RAPID CITY, S.D.(KOTA) – After serving two terms as mayor of South Dakota’s second largest city, Steve Allender confirmed to KOTA Territory News that he does not plan to seek re-election in 2023.

“One of my favorite questions people ask me is whether or not we have term limits in Rapid City,” Allender said in an interview. “And I tell them, no, we don’t need them. There is a natural length to things, and people become resistant to the same old faces and the same old ideas.”

Allender, 61, began his career in public service in 1983, first working for the Belle Fourche Police Department. After two years, he moved to the Rapid City Police Department, where he served the community until 2014, eventually in the role of police chief. The following year, he was elected mayor.