Sam Kooiker

Early life

Kooiker was born on March 9, 1974 in Japan, while his father John Kooiker taught at the Christian Academy. The family returned to the United States in 1975, where young Kooiker and three siblings grew up on the family farm in Boyden, Iowa. He attended Western Christian High School in the neighboring town of Hull. While in high school, Kooiker held a job at Hy-Vee's Sheldon and Sioux Center stores. He earned bachelor's degrees in criminal justice and psychology and a master's degree in public administration from the University of South Dakota. During his time at USD, Kooiker continued working for Hy-Vee in Vermillion, South Dakota, and was also an intern at the Sioux City Police Department in his home state of Iowa.

Kooiker and his wife moved to Rapid City in the summer of 1999, where he worked at Gateway Computers for eight years; at the South Dakota Division of Vocational Rehabilitation for about a year; and at Golden West Technologies for six years.

In 2015, Kooiker's father was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives.

Political career

According to Argus Leader political columnist David Montgomery, Rapid City is an overwhelmingly Republican town where local politics is hotly contested between factions within the Republican Party that Montgomery terms the "Establishment Party" and the "Outsider Party." Montgomery characterizes Kooiker as "the most successful representative" of the more "populist" outsider faction.

Kooiker was named to the Rapid City Planning Commission by then-mayor Jerry Munson in 2001, and served until 2002. He was elected to the Rapid City Common Council later that year and represented Ward 2 until he was elected mayor. As a city council member, Kooiker gained a reputation for being detail-orientated, especially on budget issues. While serving on the council, he was censured twice, privately in 2005 and publicly in 2010. The 2010 censure was the first public rebuke of an elected official in Rapid City history.

Kooiker had defeated Alan Hanks and incumbent Jim Shaw in the first mayoral election of 2007, but a runoff three weeks later was won by Hanks. The next year, Kooiker applied for the position of city administrator in Cherokee, Iowa, but did not get the job, which instead went to Don Eikmeier. He stayed in Rapid City, and decided to run for mayor again in 2011. Kooiker began his campaign with heavy use of social media, primarily Facebook, and was elected mayor that year by "a wave of overwhelming support in some of the city's poorer precincts," defeating Hanks by 478 votes. Kooiker took office on July 5, 2011. He ran for reelection in 2013, against state senator Mark Kirkeby. Amid allegations of micromanagement, Kooiker defeated Kirkeby, by 4,702 votes.

In 2014, Kooiker appointed Lt. Elias Diaz, an officer of Native American and Hispanic heritage, as Chief of Police. When the appointment met with opposition in the city council, Kooiker appointed Karl Jegaris instead. Improving relations between Rapid City's white majority and its Indian and Black citizens was a major focus of Kooiker's administration.

Kooiker lost his bid for a third term in June 2015, as former Rapid City police chief Steve Allender won the election by 1,226 votes. Kooiker's second mayoral term ended on July 6, 2015. Cherokee, Iowa mayor Mark Murphy announced Kooiker's hiring as city administrator in October 2015. Kooiker was sworn in on December 22, 2015, though he had begun work earlier that month.

Personal

Kooiker married the former Jennifer King in 1999, whose family owned King’s Grocery/Pasties in Lead, South Dakota from 1959 to 2000. They are the parents of three daughters, Abbie, Aubrie and Ellie.

Kooiker has cerebral palsy.