Howard, pilot and pastor, wants county board seat

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Lindell Howard, candidate for District 3 Davison County Commission. (Chris Huber/Republic Photo)

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Lindell Howard has enjoyed a bird’s-eye view of Davison County from his Cessna 150.

He wants to get a ground-level view of county government as a member of the Davison County Commission.

Howard, 67, is an occasional flight instructor and the Republican candidate in the District 3 race for county commissioner against incumbent Democrat Gerald Weiss.

The mild-mannered Howard refuses to criticize his opponent.

“I’m a lifetime Republican, but I don’t see the office of commissioner as a very partisan position,” he said. “I see it as an office where you work together for the good of the county. I have a lot of Democrat friends.”

District 3 includes the south half of Mitchell Township and Precinct 16 in the southwest part of the city of Mitchell, and Blendon, Mount Vernon, Beulah, Union, Lisbon, Prosper, Baker, Tobin and Rome townships, and the cities of Mount Vernon and Ethan.

Howard is the president of Faith Bible School in Mitchell. He also pastors the Wesleyan Sioux Chapel on the Fort Thompson Reservation.

Howard said he attended Hobe Sound Bible College, north of Palm Beach, Fla. Afterward, he was the pastor of several churches and also taught at Christian schools in Missouri and New Mexico before returning to take over the reins of Faith Bible School.

While Commissioner Weiss is from Ethan in southeastern Davison County, Howard lives south of Mount Vernon, one mile from the county’s western border.

“I’m running because I believe in our two-party system, and I think it would be a real privilege to serve the county as a commissioner,” Howard said.

Howard has not held public office in the past, but he once ran and lost a bid for a District 20 state legislative office.

Howard acknowledges that he entered the race late. Republicans seeing no challenger to face Weiss asked Howard to run, and he filed his candidacy petition Aug. 10.

Howard said the campaign will be pretty low-key, “and a lot of it will be word of mouth.”

One of Howard’s goals would be to encourage more long-term planning on the commission.

“Being a county commissioner is not just about doing day-to-day business,” he said. “We need to plan ahead and to be more forward looking.”

Roads are a perennial election issue for candidates, Howard said.

“There was a lot of damage to roads in the wet season, and those are always a concern that any elected commission will have to address.”

Funding is always a problem when it comes to getting roads repaired, he added.

“I think we need to work more closely with the state, and we also need to be in tune with counties throughout South Dakota to see how they are working to address those needs, as well,” he said.

“I don’t think we need to be adversarial,” he continued. “Our state senator, Mike Vehle, is working very hard on those issues and I think we need to cooperate with what the state is trying to accomplish.”

Howard also believes county government “should keep up with the times as far as computers and the technical tools that will help us to stay in tune with what’s happening.”

Moving the commission’s regular Tuesday meeting time from a day to an evening schedule has been a question in past campaigns.

“I really don’t have a position on that,” Howard said. “Whatever works best for the people of the county.”

Howard is the father of five.

“Four girls and boy. They all have families of their own, and they’ve given me 11 grandchildren,” he said.

Howard, who is separated, lives alone on a small acreage with “Holly,” his mastweiler, a dog that’s part mastiff and part Rottweiler, both huge breeds.

“People generally think such a combination would be ferocious, but he’s actually very mild and timid,” Howard said.

Howard wants voters to know that he will be conscientious if elected.

“I will give diligence to the job, and it’s my hope to be more involved at the state level to help with making county decisions,” he said. “I’d appreciate people’s votes.”

Tags: election 2010, lindell howard, county commission, davison county commission, news, local, politics, fccnetwork