Two new Sioux Falls city councilors won’t be on the ballot in April. Who are they?

In the coming weeks, the Argus Leader will be taking a look at each candidate for the Sioux Falls City Council seats that will be voted on in the April 9 election.

That includes the Northwest and Southwest districts where Councilors Greg Neitzert and Marshall Selberg are term-limited after eight years.

But as we've reported, those two races will be uncontested, as only a single person threw their hat in the ring before the filing deadline.

More: 8 people are running for Sioux Falls City Council: What to know

So while you won't see them on the ballot on April 9, let's meet the two people we already know for sure will be newly seated this May.

Jennifer Sigette

Sigette has lived in Sioux Falls for 25 years and currently serves as the executive director of the South Dakota Lions Foundation. She said in an interview that she felt like she was in a place where she had the time and capacity to serve on the council, and is excited to get started.

More: South Dakota Lions Foundation director announces city council campaign

And in some ways, she already has, by getting to spend the time before the election preparing for her new role as the Northwest district's councilor instead of campaigning.

“I do get to just kind of have those meetings and just meet with all the stakeholders and start learning everything about all the issues," Sigette told the Argus Leader.

One of those issues has been traffic, she said, adding that a surprising amount of people have brought the topic up to her in discussions, whether they're talking about traffic flow or people speeding. It wasn't something she'd ever thought much about, she said, but now she's got plans to speak with members of the Sioux Falls Police Department and the city's planning department to learn what she can.

She's also started studying up on workforce development, working to learn "what is needed to help develop a stronger and better, more prepared workforce," she said.

It's an issue that overlaps with childcare as well, which is something she said she understands well.

More: Exiting Sioux Falls city councilors concerned to see their seats going uncontested

Once she's on the council, Sigette said she's trying to keep an open mind about what kind of issues could come before her.

There are certainly some she already knows she'll be tackling, though, like Family Park, for example, where proposed changes have drawn the ire of some Sioux Falls residents who love the park for its off-leash dog area.

Sigette has cited the matter when she's said she'd like to see discussions among the council, and the public, focus more on data and facts than narratives and "loud voices."

Speaking of a meeting on the park she attended, Sigette said, “I remember somebody said ‘Well nobody fishes there … that just doesn’t happen.’ and I had to chuckle because I tell you, I’ve got a 15-year-old nephew, him and his buddy go there every day and go fishing.”

She said she'd like to be able to dig deeper into things like this. For example, how many people really are fishing in our parks? And if it was a low number, is fishing just not popular, or are there things preventing that number from being higher?

More: Proposed changes to Family Park leave off-leash dog owners angry

Sigette said one aspect of improving discussions could be getting more people involved.

“I think the city maybe needs to do a better job of engaging average citizens," she said, adding that not everyone may want to attend a council meeting, but there may be a lower-impact way to make their voices heard.

She added that while she believes the council has been working well together, she's been on boards before where everyone agrees a little too much.

“I think it’s been nice that there’s always a couple councilors who are willing to rock the boat," Sigette said. "I mean that’s important, that they’re not all just yes people to the administration."

Ryan Spellerberg

Spellerberg was the first person to announce his candidacy for any council seat in the election, all the way back in October.

This May, the Sioux Falls banker who's lived here since 2008 will take on his new role as the councilor for the Southwest district, where he emphasized in an interview that he's not looking to make any immediate changes in a city he believes is already running quite well.

More: Sioux Falls banker says he'll run for City Council

"I want to learn the job first," he said.

He mentioned public transit as something he's digging into in the runup to his time on the council, and said he's excited to know he'll get to be involved in a project as massive as the Riverline Center.

He also said that he'd seen a focus from Selberg on housing during his time on the council — something Spellerberg said he'd like to continue to work on.

More: Council candidates lay out how they would improve Sioux Falls during Thursday's debate

"It's planning and zoning for the most part," Spellerberg said. "I mean, we're not going to be able to drop prices on labor and things like that unless we add to the workforce. That's a long-term issue, though."

In that vein, he said he'd like to see more big employers coming to town, and said it was important to keep the barriers to entry low in order to attract them to Sioux Falls.

More: Thomason, Basye have financial advantage as council election approaches

He echoed Sigette when he said that by and large, he thinks city council is running effectively, something he wants to add to.

“Hopefully they see some common sense out of me," he said when asked what he hoped voters thought of his time in the seat four years from now. "I think our city council does a great job the way it is. Hopefully we get people in there that can work together regardless of their views on different things.”

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Meet the 2 new Sioux Falls city councilors who won't be on the ballot