ll certainly, um, what has been the thing that’s like, Oh, that’s fun. I didn’t know I was going to be that, you know what I mean? Like a happy like, Oh, right on.
Braun: Yeah. Well, the vision fund has been really fun to be part of that.
Murdoc: Almost no one says it that way.
Braun: Really? I, the committee is fantastic. They’re working really hard getting to see the, um, passion for the projects that have come forward, the, the city employees and community groups who have brought them forward. There are a lot of caring people in this community who want the best for the community.
They want to see prosperity and growth. And it’s just, it’s exciting to go on those site visits to hear the presentations.
Murdoc: That’s fun. Yeah. That’s a good answer. We’re going to get into the vision fund and then also maybe the pothole hotline. So get your finger dialing fingers ready. We’re going to talk about that when we come back. We’re chatting with Leah Braun, the newly appointed chief of staff for the city of Rapid City. When we come back, it is your meeting with the Mayor.
Murdoc: Is it, does someone answer or do you like leave a message?
Braun: Generally somebody answers.
Murdoc: No kidding. Yes, because they want the specifics of where. Where’s it at, how big it is, blah, blah, blah. Is there an online form for this as well? Like if you don’t feel like calling it, like these young kids, they don’t want to, they get nervous to call people. So they want to fill out a form. Is there a pothole, hot form? Instead of like an online form. They don’t get spammed with dingalings. This is something you got to call in on.
Braun: Yeah, yeah, It’s call in situation. That’s funny.
Murdoc: How long has that been going? Do you know? You know the history of this? I love this bit that they do.
Braun: I don’t know the history, but here is an educated guess. It used to be that if somebody was, you know, they saw an issue, they would just call the city, whatever number they could find. So over the last several years, it’s morphed into, let’s have a dedicated line so that people know exactly where to go and they don’t get frustrated about who do I call. It’s a dedicated pothole, hotline.
Murdoc: You know, government, city government, the slog of getting people to understand what you have to do to function and form a city is never ending. And it’s never going to, you know, you can, you’re never in a position where the town’s like, great job, everybody. I, things like this, these functional things, that these, they’re like cheeseburgers. It makes you believe in the city again.
You can call a person and tell them about your pothole. That’s what that’s, it’s little things like that, where everyone’s like, you know what, things aren’t so bad here. This is pretty rad place.
Braun: Oh, absolutely. The mayor puts it really well, you know, speaking of city functions and whatnot, people rarely call the mayor’s office and say, thank you. Good job, buddy. Thank you for what you’re doing. I appreciate you, city government is awesome.
It is quite the contrary. Usually people are unhappy when they call the mayor’s office and we are charged with helping them the best we can, but it is, it’s a unique situation for sure.
Murdoc: Just laughing with my, you know, I got a lot of like old politician buddies have been, you know, they’ve been here in my nonsense a long time and we all kind of laugh and like when I was younger, it was, you know, my emails and texts were more all caps and a little more angry. And now as I’m in my forties, they’re, they’re softened as, you know, there’s still a little spicy once in a while, but they’ve softened it.
Braun: Yeah, a little maturity and understanding and empathy. Yeah, for sure.
Murdoc: Well, the, once again, the pothole hotline is 605-394-4152. So if you have it in its street lights and signs or issues at all, you give that a call, not an emergency line.
Braun:Absolutely. Okay. Yeah.
Murdoc: What else is cooking on the cleanup, clean up month?
Braun: That’s right. So several city teams have been involved, picking up trash along the roadways and in parks and so forth. Last week or earlier this week, actually, I volunteered with a group at the city called Culture Champions.
It’s a group that I formed back when I was in the mayor’s office the first time. And our job is really to promote workplace culture. So we get together and we talk about workplace culture, but this time we went over and cleaned up around Robbinsdale, the ball fields around Robbinsdale Park. And it’s not just people littering. Some of it is litter, but some of it is trash blown from the winter winds.
Murdoc: I was talking about this last word on another show, actually. It was, you know, the winter and the plows and the gunk. It’s just, you know, what happens. Although quit littering. You’d save us a little bit of time with your quit littering.
No, it’s a rad. Our company, we take a half day out and we go take a chunk. We just went down to the chunk by Rapid Creek here, where people go spend and eat lunch at. All summer long, you know.
Braun: Yeah. Well, the cleanup is twofold. I mean, it’s not just cleaning up. It’s time to network and bond with your team. So we ended up laughing a lot, having fun. The garbage that we found, some of it quite interesting. Can’t mention on the radio.
Murdoc: Yeah, we’ve done some. Especially how we find some things. Oh, yeah. Well, how did that get here? How’d that get there? We, it’s good for, here’s a plug, how this is good for business too. We took our entire team downtown and, you know, had some refreshments and fellowship and it was a good time.
Braun: Absolutely.
Murdoc: What else is happening here is we’re running as we’re running to the end, the youth. Let’s talk about the youth city council. You mentioned that before we hopped on the air. Let’s end with that.
Braun: All right. Youth city council, they are hosting their second annual teen art auction and it’s happening tomorrow from one to three at the Rapid City Alternative Academy in the commons. That’s 601 Columbus Street and all the proceeds go to the lunch, the school lunch debt that the Rapid City area schools. Yeah.
Murdoc: Trying to reduce. That’s pretty cool. The youth city council, a good group of kids, those kids. So the young future magistrates and noblemen in the youth city council shout out to them. Absolutely. Well, 10 out of 10. You’re great. I would say we’d have you back anytime you would feel like it.
Braun: Whoa, you have to say that because if the mayor’s not here, you might just get me again. But I know you’d rather have the mayor and I would.
Murdoc: You know, I hear from him enough. I, you know, all kinds of opportunities for me and Jason , anytime you feel like kicking him off the ice flu and coming on back, please, please, please, please, you’re welcome.
Braun: Yes.
Murdoc: All right. It is, it’s the chief of staff, city of Rapid City, Leah Braun. She’s been in the job for almost a month and she’s already taking names and getting us all organized. We sure appreciate your hard work and good luck to you in the job.
Braun: Yeah. Thank you so much. Jakob.
Jakob: Motion to adjourn.
Murdoc: Oh, no way. How do we do this? I say second. No, I say so moved. Someone can say so moved if you like. No, how do we see, we had this last week.
Braun: Yeah. Motion to adjourn. You’ll second it. Second. All those in favor say aye.
Murdoc: Aye.
Braun: And you oppose, same sign. We are just.
Murdoc: Listening audience booed.
Braun: Oh, they’re like, that’s so boring.
Murdoc: See you guys next week.
